Unmute myself here.
Are we good?
Well, it's good to see you all here tonight.
Let's ask the Lord for our help as we look at his word.
Please pray with me.
Lord, be with us now as we open your word.
God, I pray that you will graciously and kindly, Lord, by your spirit, open our hearts and our minds to understand and to know what you are saying through your word tonight.
Lord, I ask that you would speak through me, that my words would be useful as you teach us about who you are.
The greatness of your love.
Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Who died and made you king?
It's one of the great playground retorts.
Right up there with, says who and am not, right?
Who died and made you king when you grab the kickball and say, I'm the captain and I get to pick first.
Or whatever it is.
When someone asserts themselves in a position of authority or control over something that you care about, maybe a little, maybe a lot, how often do we respond with this?
We resist it.
But if we remember correctly, this is in fact the very spirit that infected Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden back in the beginning of creation.
When they lived in a paradise, a world where everything was provided for them as they lived under the kingship of God himself.
And the serpent, Satan, came and whispered doubt.
Is he really good?
Can you really trust him?
Is it really better to submit to him than to try to be like him?
To be his peer?
To be independent of his rule?
To find life on your own?
Who died and made you king?
Is ultimately what Adam and Eve said to God with disastrous results.
If you've been coming to evening service, you know we're continuing the book of 2 Samuel.
In the series of 2 Samuel, we've been looking at God is establishing his physical kingdom for a period of time in the nation of Israel.
And he is starting with his chosen anointed king, David.
And that's what 2 Samuel is all about in many ways.
God establishing his king and answering the question, what kind of king can rule over his people?
We've seen in the first couple of chapters, David consolidating his power.
His rivals fleeing or disappearing and being eliminated.
Most importantly, in chapter 7 of 2 Samuel, we see God coming and making a covenant with David.
And saying, I will set you on a throne where your descendants will reign forever.
I will build you a house that will last for all of eternity.
And now we're in this section of chapters 8, 9, and 10,
where we see David in light of this covenant sitting upon this throne and extending his kingdom.
It shows David in many ways at his best, giving us a glimpse of the kind of king that God would have rule over his people.
And in fact, because we all know the story that's coming in chapter 11 with Bathsheba,
it's setting up a contrast between David at his best and David at his worst,
which is going to confirm our fears that who can sit in that role?
Who could ever do that?
God is doing this to point us to a greater son of David who will come at the end of the ages.
And we'll come back to that at the end of our sermon.
There will be another who will follow David who will sit on that throne.
And we will never have to worry whether we can trust him.
But in this chapter, we're in chapter 10, which is on page what?
I forgot to look it up.
261, page 261 in your pew Bible.
2 Samuel chapter 10.
We see God establishing the rule of his king, David, by his covenantal love,
extending grace to the nations and producing courageous faith in his people.
That's what this chapter is all about.
So turn with me to that passage, 2 Samuel chapter 10.
And even as we dive in, it's going to be a bit hairy because there are a lot of names
and there are a lot of people and, you know, this kind of happens sometimes.
So let me give you a few quick pointers before we even read the text.
All right?
First of all, the Ammonites are a key people in this story.
And who are they?
If you have a mental map of the Middle East, here's the Mediterranean Sea here, right?
Okay?
Wait, did I do that right?
Am I backwards or forwards?
Yes.
Okay.
So here's the Mediterranean Sea.
Here's Israel, right?
To the east of Israel.
Am I doing this right?
Okay.
To the east of Israel, along the eastern border, there are a couple of nations.
There's Moab down here.
And then just north of that is the Ammonites, right?
And just north of that is the Syrians, right?
The Ammonites live in vaguely what is now Jordan today.
Moab may also cover it.
Syria is mostly where Syria is today, although it extends further up.
So these are where those people live, right?
And what we've learned is that the Ammonites are enemies of the people of Israel.
They're people whom Saul, in 1 Samuel chapter 11, had a big military conquest against.
In fact, it was his victory over them that established Saul as the unified king over all the various tribes of Israel.
Right before he completely blew it and showed that he wasn't actually the one that God had intended to start his kingdom with.
We also see that, as if you were here a couple weeks ago when Justin talked about how David was expanding his kingdom,
the land that the Ammonites were in was not actually a part of the promised land.
It was outside of that.
But it was part of the area where David was extending his kingdom in order to create a buffer of peace around Israel
so that they could dwell in safety and worship God rightly.
