2 SAMUEL 10 - FATHER KNOWS BEST
2 Samuel 10
One of the iconic shows of the early television era was one called “Father Knows Best.” In a sense, that would be a very fitting title for this Chapter.
The Chapter begins with David showing kindness to King Hanun, the new King of the Ammonites, who were a neighboring people group. Hanun’s father, Nahash, had always treated David honorably, even though the Ammonites were often enemies of Israel. So, David decided to show kindness to the new King, and he sent a delegation to him to express consolations at the death of his father. The new king was suspicious of David’s motives, and thought that David had sent the delegation in order to spy out the land so that David could somehow take it over. So, rather than welcome the delegation, the new King humiliated them by shaving off a portion of their beards & by ripping their clothes. This naturally infuriated David.
The Ammonites sensed David’s anger at them, and became afraid that David might attack them. So, they hired a huge contingency of soldiers from Syria and two other nations to help them. Along with the Ammonite army, these forces, set out to hem in David’s army from both the front and from behind. In response, David’s commander, Joab, divided up his forces so that there would be one group to face off against the Syrians and another group to face off against the Ammonites. And, he ordered each group to help the other if needed. After much repositioning by both sides, a large battle took place, and Israel won decisively.
The key verse in the Chapter is Vs. 12, where Joab says this right before the battle begins:
“Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.”
You see, Joab knew that God was sovereignly in control of the entire situation, and that He could be trusted because His will was best. Joab’s confidence in God and in God’s will gave him the courage to stand firm in the face of his enemies and to prevail over them. We can have the same type of courage to face our battles, whatever they may be, if we would trust in the goodness of God and in His will.
When we face trials in life, confidence comes as we trust in God’s will. He knows all of the facts, from the beginning to the end, and He is Holy, perfect, all knowing, and is good all of the time. Rom. 12:2 tells us that God’s will is good, acceptable, and perfect. As such, it is always better than our will.
Joab also trusted in God’s essential goodness to always do what is best for His own people. This enabled him to calmly but bravely face his enemies. Prov. 21:31 says that “the victory belongs to the Lord.” This truth did not cause Joab to shirk his responsibilities, but rather it enabled him to make the best battle plans he could make, and fight with all of his strength, but to trust in God to win the battle. You see faith is doing our part, but giving the outcome to the Lord. In that way, God will also receive the glory that He alone deserves.
The amazing victory of the army of Israel in this battle against a formidable coalition of other armies was a legendary accomplishment for King David. Yet, in the very next Chapter, we will see David rest on his laurels from this victory, and shirk the responsibility that God had given him to lead his nation in its ongoing battles with other enemies. As a result of David ignoring God’s will for his life, he will fall into temptation with Bathsheba and commit some of the worst sins imaginable, and the earthly consequences of that will plague David the rest of his life.
In the Christian life, we can often be at our most vulnerable to temptation after a major accomplishment, because it is then that we tend rest on our laurels and become less diligent about our walk with the Lord. When we think we are strong can often be the time when we are actually at our weakest. Unlike Joab, David did not think that his heavenly Father knew best.