13-3-27
The Battles of David
I David Defeated His Enemies 8:1-14
II David Fulfilled His Promises 9: 1-13
II David Conquered the Ammonites and Arameans 10: 1-19
I David Defeated His Enemies 8:1-14
Probably the second most famous Confederate general, during the civil war, was Thomas Jonathan Jackson. He was born in Clarksburg, Virginia in 1824, to Jonathan and Julia Jackson, and was the 3rd of 4 children. Thomas’ father died of typhoid, when he was only two, and his mother remarried to a man, who was so poor, that he disliked and resented her children, because he saw them just as extra mouths to feed. Unfortunately, she died when Thomas was only 7 years old, and he and his siblings were separated and sent away, to be raised by different uncles.
In 1842, he was accepted into West Point and graduated 17th in his class---then he spent 2 years fighting in the Mexican war as a lieutenant, where he distinguished himself, as someone who would not give up. He was discharged from the army in 1851 and became a teacher at VMI-----he was such a committed Christian that a lot of his students made fun of him because they thought he was overly pious and rigid in the way that he practiced his faith-----but one thing that no one could find fault with, was how he and his wife organized a Sunday School class for the slaves in Richmond and the surrounding county, and taught the class themselves.
When the south seceded from the Union, Jackson didn’t support the secession, but had no choice but to fight for the South, even though the North wanted him too, when John Letcher, the Virginia governor ordered him to take command of 5 regiments, for the confederacy.
He was given the rank of Brigadier General, and he earned the name of ‘Stonewall” Jackson, when he effectively led his troops to stand their ground against the Union troops, at Bull Run. The story goes that he was as immoveable “as a stone wall”.
During the next 2 years of the Civil War, Stonewall Jackson became known as one of the most brilliant military tacticians, in American history, as he led his troops in victory after victory after victory.
At the same time, he also continued to be known as the most outspoken Christian in the Confederate army. After one of his victories, he said, “ Without God’s blessings I look for no success; and for every success, my prayer is, that all glory may be given to Him to whom it is properly due.”
One of his fellow officers once asked him how he was able to stay so calm in the midst of battle---and Jackson said, “Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle, as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to always be ready, no matter when it may overtake me.”
Stonewall Jackson died at the age of 39, of pneumonia , which was a complication, that resulted from being shot 3 times in the arm, in a “friendly fire” incident, by members of a North Carolina regiment.
All throughout his illustrious military career, Stonewall Jackson understood the truth, that David believed with his whole heart: ”Each victory in life, that we win, can only be won with the help of the Lord, because anything else will end in failure. “
Chapter 8 outlines the expansion of David’s kingdom under the prospering hand of the Lord. Israel’s major enemies were all defeated as the empire, and the fame of David, extended north, south, east and west.
And one of David’s first priorities, was to deal with the Philistines, the Israelite’s arch enemy----which he did----because we know that this is the last time that we hear any mention of the Philistines in the lives of the Israelites---- which is hard to believe ----the barbaric enemy, that had dominated the life of Israel for so long, was finally destroyed, as a nation, once and for all. David quickly defeated them, because he knew them and their cities so well, from having lived there, and then, he subjugated them, and took control of their chief city, Gath.
He also defeated the Moabites and required them to bring him tribute, in acknowledgement of his rule over them. The way he treated the Moabites seemed to be harsh, but the standard warfare rules, during that era, usually dictated the killing of all of a nation’s enemies.
So the fact that David spared a third of the Moabites, demonstrated his mercy. As the king of Israel, David was God’s representative. The Moabites had become enemies of Israel, which really meant that they were enemies of God, which meant that they all deserved to die. So, the amazing thing about this story, is not that 2/3 of the Moabites were killed, but that a third of them were left alive-----and the message that was sent to every single nation, was that David could not be beaten, because God was on his side----any thought of resisting him or rebelling against him was totally laid to rest, in that moment.