Alright?
So that's a couple of just key things.
We'll see some names here.
Nahash and Hadadezer and some things like that.
But, you know, don't get caught up with those.
Just follow along a little bit as best you can.
I'll give a little commentary along the way just to follow along as we read 1 Samuel chapter 10.
After this, the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun, his son, reigned in his place.
And David said, I will deal loyally with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father dwelt loyally with me.
So David sent his servants to console him concerning his father.
And David's servants came into the land of the Ammonites.
But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, their lord,
Do you think because David has sent comforters to you that he's honoring your father?
Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?
So Hanun took David's servants and shaved off half their beards of each
and cut off their garments in the middle at their hips and sent them away.
When it was told, David, he sent to meet them.
For the men were greatly ashamed.
And the king said, Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.
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 Maaka with 1,000 men,
and the men of Tob, 12,000 men.
And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men.
And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gates.
And the Syrians of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maaka
were by themselves in the open country.
Okay, let's just stop and say, so what's happened here so far?
David sent a consolation to the people of the Ammonites, to the king, right?
His advisor said, don't trust him.
He's just trying to rule you.
And he completely embarrassed and shamed those messengers.
Sending them back, unmanning them in the way that he shaved their beards
and exposed their privates is basically what he's saying by cutting their trousers.
Right?
And he sent them back in shame.
And here's the thing.
You don't even see David's reaction except mercy to his things.
What happens?
The Ammonites know we have blown it.
We have now made ourselves so offensive to David that we've got to muster our army against him.
And so that's what they do.
And they call out, they hire, they make treaties with these Syrian kings from various places.
And they gather together in an army.
And David sees this and he calls out, Joab is general.
And he sends out the mighty men to meet them in battle.
Right?
That's just a summary.
Case you missed with all those names, what was going on.
That's where we are.
So, when Joab saw that the battle was set against him, both in front and in the rear,
he chose the sons of the best men, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians.
The rest of his men he put in charge of Abishai, his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites.
And he said, if the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me.
But if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.
Be of good courage and let us be courageous for our people and for the cities of our God.
And may the Lord do what seems good to him.
So, Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians and they fled before him.
And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city.
Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.
But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel,
they gathered themselves together.
And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates.
And they came to Helam with Shobach and the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head.
And when it was told, David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam.
The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him.
And the Syrians fled before Israel.
And David killed the Syrians, the men of 700 chariots and 40,000 horsemen,
and wounded Shobach, the commander of their army, and so that he died there.
And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw they had been defeated by Israel,
they made peace with Israel and became subject to them.
So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.
Okay, brief summary.
We'll get back to some of the details of this because it's important in the second half of what we're going to talk about.
But brief summary.
So they go out to battle.
Israel wins, right?
And the interesting thing is the Ammonites don't say,
shoot, we just got our tails handed to us.
We've got to go and try again.
It's the hired guys who say, how did we get beat by them?
We can muster a better team than that.
So they go back and they pull all these Syrians from, remember the map?
Across the Euphrates is like way out here.
They're drawing this huge army over to try to defeat Israel.
David hears of it.
He goes out to battle.
The battle's won.
Right?
So that's a very brief story about what happens.
Right?
And what we will see, just so you know, is that the end of the story happens at the end of chapter 12.
David finally, well, Joab actually leads the army to the capital city of Rabat.
He lays siege to it.
He finally defeats it.
As he defeats it, he calls David.
David comes and rides in as the conquering king.
And that's the end of the battle with the Ammonites for the foreseeable future in the Bible.
And so there's an end to this.
And it doesn't actually end here.
What does end here is the Syrians, who have been kind of the hired hands, are out of the picture.
No longer will they help this Ammonite country.
Because David has defeated them roundly and soundly.
Multiple times.
So here's the question.
Why did the author put this chapter in the Bible?
Right?
There's a great theologian, 20th century theologian, who said,
This chapter in the Bible has no theological significance whatsoever in the canon.
I don't believe that.
But it's interesting that a really learned Bible scholar said,
What the heck?
Why is this in here?
So this is the question.
This is the question that I want to explore for just a few more minutes tonight.
The narrator, I think, gives us two indications in the middle of what is basically a very clipped account of a battle.
It doesn't say much about what happened during the battles.
They went out to battle and the bad guys fled.
That's all it says when you look at it.
There's very little in the story.
But there are two places where the narrator inserts something that seems to be more significant.
