Calendar

HANUN GAVE HEED TO HIS PRINCES
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5
2 Samuel 10

Psalm 59:1-5

 

“Deliver me from
the workers of iniquity,

and save me from bloody men.”

 

HANUN GAVE HEED TO HIS PRINCES
 
The new king insulted David’s servants (2 Sam 10:4). They stopped short of killing them in the ill-treatment they meted out on them. The news of this response from Hanun eventually came to David. The men were greatly ashamed as the king of Ammon had ordered that they cut off half of their beards and their clothes. This violent act was an insult to David. He would have least expected that kind of treatment but, through this, he learned the attitude of the new king to their relationship. The king of Israel did what was best in those circumstances and did not escalate the situation.
 
David told the servants to tarry at Jericho until their beards were grown. This they did, but that insult had consequences. The diplomatic relation between the two nations was broken and the declaration of war was imminent. The reaction of Hanun might be attributed to inexperience, but armed conflict was likely to follow. David was ready for any challenge. He was the king of Israel and did not shy away from his duty to defend his nation. The king of Ammon knew that his treatment of the servants of David was a declaration of war, and thus he prepared for it. David was also not slow in understanding the action of Ammon. What followed was inevitable.
 
When peace is forsaken, a war follows. David prepared and went to war with Ammon and defeated them. Hanun knew that he had set a stage for a real war; so he hired mercenaries to fight David. It was not a small army that he had prepared. The capacity of that army that Hanun gathered was great. They were all from three camps of twenty thousand footmen plus another one thousand and the third was twelve thousand. David’s simple act of sending comforters over the death of his father led Hanun to declare war and became an instant enemy of Israel. It led to a full war. Such conflict is not simply a matter of words, it concerns loss of life.
 
THOUGHT: The folly of a king may result in a very great loss.

PRAYER: Father, give me a heart that seeks to save lives and not kill.

Search