Reflections on 1 Chronicles 19

 1 Chronicles 19(Contemporary English Version)

1. Some time later, King Nahash of Ammon died, and his son Hanun became king.
2. David said, "Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son." He sent some officials to Ammon to tell Hanun how sorry he was that his father had died. But when David's officials arrived at Ammon,
3. the Ammonite leaders said to Hanun, "Do you really believe King David is honoring your father by sending these men to comfort you? He probably sent them to spy on our country, so he can come and destroy it."
4. Hanun arrested David's officials and had their beards shaved off and their robes cut off just below the waist, and then he sent them away.
5. They were terribly ashamed. When David found out what had happened to his officials, he sent a message that told them, "Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then you can come home."
6. The Ammonites realized they had made David furious. So they paid over thirty tons of silver to hire chariot troops from Mesopotamia and from the Syrian kingdoms of Maacah and Zobah.
7. Thirty-two thousand troops, as well as the king of Maacah and his army, came and camped near Medeba. The Ammonite troops also left their towns and came to prepare for battle.
8. David heard what was happening, and he sent out Joab with his army.
9. The Ammonite troops marched to the entrance of the city and prepared for battle, while the Syrian troops took their positions in the open fields.
10. Joab saw that the enemy troops were lined up on both sides of him. So he picked some of the best Israelite soldiers to fight the Syrians.
11. Then he put his brother Abishai in command of the rest of the army and told them to fight against the Ammonites.
12. Joab told his brother, "If the Syrians are too much for me to handle, come and help me. And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I'll come and help you.
13. Be brave and fight hard to protect our people and the towns of our LORD God. I pray he will do whatever pleases him."
14. Joab and his soldiers attacked the Syrians, and the Syrians ran from them.
15. When the Ammonite troops saw that the Syrians had run away, they ran from Abishai's soldiers and went back into their own city. Joab then returned to Jerusalem.
16. As soon as the Syrians realized they had been defeated, they sent for their troops that were stationed on the other side of the Euphrates River. Shophach, the commander of Hadadezer's army, led these troops to Ammon.
17. David found out what the Syrians were doing, and he brought Israel's entire army together. They crossed the Jordan River, and he commanded them to take their positions facing the Syrian troops. Soon after the fighting began,
18. the Syrians ran from Israel. David killed seven thousand chariot troops and forty thousand regular soldiers. He also killed Shophach, their commander.
19. When the kings who had been under Hadadezer's rule saw that Israel had defeated them, they made peace with David and accepted him as their new ruler. The Syrians never helped the Ammonites again.

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We see something of David's character in these verses concerning his show of kindness to the son of Nahash following Nahash's death. Though we don't know the occasion, Nahash had at some time in the past showed kindness to David and David seemed never to forget a kindness shown to him. Though Israel and the Ammonites had been enemies during Saul's reign, Nahash may have been kind to David during this time since Saul considered David his enemy.

No doubt due to this past animosity between the two nations, Hanun's advisors were suspect of the emissaries David sent to console Hanun in the loss of his father. They cautioned Hanun that these emissaries might actually be spys scouting out their land. Rather than treating David's messengers with caution, Hanun treated them with contempt by shaving their beards and cutting off the bottom half of their clothes. He evidently knew nothing about diplomacy. Too bad his advisors didn't also advise him in this as well.

Whether or not the Ammonites recognized their actions against David's messengers to be a mistake, they did realize soon after that these actions had made them repulsive to David. Though their suspicions of the messengers were unfounded, they now had reason to be concerned about aggression against them from the Israelites. So they hired mercenaries to bolster their own army. This, too, proved to be a mistake, for though David had no plans to attack Ammon he now felt threatened by this amassing army against him and so he went on the offensive and sent his army against them. Again, diplomacy might have averted military action.

David sent his army, under the leadership of Joab, to attack the combined Ammonite and Aramean armies and they were victorious. This time the Ammonites showed a measure of wisdom by accepting defeat and taking no further action. However, the Arameans did not accept their defeat. Instead they summoned their relatives from across the Euphrates River to join them against the Israelites. Again, David was faced with the threat of an amazing army against him which he could not ignore.

David moved quickly, crossing the Jordan and lining up in battle formation against this Aramean army, catching them off guard. They were again victorious, this time doing significant damage to the Aramean army. This was the last time the Arameans were willing to help the Ammonites.

There are times when diplomacy is called for and other times when it is not. God's wisdom can help us know which to use if we will not ignore it due to our pride.