First Chronicles 19:1

The Bible says in First Chronicles 19:1-5, “Now it came to pass after this, that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.[2] And David said, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father shewed kindness to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. So the servants of David came into the land of the children of Ammon to Hanun, to comfort him.[3] But the princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanun, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? are not his servants come unto thee for to search, and to overthrow, and to spy out the land?[4] Wherefore Hanun took David's servants, and shaved them, and cut off their garments in the midst hard by their buttocks, and sent them away.[5] Then there went certain, and told David how the men were served. And he sent to meet them: for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.” David knew what to do in this situation: help these men who had their beards cut off. The best thing to do was to just fix the problem. It was an easy fix: let the beards grow back before they go back into the public. Every problem has a solution, and sometimes we just need to wait a little bit.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 19:6-13, “And when the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent a thousand talents of silver to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, and out of Syria-maachah, and out of Zobah.[7] So they hired thirty and two thousand chariots, and the king of Maachah and his people; who came and pitched before Medeba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle.[8] And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the host of the mighty men.[9] And the children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array before the gate of the city: and the kings that were come were by themselves in the field.[10] Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose out of all the choice of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians.[11] And the rest of the people he delivered unto the hand of Abishai his brother, and they set themselves in array against the children of Ammon.[12] And he said, If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, then I will help thee.[13] Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight.” What we see in these verses is that “Hanun and the children of Ammon” over-reacted probably out of fear. They knew that what they had done to shame David’s men was wrong, and they thought that David would come against them. And so they acted first. They were the aggressors. That put them in the wrong a second time. Always be on the side of what is right if you want Jesus to be on your side. Evidently, God gave Joab a good plan because his plan for battle worked perfectly. Joab was a bad guy in many of the times where we see him in the Bible, but in verse thirteen he made a very good statement. He said, “Be of good courage, and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities of our God: and let the LORD do that which is good in his sight.” Basically, he said three things. The third thing that Joab said is in the last part of the verse: “let the LORD do that which is good in his sight.” God will decide the outcome. Everything is up to God. We cannot control that, but we can trust that God will do “good.” Only God is good. He knows His plan. He knows what will fit into his good plan for all people. But there are some things that are left for us to do, and Joab mentions two of them in the other parts for this verse. First, we should be brave. There is nothing to fear if you believe in God. Second, do what you do for others. Do not think of yourself. Think of others and how you can help them. Let that be your motivation. That is why Jesus came into the world: to save others.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 19:14-19, “So Joab and the people that were with him drew nigh before the Syrians unto the battle; and they fled before him.[15] And when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother, and entered into the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.[16] And when the Syrians saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they sent messengers, and drew forth the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Shophach the captain of the host of Hadarezer went before them.[17] And it was told David; and he gathered all Israel, and passed over Jordan, and came upon them, and set the battle in array against them. So when David had put the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him.[18] But the Syrians fled before Israel; and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand men which fought in chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and killed Shophach the captain of the host.[19] And when the servants of Hadarezer saw that they were put to the worse before Israel, they made peace with David, and became his servants: neither would the Syrians help the children of Ammon any more.” This is another passage of Scripture that shows once again how much the Lord had blessed King David. Victory after victory, blessing after blessing, and deliverance after deliverance. That was David’s life up to this point. Yes, he won the military victories, but even when the military battles stop, the spiritual battles continue on. If you are not prepared for the spiritual battles, you are in big trouble.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 20:1-8, “And it came to pass, that after the year was expired, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab led forth the power of the army, and wasted the country of the children of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried at Jerusalem. And Joab smote Rabbah, and destroyed it.[2] And David took the crown of their king from off his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it; and it was set upon David's head: and he brought also exceeding much spoil out of the city.[3] And he brought out the people that were in it, and cut them with saws, and with harrows of iron, and with axes. Even so dealt David with all the cities of the children of Ammon. And David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.[4] And it came to pass after this, that there arose war at Gezer with the Philistines; at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite slew Sippai, that was of the children of the giant: and they were subdued.[5] And there was war again with the Philistines; and Elhanan the son of Jair slew Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, whose spear staff was like a weaver's beam.[6] And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant.[7] But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David's brother slew him.[8] These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants.” These verses tell us about some of the great victories that David and his men had. Evidently Goliath had several relatives, sons and brothers, who were also giant men. David also had brothers, and one of his brothers who was named Shimea had a son named Jonathan. Remember that David’s brothers who were full-grown men were all afraid to fight Goliath. It was left to the youngest, David, to go against the giant while all of his brothers stayed back in fear and lack of faith. But look what God does. God gives a new chance and a new opportunity to the son of one of those brothers to learn from the mistake of his father and to do what his father could not do. Sometimes God lets you see the failures of others around you, not so that you can condemn or criticize them, but so that you can learn from their mistakes and not make the same mistakes that they made.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 21:1-7, “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.[2] And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it.[3] And Joab answered, The LORD make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?[4] Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem.[5] And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.[6] But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab.[7] And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.” The first phrase of verse one says, “And Satan stood up against Israel.” There are dark spiritual forces in the world who oppose God’s people. Satan wants to get believers to fail the Lord. It started in the Garden of Eden. It has been happening even since, and this opposition will continue until Satan is cast into the lake of fire: his final destiny. That is one of the good things to know about Satan: his doom is secured. Also, Satan has no power against Christ. Therefore, if you rest in Christ, you are safe. The devil cannot make you do anything. He can tempt you, but you still have your free will. That is why it says in James 4:7, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” One of the reasons that drugs and alcohol are so bad is that people lose the control over their own will even more easily when under the influence, and that is an invitation for the devil to come and take over.

The devil tempted David to number the people of Israel, and David gave in to the temptation. David even had the wise advice of Joab who told David not to do it. But when someone has given in to temptation, and they are determined to do wrong, there is no stopping them, unless they themselves wake up and repent before it is too late. There are consequences to sin. We reap what we sow. Be careful. It says in verse seven, “And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel.” Thankfully, we have the option to repent and ask for forgiveness, which the Lord Jesus will always do for us.

The Bible says in First Chronicles 21:8-15, “And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.[9] And the LORD spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying,[10] Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.[11] So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Choose thee[12] Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me.[13] And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the LORD; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man.[14] So the LORD sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.[15] And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the LORD beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.” David made a wise decision to cast himself upon the mercy of the Lord and to let the Lord decide what the consequences should be for his sin as the leader of the people. These verses remind us very clearly that there are consequences to our actions. These consequences come because there is a God and He sees all things, and He holds every life in His hand. God gives life, and He takes it. The whole world could be destroyed by God if He wanted to do it. God has all power, and the world is very sinful. But of course, God does not want to do that. Troubles and disasters are always limited because of this truth. Whether you die from the sword of a destroying angel or some other way, you are still going to die. It is important to obtain eternal life through faith in Christ.

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