THE LAW ABOVE THE LAW
2 Samuel 11: 10/11
“And Uriah said unto David…………..I will not do this thing.”
Serving God is more than thou shall or thou shall not. It is a well of inner strength, a plane of higher living which is far above and more wonderful than what this world has to offer. When you have a relationship with the Father, you will not succumb to the circumstances of life; rather you will ascend to the very throne room of God and receive grace for every need.
Whether it is Uriah in the text, or Mr. Average Citizen, the principles of righteousness will separate every man who cares about the things of God. And this separation is as individual as fingerprints, and no list of rules can be given to cover every circumstance. Therefore, living by rules is living beneath your privilege as a believer; there is a law above the law.
Let me explain what I mean by the law above the law. Jesus said, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Another example, you have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But Jesus said, “Whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have you cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” Now that’s living in the Law above the Law.
Such words as “I say unto you.” Should be heeded, for Jesus is expanding the scope of the law to include, not just physical actions, but the condition, and what is in a persons heart. He is teaching the standards required of His people to attain the Kingdom of God.
So God has placed in man a conscience, a ruler or a guide, so the principles of righteousness can weld upon the conscience, if the believer will allow the Holy Spirit to do His work. For we will either be led by the Spirit of the Lord, or by the spirit of anti-Christ.
Let us look at the man Uriah, He’s in the middle of a battle, and is identified as a fighter. This man is no rear guard general; he is a front line soldier. No job is too hard, no trench too dirty, no enemy too fierce. Uriah’s one aim is to be near the ark of the Lord, and be wherever God’s dwelling place is.
For this man to be at peace with God, he must live in the sight of the tent where the Lord dwells, for he wants to follow the right leading; and be numbered as one that loves God. Uriah has put his hand to the plow; and there can be no looking back. Even the beauty of his wife cannot divert his course.
Uriah is on the battle field, fighting against the enemies of the Lord. Here is a physically man ready to serve the King, yet able to enjoy the comforts of a quiet life, the pleasures of fine food and fellowship. He is mentally strong enough to recognize the perils of the battle, but the ark of the Lord had more meaning than earthly security.
While on the other hand there is David. The man who conquered the Giant Goliath, he is not on the battlefield. There are no smooth stones now, no rejection of Saul’s armor, no saving a sheep from the mouth of a lion. David is the King and it seems that he has lost sight of his identity with God. For he now finds enough security in the palace to satisfy his thirsty soul.
The battle is raging, and David finds it easy to lead from the palace rather than being in the field. It is easy to hear of victory, and not to worry about winning one. It is much more difficult to pray down the shower than gets wet when it rains, so David is enjoying the good life while the fields are full of good men like Uriah.
When we let our guard down the enemy will cause trouble to come our way. In David’s case it was moral failure. The summary of the incident is brief; he saw, he inquired, he sent, he took, he lay and she returned home. And as quickly as it started, it ended. The path of sin is not difficult to find, nor is it hard to walk. You don’t have to be a great leader to sin; you only have to be foolish. Anyone can be lead astray with passion, but it takes a person of principles to control desires.
From the book of Galatians chapter six and verse seven “Be not deceived; God is no mocked: for whatsoever man sows, that shall he also reap.” No harvest is reaped the day the seed is planted, and the passing of time does not mean the seed is dead. Yet the hearts of men are set to do evil continually because judgment against an evil works is not executed speedily.
Let us watch as David’s sin begins to unfold. The woman that David lay with is the wife of Uriah, one of David’s leading men in battle. Now, if only Uriah could come home on furlong, all would be taken care of. But here is the problem; he is not the kind of man that will accept a furlong in the middle of battle. Yet he must obey the King. So Uriah leaves the battlefield and appears before the King. There is no feeling of gladness in his heart being in the presence of the King. His thoughts are with the men in battle and the Ark of the Lord.
The strong desire to be identified with the Lord’s people causes Uriah to lay his tired and hurting body on the steps of the King’s house, Uriah is living by the principle, the law that is above the law, he always find himself at peace with God. Uriah cannot be a soldier on the field in the morning, a reporter in the King’s house at noon, and a lover of pleasure in the night.
A true servant of the Lord will be identified with the Ark of the Lord, for the Lord would have us stay identified. It is easy to for get our past victories, knowing that our success is only in the Lord. There is a song that says, “If I will hold my peace, and let the Lord fight my battles, victory, victory shall be mine.”
David looks out his window and sees this beautiful woman and inquired, and she is brought to him. It reminds me of the scripture “What my eyes beheld affected my heart.” Now because of the fruit of this encounter, a baby died, and the husband of Bathsheba is put to death…and David stated, “My sin is ever before me.” Before we point an accusing finger, let us take a look at the life we are living.
I believe we need a call to right principles and true holiness. If holiness cannot intrude our lives, we would do well to shut it out altogether. You will remember that David in his early life was a singer of psalms and a lover of right principles as he served the Lord, but he allowed the snares of life to drag him down.
And life for us is no different, when we loose sight of the goal and allow our mind to be led away by the forces of evil. We push aside true holiness and then go after things that are not pleasing to the Father. Nothing in life escapes the scrutiny of right principles and true holiness in our service for the Master.
Have you ever been driving down the road, you see a police car and you think I had better buckle up. It’s the law that causes you to react, I know, this has happened to me. Yet there is a law above the law that is written in our hearts that will guide and keep us in the path of righteousness. Someone said, “Just let your conscience be you guide.” That could be a very dangerous thing, for the conscience can become seared over, and scared not giving us the proper information. We must be focused, with our mind stayed on Jesus, if we expect to live in the law above the law.
Like Uriah, when we are living with Christian principles, it inquires how we treat our fellow man, how we guard our tongue, how accounts are kept, and weather we are a good steward of that which God has entrusted into our hands.
I am sure while David was writing the letter to Joab, he knew that one day he would have to give account for his sin. He has been with Uriah’s wife, and now is trying to cover up his sin. So in the letter he tells Joab to place Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, that he may be smitten and die. And when Uriah’s wife heard that he was dead, she mourned for her husband. And when the mourning was past, she became David wife, and bore him a son. The bible tells us what David had done displeased the Lord.
So the Lord sent Nathan to David to tell him a story of two men in one city, the one was rich and the other poor. The rich man had much riches and many flocks and herds. But the poor man had nothing, save one little lamb, which he had bought and nourished up. And a traveler came to the rich man, and rather than give the man one of his flock, he took the poor man’s lamb and gave it to the man.
When David heard this he was anger, and said to Nathan the man that has done this thing, he must surely die. And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. And the Lord God said to David I anointed thee king over Israel, I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul, I was with you when you met Goliath and killed the bear, yet you have despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in my sight.
Many times sin has changes the course of life for those who refuse to live in the shadow of the Almighty God. Remember that the wheels of time turn slow, but they grind exceeding fine.
After the death of his son, David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped, for he had found favor with the Lord. And because of his confession and prayer for forgiveness, the word tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart.
We know that prayer is the key, and faith unlocks the door to the presence and power of God. And we must put aside the things that would block our progress in pursuit of His righteousness.
Johns tells us “That if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” When we fail to keep the commandment of the Lord, we are displeasing to the God, but remember He is faithful and just, for He cares about us.
He will keep us safe in His arms, and deliver us from the snares of the temper. It’s not how many times you have falling, but how many times you get. So get up and let Jesus take over, and He will make a way for you.
