David Defeats Ammon and Syria
As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.
Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.
2 Samuel 10:6-8
6 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.
7 And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men.
8 And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.
Let’s pick up where we left off last time. David had sent emmisaries to the new king of the Ammorites, seeking to provide a sign of loyalty in showing respect to the nation at the death of their king. The newly crowned son took counsel from inexperienced cousellors and treated David’s representative with malice, shaming them publicly.
The final verse of the last passage, David focused on providing an opportunity for these men of his court to regain honor.
Nothing in the previous text indicates David’s response to the new king of the Ammorites. He does not initiate an arm’s buildup, strategy sessions on a pre-emptive strike on the Ammorites, or develop a battle plan for decimating the new kings rule. Nothing is stated in the text regarding a violent response to the Ammorites by David
But we see the king of the Ammorites, the one who spit in David’s face, interpret the situation and begin the arms build up. They understood that any normal king would have to enter into war because of this hostility to the emmisaries. Hunan, the new king of the Ammorites continued his actions based on the counsel of those in his administration. In understanding the emmisaries visit incorrectly, it started a path to eventual war.
How critical wise counsel is!
Proverbs 20:18 Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.
The plans the Ammorite counsellors provided Hunan the king, when taken to their logical conclusion, required war. Whether David intended to keep peace or enter war is not discussed, but as for the Ammorites, the die was set, and people would die.
How critical wise counsel is!
The Ammorites amassed armies of their own, along with hiring Syrian soldiers, men of the king of Maacah and the men of Tob. The mercenary army alone was 33,000 soldiers! Upon this arms buildup of the Ammorites, David needed to respond. Joab and David’s mighty men approached the opposing forces. The battle would occur based on misunderstanding, mininterpretation of actions and the foolishness of young counsellors.
How critical wise counsel is!
For a moment let’s consider wise counsel, and where we might find it.
Experience
As we venture through life, we often need to find wise counsel. As one who has taken counsel from many in my years, may I witness to the benefit of listening to those who have experience in life. One of Hunan’s greatest mistakes was to refer to the young counsellors of his court.
Character
Of course, not all those who have lived long have lived wisely. This is a narrowing of potential counsellors that each of us need to consider. Those who have experience, and yet are of bad character should be avoided.
Humility
An aged man that has made wise choices, but is living in pride can distort counsel though a self centered desire to simply duplicate what he has done in his circumstances. Wise counsel considers the current circumstances of the one seeking and not necessarily the previous conditions of the counsellors success.
Truth
The final arbiter of good counsel is the appeal to the Scriptures. Those counsellors of experience, good character and humilty by directing the seeker to the Word, provides them the fountain of wisdom found in God’s Word. Some counsel to be given may need to be difficult to hear, and the Scriptures have the authority to provide this difficult truth from one sinner to the other. Judgement is of the Word and not of the counseller, thereby avoiding a condemning perception, or a potential bias of the counsellor.
The Word supplies a “Third Party”, that is God to enter the discussion and provide counsel that is enduring!
In this little review of wise counsel, it might be obvious that Hunan’s counsellors lacked much in every aspect we discussed. May we seek the counsel that honor’s God, and not simply satisfy our selfish ego!
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