In verse 2 and in verse 12.
And I think that what you see in verse 2 is actually a very core and central idea
that any Hebrew reader reading this story would think,
Wow!
There's something more going on here.
I think what the reader would see is that God is doing what he's doing in this chapter
because of his covenantal love and his loyal faithfulness.
Why do I say that?
Look at chapter 10, verse 2.
There's this word here that you don't see.
It doesn't stand out very much.
David says,
I will deal loyally with Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.
The word loyally there is a very rich word in the Hebrew Old Testament.
It is the word that is used of God's faithfulness to Joseph
when he's sent to prison after being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife.
It is the word that God uses to describe himself
when after the people of Israel had made themselves an idol of a golden calf
and begun to worship it at the very time that God was revealing himself to them
by giving Moses the Ten Commandments in the law.
After that event, God comes to Moses.
Moses says, I have to see you.
I have to know who you are.
You know the story.
God hides Moses in the cleft of the rock
and God passes by and he says,
The Lord, the Lord, slow to anger.
His steadfast love, this is the same word,
his steadfast love
is never ending.
It is the same psalm that David in Psalm 51 will begin
as he's confessing his sin about what happens with Bathsheba
in just a few chapters.
Have mercy on me, O Lord, according to your loving kindness.
So this word, loyally, steadfast love, loving kindness,
is translated variously in different places.
But it has this very central and weighty idea in the Bible.
And what it is is that the God of the Bible
is a God who makes gracious covenants with his people.
And those covenants are certain enough
and secure enough to put their whole weight of trust and faith in.
And they are characterized not by the harsh lex to lonis of the day,
the eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth
that normally governed relationships in the ancient Near East,
but instead were characterized by abundant kindness,
graciousness, undeserved favor and goodness towards his people.
And that's what David says,
I'm going to extend to these people.
And that's what, if you were here last week,
that's what David said that he wanted to show to Mephibosheth.
This idea of covenant love and loyal faithfulness,
that this is the character of God
and therefore the character of the king
who would rule over God's people,
is I think the key to understanding this passage.
Because what you see then is,
on the basis of this kind of God,
we see God's king extending this kind of love
to his enemies,
to the nations, right?
David doesn't have to do this.
He's beaten everybody he's gone up against so far.
But he goes to the Ammonites and he says,
hey, let's make a covenant, you and I.
Let's be at peace together.
And it's remarkable
how they respond, isn't it?
Do they respond and think,
wow, peace, unmerited favor
with a powerful nation.
That's great, let's do it.
No.
How do they respond?
Fear, suspicion, scorn, derision.
If you've ever seen the great
Kenneth Branagh version of Henry V,
there's a great scene at the beginning
where the Henry, young Prince Hal,
who has just descended to the throne
and everyone's wondering
whether this playboy could ever be a king,
is sitting on the throne with his counselors
and he has this first court audience
with the French ambassador.
And he's made claims saying,
we own part of northern France
that seemingly are legitimate.
And the French send him a tribute,
not of gold, not of silver,
but of tennis balls.
It is an act of scorn.
You are a king,
but you are really a playboy.
We don't fear you.
We don't honor you.
And we're not going to give you
what you have claimed.
It's a remarkable scene,
if you've ever seen it,
of this kind of thing that wells up,
I think, in our hearts as well.
Because I think we are often like
the Ammonites.
God comes to us
with his loving kindness and grace
and says,
I offer you a covenant
if you will be at peace with me
and honor me as your king.
But like trying to pet an abused dog,
God finds that we instead
snap at him,
run away,
cower in fear in the corner.
We struggle so much
to receive this gracious initiative
from God.
Our hearts well up instead
with resistance,
suspicion,
fear,
and sometimes even scorn.
That's what we do to our God.
This is what Adam and Eve did
in the garden.
No, God,
I won't submit
and receive from you.
I choose rather to be independent,
even though that means death,
even though that means
expulsion from the garden,
all the separation from providence,
provision.
We are like the Ammonites.
We are not like David.
Are we?
We are so rarely willing to extend
grace, kindness, compassion,
peace to those that we are afraid of,
to those who we view as our enemies.
Maybe in this world today,
the church struggles to do this.
In America,
we may struggle to do this
towards radical Islamists
or to hardened atheists.
We don't extend grace
and invite them into relationship
with ourselves and with the creator God
out of fear
as well.
