Year 1, Day 327: 2 Samuel 10

Love and Loyalty Misconstrued

In 2 Samuel 10 we get another example of David’s love.  No, I’m not talking about David’s love for war – which might seem like the logical conclusion given this chapter is largely about war.  Rather, this chapter gives us a genuine perspective of loyal love.

This chapter unfolds with David desiring to be loyal to the king of the Ammonites.  Nahash had been loyal to David, and David seeks to return the favor.  It is a simple act of compassion coming from a man who tends to let his passion show.  It is an act of love.

Yet, the princes of the Ammonites convince Nahash’s son, Hanan, that David’s motives are not pure.  They convince Hanan that David is spying on them.  So Hanan chooses to go to war against the Hebrew people.  Now, there are a slew of lessons that we can learn from this story.

First, there is a cliché out there that says “a good deed never goes unpunished.”  Sometimes we can have the best of intentions but people take our meaning completely the wrong way.  Sometimes when we try to be absolutely helpful our actions are taken to be intrusive, interfering, and nosey.  Sometimes in an attempt to be polite and sincere we are seen as sticking our nose where it doesn’t belong or simply putting on a meaningless show.  The lesson we learn is that sometimes when we try to show love it is not accurately perceived by those to whom we are trying to show love.

Second, we hear that the Ammonites go out and hire the Syrians.  Sometimes those to whom we are trying to show love not only take things the wrong way but got out and actually rally support against us.  Sometimes our attempts at showing love not only are misinterpreted but completely backfire and make more enemies than just the one to whom we are trying to show love!

Third, we learn that often we do not initiate the battles we fight.  David certainly did not initiate the war with the Ammonites, but he and his people were drawn into war anyway.  We occasionally have to fight battles that we don’t think we are going to need to fight.  Sometimes battles come out of the blue and blindside us.  But if we are righteous, we can fight well and fight with God on our side.  We can overcome those battles that we do not see coming so long as we are righteous in our ways.

Fourth, we can learn that it is important to seek good counsel.  The war is fought simply because Hanan chooses to believe bad counsel.  Hanan believes the princes of his own land rather than David.  Now, this probably makes sense.  Human beings are more likely to listen to the counsel of those who are like them or those who are kin to them before the foreigner.  But this story should teach us that just because it makes sense to listen to one person’s counsel over another person doesn’t mean that it is the right decision.  It would have made more sense to accept David’s gift of loyalty than to listen to the counsel of the princes.

Fifth, we see in the Ammonites that people are often exposed to God’s kindness and love but feel the need to reject it.  This point is especially true with respect to the comparison between this chapter and the last chapter.  In 2 Samuel 9 Mephibosheth is invited to share in God’s love through David and he embraces the opportunity.  In 2 Samuel 10 the Ammonites are invited to experience God’s love through David and they utterly reject it.  This is the way of the world.  Often the ways of those who reject God’s love simply don’t make sense just as the rejection of the Ammonites doesn’t make sense.

Last, we can learn that those who show contempt for love and mercy will ultimately be destroyed.  The Ammonites reject love – reject God’s love through David – and they pay the ultimate price.  Again, this is a point that really shines through when we compare it to Mephibosheth.  Mephibosheth graciously accepted God’s love and we know that he was blessed because of it.  The Ammonites refuse God’s love and not only are they defeated, but they further lose an ally in the Syrians, too!

Who would have thought that there were so many good lessons to be learned in this chapter?  But here they are, and truth be told I probably missed a few lessons, too!

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