In this chapter, the king of the Ammonites misunderstood David’s kind gesture which, unfortunately, leads to a war. The chapter begins, “Some time after this, King Nahash of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun became king. David said, “I am going to show complete loyalty to Hanun because his father, Nahash, was always completely loyal to me.” So David sent ambassadors to express sympathy to Hanun about his father’s death.
But when David’s ambassadors arrived in the land of Ammon, Hanun’s advisers said to their master, “Do you really think these men are coming here to honor your father? No! David has sent them to spy out the city so that they can come in and conquer it!” So Hanun seized David’s ambassadors and shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their robes at the buttocks, and sent them back to David in shame. When David heard what had happened, he sent messengers to tell the men to stay at Jericho until their beards grew out, for they were very embarrassed by their appearance.” (2 Samuel 10:1-5)
As you can imagine, this angered David greatly, and the Ammonites knew this, as well. So the Ammonites hired additional forces from the Arameans to help fight against David’s army. David sent Joab and the entire Israelite army to fight them. When Joab saw all of the Ammonite troops, he told his men, “Be courageous! Let us fight bravely to save our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.” (verse 12).
Joab and his troops attack, the Arameans and the Ammonites retreat and eventually regroup, and the chapter ends with David joining the fight, conquering the Arameans, and making them slaves.
Lord, thank you for your Word today! Help us always exercise kindness even when it is misunderstood, and help us keep you in the center of all that we do. We love you!
May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
….AND MAY WE ALL PRACTICE THIS WITH ONE ANOTHER.
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