God is not pleased
In one of the most tragic stories of the entire bible, we see such a sharp contrast between the two men portrayed here: David, the king, who has become a consummate schemer, desperate to cover up his adultery and the unwanted pregnancy that resulted; and Uriah, a man who demonstrated remarkable faithfulness and integrity, going far beyond what was really expected of him in his honourable choices. David needs Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba, thus covering the tracks regarding the pregnancy. But because men engaged in warfare were required to abstain from sexual relations (warfare was seen as a holy act needing the blessing of God), Uriah refused to enjoy a delightful evening with Bathsheba, even though his King was commanding him to do so. Plying the humble Uriah with drink didn’t work either, and so at last David hatches his murderous plot to ensure that Uriah is deployed in a vulnerable place on the battlefield, to ensure his death, together with the deaths of some other soldiers too. This was a terrible act, but meant that now David could bring Bathsheba into his house, and even be seen as noble as he did so, acting like a ‘redeemer’ who would care for a widow, marrying her and giving her security. It seemed that the hideous plan worked. But there was one problem. However clever David’s scheming was, there was one who was not fooled - God - and the Lord was not pleased. This is strong language, paralleled by Onan’s sexual misconduct, which led to his death (Genesis 38:10). When tempted, let’s not just consider the potential damage to others, ourselves, or whether we can get away with that action - our call is to please God, (2 Corinthians 5:9), not create divine displeasure.