This
account in 2 Samuel 12:26-31 picked up from the battle Joab, Abishai and their
men had with the Ammonites and the Syrian ally. In 2 Samuel 10, we were told
how the Ammonites retreated into the city of Rabbah when they saw their ally,
the Syrians defeated by Joab and his men. In that battle, another group of
David’s men led by Abishai, Joab’s brother, pursued the Ammonites as they
retreated behind the city. David who should have led his men into battle did
not do so. He remained in Jerusalem where he committed the adultery with
Bathsheba described in 2 Samuel 11. After dealing with David’s fall and
restoration, the author then proceeded to finish the battle Joab, Abishai and
their men had with the Ammonites. So what is described in verses 26-31 took
place between David’s sin and the birth of Solomon.
From this account, we learn that sin always renders a person’s incapable to carry out his duty. So we see David forfeiting his right to lead in the
battle. He instead had left the battle entirely to Joab to take charge. There
came a point that he had to take orders from Joab. In verse 28 Joab ordered him
saying, “…gather the rest of the people together
and camp against the city and capture it, or I will capture the city myself and
it will be named after me.” Just imagine
the once fearless man who killed a lion, a bear, and Goliath, now rendered
incompetent by his sin. What sin does to us is that it makes us lose sight
of our goal in life and make us focus on the wrong thing. It will do us well to
put at the forefront of our mind the first statement of the Westminster Shorter
Catechism. It says, “The chief end of men is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Always remember that this is our first
purpose in life.
After the restoration of the relationship with God, David’s confidence
also needed to be restored as well. Joab then challenged him to get up and
fight or forfeit the honor due to him. It appears that David managed to harness
his confidence and went out into battle. He captured Rabbah and took the crown
of the king’s head that weighed a talent. Besides, David also took the precious
stone found on the crown and put it on his own crown. This would no
doubt restore the confidence he needed after his fall. It is true that we should
stay humble when our relationship with God is restored, but we must not allow our
past wrongs to cause us to become insecure and diffident. Stay confident in
God.
In 2 Samuel 10, we learn how the Ammonites had started the conflict.
They had chosen to humiliate David’s ambassadors, sent to console Hanun on the
demise of his father. He chose to listen to the wrong counsel of his advisors
who said that David’s men came to spy out the land. He had half of the beards
of David’s ambassadors shaved and their garments cut from the hips. This was
uncalled for and had sparked off a war. Now when they had been captured, the
Israelites also humiliated them as described in verse 31. Everything we do had
a reciprocate effect. Hence, it is better to treat others with thoughtfulness.
Like David, we must not let our past failures hold us back to do the
things God had called and assigned us to complete. Always stay focused in
life, stay confident in God, and follow through a task we have been assigned.
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