This was a period for David, where Israel celebrated many victories. The outcome of all of David’s activities was, that he defeated the enemies of God; and he established an Israelite presence, in the cities of the nations he had defeated, who had once thrown their weight around in the Israelite territory. This meant that enemy nations were no longer able to resist, harass, or oppress Israel, for a long, long time. There was peace in the Land, for the first time, since the days of Joshua just like God had promised David.
David’s kingdom grew so fast and far and so powerful, that he had to add administrative and secretarial personnel, to his staff, to help him govern the kingdom. And where he ruled, there was justice and righteousness. David was fair in interpreting the Law, and in administering punishment with mercy, and in responding to people’s rights, and in recognizing people’s duty toward God. It is no wonder that almost everyone who knew him or knew of him----- trusted and followed him. David’s military prowess is what made him famous, but it was David’s fairness and his goodness and his kindness and his unfailing trust in his God, that made his name great! David pleased the people, not because he was trying to please them, or to bring glory to himself----he pleased them because he tried to please God.( Most of the time, the people, who try the hardest, to be popular, find out that it just makes them feel empty-----we have to understand that the praise of people isn’t important-----it’s the praise of the Lord God that we should strive for. We shouldn’t spend any time in trying to become accepted in the public eye-----instead we should strive to please God, by obeying him and doing what’s right----and then, God will praise us and people will respect us. )
The tribute or taxes which were paid to David, were unbelievable----- and that, along with the plunder that he and the army had acquired, enabled the Israelites became a very wealthy nation---David knew that the great quantities of silver and gold and bronze were his, only because God had allowed them to be, so he dedicated them to the Lord, and gave them to the priests, to store and keep safe----and much of the wealth became building materials for the temple that Solomon constructed many years later. David, also honored God, by cutting the hamstrings of all but a 100 of the horses that he had confiscated---and he only kept 100 chariots, of the thousands, that he had obtained, because God had told the Israelites not to multiply horses (Deut. 17:16) ---- David didn’t want the tools of war to get all the glory for their victories--- he wanted God to get it. In Psalm 20:7 , he wrote, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord, our God.” You can clearly see, that the young shepherd boy David, who had slain Goliath with some stones and his faith in his God----had changed very little when he became a king----his faith in God’s power, was still his most distinguishing feature.
II David Fulfilled His Promises 9:1-13
The Vietnam War was an extremely difficult military turbulence for the United States. It created much conflict within our American society, as well as in the rest of the world. It also created heroes too, though.
One of those heroes was created on February 10, 1970 during a nighttime ambush operation, deep, in the jungle interior, of the country. 21 year old John Baca, a Specialist 4th Class, serving with the 1st Calvary division of the US Army, was part of a 9 man patrol, on duty, when an enemy attack began. Another patrol from their unit moved forward to respond to the enemy, but they came under heavy fire and needed help. Baca led his patrol to a firing position within his patrol’s defensive perimeter. As his men prepared to engage the enemy, a fragmentation grenade suddenly landed in the middle of their location. Reacting instantly, Baca removed his helmet and threw it on top of the unexploded grenade. Then he covered his helmet with his own body. Baca was injured, but the 8 other members of his patrol were saved. John Baca received the Congressional Medal of Honor for “conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action, at the risk of his life, above and beyond the call of duty”, on June 15, 1971.
Many years before the Vietnam War, the boy, David and Jonathan had established a covenant of loyalty with each other. David promised to provide lifetime care for Jonathan’s family if the need ever arose. In this section of scripture, King David demonstrated the sterling nature of his character, and his willingness to sacrifice his pride and his possessions, for a friend, no matter what price he had to pay.
David was a man who made promises and kept them. Before he became Israel’s king, he had made promises to both Jonathan and to Saul. To Jonathan, he had promised to protect his life and to show loving-kindness to his house forever. And to Saul, he vowed to spare the lives of Saul’s descendants, after he became king---- which was not the norm, in that day---usually, no family member, of a defeated king was allowed to live, because of the fear that an attempt would be made by them or their followers, to take back the throne.
David didn’t just remember his promise to Saul, he went far beyond it for Jonathan’s sake, as well as Saul’s.
