“And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, ‘I am pregnant.’ So David sent word to Joab, ‘Send me Uriah the Hittite.’ And Joab sent Uriah to David.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

In Genesis 3, Moses writes that when Adam and Eve each took a bite of the fruit from the forbidden tree, the first thing they did was to hide. They were ashamed. They covered themselves up, and then, when God came walking in the garden in the cool of the day as was His custom, they hid from Him too. Sin does that.

Do you remember a time when you were hit with the reality that some sin you had committed and thought was going to be your little secret was soon not going to be your little secret? How did you feel in that moment? Were you flippant and unconcerned like Cain, or were you more terrified like his parents?

We only have to wonder a little bit about how David felt when Bathsheba sent word that she was pregnant. His secret little affair that was really more of a secret rape was soon not going to be very little. In fact, it was going to grow and grow and grow until everybody could see it and then there was going to be a walking, talking permanent reminder of it.

So, how did David feel? Caught, embarrassed, and terrified. How do we know? Because the first thing he did was to send for Uriah, Bathsheba’s husband, from the front lines of the battle. Not a few soldiers have found out on a second deployment that they will be fathers when they return. David was hoping Uriah would also have that pleasure…minus the whole part about it being his child.

Here’s the thing: Sin makes us want to hide because it brings with it the shame of not living according to the word and will of God. But, as much as we want to hide, our sin will eventually find us out. It always does. And when it does, our first reaction will likely be to try and hide and cover our tracks. It won’t work, but we’ll try all the same. And when we do, we’ll usually make things worse. Better is to own up to our sin and repent. That’s the path that will to life.