May 11: 2 Samuel 10, I Chronicles 19, Psalm 20

May 11, 2 Samuel 10, I Chronicles 19, Psalm 20

2 Samuel 10 We left off last chapter where David brings Mephibosheth into his life and takes care of him. Now David was showing political kindness to a neighboring nation, and sent some of his guys to go comfort King Hunan, as he just lost his father. Hunan’s advisors believed that David’s men came to spy out the land so that they could eventually conquer it… So, instead of being thankful for the gesture, Hunan took David’s men and humiliated them by shaving off half their beards and cutting the crotches out of their garments. David heard about this, and had his men stay at Jericho until their beards grew back. 

Now the Ammonites (Hunan’s people) realized that they really upset David, so they went and hired a bunch of neighboring armies to help them, which was not uncommon back then. Joab, David’s commander put together a plan of attack with some of his best men and he put his trust in the will of Yahweh. For a moment, it seemed as though the Israelites were going to lose, they were delivered by God again. When all the kings saw that they were defeated, they became servants of the Israelites and nobody wanted to help the Ammonites anymore (because they went against Israel/God and lost).

1 Chronicles 19 Again, the Chronicler writes these historic items very similar to that of 2 Samuel 10. You will learn soon that the Chronicler focuses on different items than that of 2 Samuel and others, but for now, it is similar.

Psalm 20 is a great prayer to God and His power for when the battle is on. We are to place everything in the Lord’s hands and trust Him to protect and preserve. Then we transition to confirming our trust in Him and His Holiness. Where do you put your trust? In ‘things’ that can help you in your struggles, or in the name of Yahweh? David trusted in Yahweh.

To sum it all up:

• Are you prepared for battle? Is God guiding you to this or to wait?