It seemed like all of Saul’s descendants were dead, because no one had come forward seeking a pardon or David’s favor. But David had finally reached the place where he could pay attention to carrying out the promise he had made to Jonathan---all he needed was one living, breathing descendent, that he could show kindness, to for Jonathan’s sake. He understood that the kindness that he wanted to show to Saul’s descendant was much more than just being nice----that it was actually showing the person, the unconditional, unfathomable love of God---------David wanted to put God’s promise to bless them and not to harm them, into action….(When we offer forgiveness to someone who has wronged us, we are showing them the love of the Lord Jesus-----its important that we treat people with kindness and respect, even when they don’t deserve it----especially when they don’t deserve it.)
David must have been thrilled to find out that Jonathan’s very own son, Mephibosheth was still alive. His heart must have been broken when he realized that he was crippled because of an accident that had happened on the exact day that Jonathan had been killed. David summoned him to the palace and promised Mephibosheth that he would restore to him, all the land that had previously belonged to Jonathan, and he invited him to be a permanent guest at the palace, and to have his own place at the table to take his meals with David, just like one of David’s own sons. All of these blessings were poured out on Mephibosheth, not because of anything he had done, but because of David’s promise to and his love for Mephibosheth’s father, Jonathan. (God has poured his blessings out on us in the same way----we don’t deserve them either----we deserve death, not salvation----but because of the promise that God made to Abraham---- not anything we can do or have done, He has given us an inheritance and a place at His table, forever! Do we stop and take time, every day, to thank Him for those blessings? Have we stopped today, to thank Him for them?)
Mephibosheth was so overcome with gratitude and relief, and so humbled by David’s regard for him that he fell prostrate before David and laid his soul bare, as he likened himself to a dead dog.
III David Conquered the Ammonites and the Arameans
The story, is told among the Zulu people, of a greedy man named Gingile, who wanted some honey. Gingile knew the easiest way to get what he wanted was to follow the flight of of a honeyguide bird. The bird, which loves to eat beeswax and honeybee larvae, has the uncanny ability to locate trees with beeswax hidden inside their trunks. According to Zulu folklore, it welcomes hunters who help it get the wax and the insects, so it’s happy to lead them to the hidden hives.
Gingile followed a honeyguide bird named Ngede to a wild fig tree. When Ngede stopped and hovered there, Gingele carefully climbed the tree and found a large beehive in the trunk. Gingile built a fire and placed a smoking stick in the hollow trunk of the tree to drive away the bees. After the bees left, the Gingile took a large amount of the honey and beeswax from the trunk, but he gave none of it to the bird that had been so helpful to him.
After he had eaten that batch of honey, Gingile wanted some more. So he went in search of Nged, the honeyguide bird and followed it on its daily flight through the field and forest. The story goes, that Nged knew what greedy Gingile was doing and remembered how Gingile had wronged him before.
So, on that day, the bird carefully selected another tree for Gingile to climb. When Nged hovered in front of the tree, Gingile climbed up it eagerly, not realizing that a leopard was resting on one of the branches. The leopard slashed Gingile and knocked him down to the ground----he paid a hefty price of broken bones, for having wronged the helpful little bird.
And just like it had for Gingile , the greedy Zulu warrior----- Hanun, the Ammonite’s, mistreatment of David and his people, who were kind to him, led to a disastrous confrontation, that created much more than a few scars and broken bones---it caused unbelievable damage to his nation. Hanun learned the hard way, the importance of treating other people in the right way.
Hanun was the son of Nahash, who, when he was the king of the Ammonites, had been on good terms with David. At some point when David was hiding from Saul, Nahash must have helped or protected him-----which must have made David feel tender toward him and his family----- so when he heard about Nahash’s death, he sent a delegation to Ammon, to convey his respect---king to king---- and his sympathy for the son, Hanun, and to mourn Nahash’s death. But Hanun’s counselors gave him some bad advise-----They convinced him that David’s intentions could not be honorable ------that he was only sending the men as spies, to obtain secret intelligence, so that David, would have the right kind of inside information, that would help him to attack, at just the right place and time, so that he could defeat them like he had all the other nations.
