2 Samuel 10:1-19
Once while Abraham Lincoln was dining in the
White House one of his guests blew on his coffee,
poured it into his saucer, and drank from it. As you
might imagine, some of the refined ladies and
gentlemen seated nearby were aghast, and for a
moment the room was filled with an embarrassed
silence. Then Lincoln took his coffee, poured it into
his saucer, and for the rest of the evening drank
directly from it. And you know what? Everyone else
in the room followed suit! One small act of kindness
saved a White House guest unbelievable
embarrassment. And that simple but thoughtful
gesture by one of America’s greatest presidents
reminds us of the value of setting an example of
kindness. Source: The UCB Word For Today, 20/2/2016
In 2 Samuel 9 we read of David’s kindness to Jonathan’s
son Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was the last remaining
relative of Saul’s household. Today we are going to look
at chapter 10 of second Samuel. Again we will see David
showing kindness to a man whose father has passed
away. The stories couldn’t be more different.
Let’s pray and ask God to reveal Himself to us through
His word this morning.
Let’s ask Him to remove any distractions and help us
truly hear what He wants us to hear from Him.
2 Samuel 10:1-5
David’s Kindness
David heard that king Nahash, king of Ammon, has died
and that his son Hanun has become king in his place.
Many kings would use that transition period to their
advantage and attack the opposing king.
Saul had defeated Nahash back in I Samuel 11.
The Ammonites had been enemies of Israel for quite
some time.
Killing the new king was not David’s plan.
Instead, David wanted to show kindness to Hanun.
Sent Servants to Console the King
He decided to send some of his servants to console him
in his time of grief. David’s heart was in the right place.
Hanun’s Despicable Response
Hanun had some very bad advisors that he listened to.
They viewed David’s kindness as a sneaky tactic to
infiltrate their land so he could attack them later.
There is a lesson here.
We need to make sure we are surrounding ourselves with
Godly people and seeking their wise counsel.
When we seek the counsel of evil men/women we are
setting ourselves up for failure and heartbreak.
Followed Bad Advice
Hanun listened to the bad counsel and responded by
shaving off half of the beards of David’s servants and
cutting off half of their garments at the buttocks.
Both of these were forms of humiliation to both the
recipient and the one who has sent him. This wasn’t just
an attack on David’s servants. It was an attack on David
too.
Beards were very significant back then.
They were only shaved during times of mourning.
And the whole thing was shaved, not just half.
To shave the beard of someone else was humiliating and
degrading to them.
And having half of your clothes cut off was also
embarrassing and humiliating.
I used to get real self-conscious when I was growing too
fast and my jeans were too short.
David’s men had it way worse. They were exposed from
the waist down.
David’s Kindness to his Servants
After his servants were humiliated, David showed
kindness to them as well.
He allowed them to stay in Jericho until their beards grew
back.
I’m sure he also provided them with new garments as
well.
David spared them from being humiliated on the way
back to Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 10:6-14
The Battle that Didn’t Happen
The Ammonites hired tens of thousands of men from
several different areas to fight against David and his
men.
The Ammonites realized they had become a stench to
David.
It’s the same word to describe the fish when Moses
turned the Nile to blood and all the fish died. The point is
they have offended David.
David was showing kindness and it was despised with two
acts of aggression. They assumed that David would be
mad and looking for a battle.
That wasn’t David’s plan, but once he saw that they had
gathered so many troops he reached out to Joab, the
commander of his army, and the mighty men.
Notice how we see the strategy of both armies.
The Ammonites reach out to the Syrians for assistance
and they get armies on both sides of David and his men.
Joab saw what was happening and developed a strategy
of his own.
He took the best men of Israel and arrayed them against
the Syrians and he gave the rest of the men to his
brother Abishai and set them against the Ammonites.
The plan was if you need help I will help you.
And if I need help, you will help me.
Then Joab gave Abishai some encouragement.
Be of good courage
Let’s be courageous for our people and for God’s cities.
Finally the most encouraging words are at the end of
verse 12.
“and may the Lord do what seems good to him.”
Joab realized that every battle belongs to the Lord.
If God wants Israel to win they will win. If God doesn’t
want them to win they will not win.
But at the end of the day, God is good and will do what
brings glory to Himself.
That’s important for us to remember.
God is going to do what seems good to Him and we must
always remember that He is sovereign.
Whatever the consequences, God always gets the glory.
God is good. All the time.
And He works all things together for good for those who
love Him and are called according to His purpose.
We should remember Paul’s encouraging words to the
church at Rome.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us,
who can be against us? He who did not spare his own
Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with
him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any
charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is
to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more
than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or
sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor
rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all
creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39
So Joab got his people ready to fight against the Syrians
and before there were any spears launched or any rock
catapulted the Syrians fled. That’s right. They took off
running home.
And the Ammonites did the same thing when they saw
Abishai ready for battle. So Joab returned back to
Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 10:15-19
David Defeats the Syrians
Hadadezer gathered some troops beyond the Euphrates
to fight against Israel. This time David came with his
mighty men to fight. They went over the Jordan to the
place the Syrians were and he killed 40k men!!! Now
that’s a decisive victory.
And also the commander Shobach was mortally wounded
in the battle.
Notice what happens next. When the kings who were
servants of Hadadezer saw that he had been defeated,
they decided to make peace with them and serve them.
Not a bad idea.
Isn’t it interesting that all of this could have been avoided
if Hanun would have just received the kindness from the
king.
APPLICATION
Our application is to consider how we respond to God’s
kindness.
Every breath we take is due to the kindness ofGod.
Every day on earth is another example of it.
The fact that God hasn’t smote us for our sin should
remind us that we deserve death because of our sin.
We must not presume on God’s kindness or take it for
granted.
God’s Kindness Should Lead us to Repentance
Romans 2:4 “Or 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?”
Have you repented of your sin?
Have you thanked God for His kindness?
Don’t take it for granted. Share it with someone else.