We often want to win
the battles of our day
out of fear
rather than winning people
with offers
of covenantal kindness.
Because that's what David was doing.
He was saying,
let me extend to you
grace and peace
so that we can have
peace with one another
rather than conflict.
They refused it,
just like we often do.
But at the end of the day,
it reminds us that
the God of the Old Testament
is a God of mercy
who has extended this to us.
God has shown mercy to me.
How have I received it?
The story goes on, doesn't it?
Verses 1 through 5
tell that story
and then it goes on
to tell the story of the battle.
They array themselves up
against David.
And Joab comes out
and he finds himself
in actually quite a predicament.
It's a little difficult to tell
because the narrator
doesn't seem to make
a big deal about it.
But Joab finds himself
with his band of
mighty men
but he's between
a rock and a hard place.
He's between
two large forces
with a small force
in the middle.
And any military tactician
would say,
this is a really terrible
place to be.
You've got to somehow
get yourself out of this
so you can fight
only on one front.
Particularly when
you're outnumbered.
But what we see
what we see
with Joab
is
that God's
covenantal faithfulness
his covenantal
commitment
to his kingdom
means that David
can live with
courageous faith
in these circumstances.
Right?
He takes action
he says
alright
this is where we are.
You go there
we go there
we agree to help
each other
if we see
that one of us
is in trouble
and at the end
of the day
may God
do what is good.
It's fascinating.
Joab wasn't
a particularly
pious person.
This is about
the greatest
statement of trust
and faith
that we see
in the whole
Bible
from Joab.
Right?
But what he does
is
in the face
of overwhelming odds
with no promise
of victory
Joab knew
that God
would
ultimately
establish
David's kingdom
but
in contrast
to some other
places where
God clearly
says
David
go up here
and do this
and I will
give you victory.
There's no promise
here.
There's no clarity.
There's no evidence
that God
has promised
Joab
you will win
this victory
today
and yet
in the face
of that
Joab lives
with great
faith
and do you see
what his faith
is in?
His faith
is not in the
victory.
He says
let's go be
courageous.
Let's defend
God's kingdom
God's people.
Let us go
and lay
ourselves down
in this
noble battle
not because
we trust
that God
will give
us the
victory
but because
we trust
that God
will be
good.
The only
way that
Joab
could do
that
is because
he knew
the covenant
that God
had made.
He knew
the kind
of covenant
faithfulness
that this
God
had showed
to his
people
and so
at one
level
what Joab
is saying
is hey
let's go
and let's
fight the
good fight
let's be
courageous
and we
will trust
God that
whether we
win or
lose
whether we
live or
die today
God
will be
good.
God
will not
abandon
his kingdom
God
will not
forsake
his covenant
and his
king.
Amen.
what does
it look
like for
us to
trust
God
like
that?
What does
it look
like
to trust
God
when
what
seems
good
to
you
doesn't
seem
good
to
him?
What does
it look
like to
take
courageous
steps
of risky
faith
without
confidence
in the
outcome?
It
reminds me
of five
men
who back
in the
1950s
heard
of a
tribe
back in
the jungles
of Ecuador
people who
did not
know the
name of
Jesus
Christ
people who
lived in
a stone
age culture
that was
marked by
violence
they would
kill one
another
over petty
disputes
all the
tribes that
surrounded this
tribe were
afraid of
them because
of their
ferocity
and because
of their
effective
violence
against
people
but these
five men
said
for the
sake of
Christ
we will
go
and may
God do
what is
good
with us
they
found
where they
lived
they made
contact
from the
air
they finally
went in
and landed
their plane
and set up
a camp
and waited
for the
tribe to
come
knowing
that they
would come
and explore
them
so these
five men
I can remember
all their
names
Nate Saint
Jim
Elliot
Roger
Ewardian
I got
that wrong
who are the
other two
anyway
I forgot
to write
them down
these
five men
went
and they
interacted
with the
tribesmen
for two
days
and the
third
day
the
warriors
came
and they
were slaughtered
and it
was a
tragedy
in the
eyes of
the world
it was a
tragedy in