When David received the word that his friendly delegation had been abused and humiliated-----it made him angry. The beard of a Hebrew man was a mark of dignity and honor and Hanun had ordered, for half of the beard, of each man to be shaved off, and he had ordered that their garments to be cut off, so that they would be embarrassed ----- but it was more than that ----the Hebrew men wore prayer cloths that had tassels, which hung down at 4 points under their outer robes, which signified their identity with God----that’s what they actually cut off----so it wasn’t just a slap in the face to David’s men, it was a slap in the face of God.
David felt sorry for the dishonored men and in his gentle kindness, he instructed them to stay in Jericho to give their beards time to grow back, before they came back to Jerusalem.
The scripture doesn’t tell us that David summoned his troops, intending to go to war with the Ammonites, after that,-----but what it does tell us, is that the Ammonites recognized that they had angered David---- you would have thought, given David’s reputation, that they would have fallen all over themselves to make amends, but instead of apologizing or attempting to reconcile with David------Hanun hired Aramean mercenaries( he knew that they would have a bone to pick with David, because he had already killed so many of their men, and taken so many of their chariots and their horses and had quickly established army garrisons in their territories keep them in line, and to maintain peace) and he hired other Syrian renegades, too, to strengthen his army, so that they could go up against David, in an all-out war. (A lot of times, we respond angrily and defensively, to people and to situations, instead of admitting our mistakes, apologizing, and trying to diffuse the other person’s anger. Instead of fighting, we need to find away to make peace.)
It wasn’t until after David found out about their military build-up,-----that he called his army up, for active duty.
The Ammonites and their hired guns divided up into 2 groups, intending to attack the Israelites from the front and the rear. When General Joab saw what they were doing----he divided the army of Israel into 2 forces too. He led one division, and his brother Abishai led the other one.
I loved the last words of advice and encouragement, that Joab gave his brother as they parted to carry out their plan---(“Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done!” ) That is good advice for us too----there has to be a balance in our lives between our actions and our faith in God’s sovereignty---we should do everything that we can, that is on our power and our skill set and our expertise and our resources, but then, in the end, we have to trust God enough, to leave the outcome to Him. We have to use our minds and our resources to obey God, while trusting Him to do the good and right and perfect thing, at the same time---believing that whatever the outcome is, it is God’s best and perfect will. (Our lesson commentary uses 3 wonderful passages to encourage us in this mindset and behavior----1.) Colossians 3:23 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” and 2.) Zechariah 4:6 “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit”, says the Lord Almighty and 3.) Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s purpose that prevails.)
With what seems like very little effort----just surprise; a little creativity; David getting into the fight; and the mighty hand of God----- they had the Ammonites and the Arameans on the run.
All the lesser kings in the area who had pledged their allegiance to the Aramean king, Hadadezer, shifted their allegiance to David and subjected themselves to him-----and peace reigned for a long time after that.
Our lesson commentary sums up a wonderful over-all application for us, from this lesson-------David battled tangible enemies with tangible weapons. The battles we fight, are spiritual ones, and we have to fight them, with spiritual weapons which have the have the divine power to demolish the strongholds of the enemy-----we have to put on the spiritual armor that God has given to us, so that we will be perfectly equipped to fight----- and we have to pick up the weapons (Ephesians 6:13-17)---- and we have to use them---we can’t just leave them at home one day, because we were running late and didn’t have time to put them on, or because we thing they are cumbersome, and might slow us down-And we have to cover everything, in prayer---Ephesians 6:18 says, “Pray in the Spirit, on all occasions, with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep praying for all the saints.”
David was successful because he listened to God and obeyed Him ----and we can be just as successful as David, if we would just do what God tells us to-----He’s laid it all out in front of us-----all we have to do, is do it!
Prayer: Lord please teach us to how to work together with other Christians to overcome the threats in life that would overwhelm us, and hinder your work in this world. Thank you for being faithful in fulfilling the commitments you have made to us. Help us to take seriously the commitments and promises we have made to others. In Jesus’ name---amen.
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