To Encourage You

2 Samuel 10:1-6 “After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. And David said, ‘I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.’ So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites. But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, ‘Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?’ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, ‘Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.’ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men.”

In 2 Samuel 8 we are told of David’s conquest over all the surrounding nations after he had become king.  These included the Ammonites and the Syrians.  We are told that “the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.”  In 2 Samuel 10 we get some of the details on how this actually happened.  Interestingly, in the case of the Ammonites, their downfall came as a result of their tragic reaction to the kindness of David toward them.  The passage above indicates that the king of the Ammonites had dealt loyally with David at some time in the past. This was likely during the time when Saul was fighting against the Ammonites and seeking to destroy David at the same time.  In any event, we are told that after the king of Ammon died, David wanted to show kindness to the king’s son Hanun. He sent servants to console him because of his father’s death. But the Ammonites reacted in incredibly evil ways by humiliating David’s servants and sending them back to him in shame.  Then, when they realized that their actions had caused them to become a stench in the nostrils of David, they didn’t repent. Rather, they doubled down and sought the help of their neighbors the Syrians to fight against David. As a result, both the Ammonites and the Syrians were utterly defeated by David’s men. 

So, what in the world does this have to do with you and me, since in the New Testament we are told that accounts of the Old Testament were preserved in God’s Word, “as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did” (1 Corinthians 10:6)?  Well, for one, there is much about David’s life that is a shadow of the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ.  One of the things that Jesus has done is to send his servants into all the world, a world that doesn’t believe in Him and that has largely set itself against Him as His enemies, to preach the gospel to them. It is the message to them that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Scriptures then ask those who would, like the Ammonites, react to this kindness with resistance and even hostility (as many indeed do), “do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).  You see, that’s what God’s desire for all men is, that they would respond to His incredible kindness and patience and turn from their evil ways and live.  Yet, most resist. Most reject Him. In the first century many of Jesus’ servants were imprisoned and killed. That same mistreatment has continued to this day.  But it’s such folly, for who can think that they can fight against God and prevail in the end?

If David and his army that was led by him was so invincible, how much more invincible is the King of kings?  And so this warning to all, who like the Ammonites, and in turn the Syrians who would later joint them in their folly, “But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5).  Psalm 2 points to this same thing as it looks to both David’s kingdom, but beyond that kingdom to the kingdom of Jesus Christ: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, ‘Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.’  He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.’  I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.” 

And it’s the same message for each and every person on the face of the earth, whether they be a king – or much lower on the scale of this world’s power.  You can never fight against God and win. You can never react to His offer or mercy and salvation in a negative way and think you will end up better as a result.  The omnipotent God is invincible. Whatever He has said will be done.  The question is, will we respond to His message with repentance and embrace His lordship with submission and love, or will we resist Him, fight against Him, and go on in our sin.  It’s our choice, but the end of the story has already been written: there is only one King who rules in heaven. How much more certain is it that He will rule the world.