It didn’t take long for things to go from bad to worse. Any hope David had of hiding his sin with Bathsheba evaporated when she sent word to him that she was pregnant. 

Once again, David had a choice to make: he could confess or seek a way to cover up his sin. Sadly, David chose the latter. His first attempt to cover his sin was to recall Uriah from the battlefield and encourage him to sleep with his wife. But that didn’t work because Uriah’s loyalty to his fellow troops, and by extension his king, prevented him from enjoying an evening with his wife while the battle waged on.

After one failed coverup attempt, David then took a more drastic approach. He ordered Joab to send Uriah into battle and then withdraw from him, leaving him to die and leaving David free to take Bathsheba as his wife. We need to be clear about this: David’s order led directly to Uriah’s death. David was a murderer. What began as perhaps a lingering look ended in murder. And in this, we see that there is truly no such thing as a “harmless little sin.”

How have you experienced your attempts to cover-up instead of confessing sin lead to further sin or harm of yourself and others? What sins might you need to confess to God today?