the eyes
of the
American
press
that wrote
stories
about it
but these
men said
let us go
and fight
the battle
for the
name of
Jesus
being known
throughout
the world
for these
men and
women who
are living
in darkness
of this
incredibly
violent
and destructive
culture
who need
to hear
of the
grace and
love
that can
be theirs
in Jesus
Christ
and they
took a
risk
and they
died for
it
was it
a waste
was God
not good
to them
no
others
came behind
them
and the
gospel was
preached
in fact
the very
act of
killing
these
men
some
reported
that they
had visions
of seeing
angels
the very
site where
the men
were killed
and that
was the
beginning
of God
speaking to
them
and God
drawing
them to
himself
in faith
it's a
remarkable
story
about trusting
God
without knowing
what the
consequences
are
if you
were in
church a
couple weeks
ago you
might have
seen
Stanley and
Laura
Kolisar
come and
tell the
story of
one of
their
colleagues
named
Yusuf
who
recently
was
executed
in front
of his
home for
his faith
in Christ
for his
fearlessness
in proclaiming
Christ
and yet
the
chesed
that's the
word for
covenant
loyalty
the chesed
God
has not
changed
he has
not
failed
us
you see
friends
what
2 Samuel
10 points
us to
is that
there is
a king
who will
sit
on the
throne
of David
to come
and his
name is
Jesus
and that
Jesus
comes
and offers
this
covenant
faithful
love
to us
he
actually
establishes
a covenant
with all
who have
faith in
him
by laying
down
his
very
own
life
he
establishes
a new
way for
us to
come to
him
that
doesn't
require
us to
do
anything
but to
admit
our
sinfulness
and our
need
to admit
that we
are like
the
Ammonites
who run
away from
the grace
of God
and this
Jesus
comes
and he
says
I've
laid
down
my
life
for
you
now
come
believe
in me
trust
in me
and in
my new
covenant
you will
find
life
new
spiritual
life
now
and
life
everlasting
in my
death
and in
my
resurrection
I
have
overcome
the
greatest
battles
that you
will face
in the
world
against
your
own
sinfulness
I
have
died
to
break
the
power
of
sin
and
offer
you
forgiveness
that can
change
you
so that
you
no longer
need to
be
slaves
to
your
sinful
hearts
and
death
itself
the
thing
that
we
most
fear
if
we
are
really
honest
with
ourselves
Jesus
rose
from
the
dead
to
say
death
has
no
hold
on
those
who
have
faith
in
me
because
I
have
risen
and
all
who
are
with
me
will
rise
again
and
so
we
live
in
the
world
like
Joab
in
between
knowing
that
there
is
a
king
sitting
on
the
throne
and
yet
not
experiencing
the
fullness
of
peace
and
victory
and
being
called
to
trust
him
in
the
meantime
trust
him
with
our
singleness
when
it
goes
on
and
on
and
we
wonder
will
it
ever
change
will
God
ever
provide
trusting
God
as we
face
chronic
or
terminal
illness
not
knowing
will
God
heal
and
extend
or
will
God
end
this
life
trusting
God
to
change
your
career
so
that
you
will
be
free
to
share
the
gospel
in
another
part
of
the
world
trust
in
God
to
make
it
through
one
more
day
on
the
street
in
the
shelter
Jesus
has
come
to
establish
a
covenant
with
his
people
that
is
certain
and
secure
because
of
his
death
on
the
cross
he
is
the
king
of
David
who
offers
now
this
grace
to
all
the
nations
of
the
world
and
because
of
his
death
and
his
resurrection
we
can
live
with
great
courageous
faith
facing
the
challenges
where
we
feel
overwhelmed
in
between
a
rock
and
a
hard
place
with
courage
saying
maybe
God
will
show
us
his
goodness
today
and
so
friends
this
seemingly
worthless
chapter
in
2nd
Samuel
points
us
to
a
great
God
who
has
done
great
things
for
us
let's
pray
Lord
thank you
for
this
chapter
in
the
scriptures
and
thank you
that it
points
us
to
your
unfailing
love
your
steadfast
love
your
loyalty
and
faithfulness
Lord
you have
shown us
this
most of
all
in
Jesus
Lord
that he
is the
king
who
has
established
a
covenant
that
will
never
fail
and a
kingdom
that
will
never
end
Lord
you
have
graciously
invited
us
to
come
and to
be
at
peace
with
you
and to
be
in
your
kingdom
Lord
I
pray
tonight
for those
here
who are
seeking
and who
are far
off
from
you
Lord
that they
would
respond
to your
grace
and love
and turn
to you
in faith
hope
Lord
for all
of us
may we
learn
to live
with
courageous
faith
because of
what you
have done
for us
we pray
in Jesus
name
Amen