2 Samuel 10, Kindness Rejected

And Liz is going to come and read God's word for us.

So Liz, over to you. Thank you.

To Samuel chapter 10.

In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died

and his son Hanum succeeded him as king.

David thought, I will show kindness to Hanum, son of Nahash,

just as his father showed kindness to me.

So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanum concerning his father.

When David's men came to the land of the Ammonites,

the Ammonite commanders said to Hanum, their lord,

do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy?

Hasn't David sent them to you only to explore the city and to spy it out and overthrow it?

So Hanum seized David's envoys, shaved off half of each man's beard,

cut off their garments of the buttocks and sent them away.

When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men,

but they were greatly humiliated.

The king said, stay at Jericho till your beards have grown and then come back.

When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David,

they hired 20,000 Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah,

as well as the king of Marka with 1,000 men and also 12,000 men from Tob.

On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men.

The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of the city gate,

while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Meaka were by themselves in the open country.

Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him.

So he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans.

He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai, his brother,

and deployed them against the Ammonites.

Joab said, if the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to come to my rescue.

But the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and rescue you.

Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God.

The Lord will do what is good in his sight.

Then Joab and the troops went with him.

Then Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans and they fled before him.

When the Ammonites realized that the Arameans were fleeing,

they fled before Abishai and went inside the city.

So Joab returned from fighting the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

After the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped.

Hadadiza had Arameans brought from beyond the river Euphrates.

They went to Helam with Shobak, the commander of Hadadiza's army leading them.

When David was told of this, he gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam.

The Arameans formed their battle lines to meet David and fought against him.

But they fled before Israel and David killed 700 of their charities, 40,000 of their foot soldiers.

He also struck down Shobak, the commander of their army, and he died there.

When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadiza saw that they had been routed by Israel,

they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them.

So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

Now, as we start this morning, I want you to imagine with me that you're at the top of a roller coaster.

Looking at some of you, it's probably been a few years since you've been on a roller coaster.

So let me try and describe it for you and what it's like.

You know, roller coasters make that sort of slow ascent, don't they?

And it goes click, click, click, click, click, click as you get to the top of the roller coaster.

And then you hang there just for a few moments.

And you know that it's about to thunder down the loops and go round and round.

But just for a few seconds, you're hanging there at the top of the roller coaster.

Click, click, click, click, stop.

What are you thinking to yourself in that moment as you're at the top of the roller coaster?

Right at the top, you know it's about to hurtle down the tracks.

What are you checking?

Well, I think if you're anything like me, you're going to be just giving it a little push on that safety bar, aren't you?

Is that properly engaged?

Is that actually going to hold me?

You'll probably glance across to the five-year-old who's sat next to you perfectly calmly and thinking,

I'll pull yourself together, Steve.

If they think they're going to be all right, you're going to be all right.

But it's that last minute thought, isn't it?

Am I going to be safe?

Is this going to be okay?

Let me check.

Now, in a way, 2 Samuel chapter 10 is that kind of pause at the top of a roller coaster.

2 Samuel 10 · chapter mention

We've climbed the heights, if you've been with us, we've climbed the heights of David's success.

We have seen him being anointed as king.

We've seen him uniting the kingdom.

We've seen him getting everybody together underneath his rule in Jerusalem.

And we are about to descend into the chaos of the rest of his life.

And if you know anything about the story of David, you know that there are some twists and turns to come.

It's going to be a terrifying run.

And here in chapter 10, you've got this pause.

You're hanging at the top.

It's about to fall.

And there is, in chapter 10, a safety check for us.

Right at the heart of the passage, the safety bar for the roller coaster of life, if you want to put it that way.

And it's what we looked at with the children.

And so I want us to come and spend most of our time thinking about that and how that works.

But before we do that, let me just run through the story so that we know what's going on here.

The story starts, doesn't it, with David showing kindness again.

We saw last week him showing kindness to a guy called Mephibosheth.

But this time he is showing kindness to a guy called Hanan, who is the new king of the Ammonites.

We haven't got time for all of that background, but Hanan's father, Nahash, appears previously in the book of 1 Samuel, chapter 11,

1 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

when he threatens the residents of a place called Jabesh Gilead, telling them that he's coming and he's going to gouge out their right eyes.

Anyway, Saul, who's the king of Israel, comes to rescue them and defeats the Ammonite army.

And ever since then, he's put Nahash in his place.

But now Nahash is dead in 2 Samuel, chapter 10, and his son, Hanan, is king in his place.

2 Samuel 10 · chapter mention

And David thinks, OK, so what I'm going to do, I defeated his father, or my predecessors all defeated his father, and we had a treaty with him.

Let me now show kindness to his son so that we might carry on in this relationship with one another.

The word kindness there is the Hebrew word hesed that we saw last week.

It's this sense of a promised kindness, a covenant, that there's been this sort of arrangement between David and the Ammonites

that we will be kind to you.

But Hanan has other ideas, doesn't he?

On the advice of his young princes, he's persuaded that David had bad motives in sending servants to his land.

So what do they do? Well, they humiliate them.

They shave off half of their beards, and they cut their clothes off at the waist.

Now, as insults go, that's pretty bad, isn't it?

Cutting off half their beards would have been seen as an insult to their manliness.

And chopping off their clothes at the hips meant that they had to walk home with their buns exposed,

which would have been embarrassing.

But it's not a kind of practical joke, is it?

Actually, they know, don't they?

Hanan knows.

David understands.

This is effectively the weirdest, but most successful, the weirdest declaration of war you've ever heard in your life.

How can I declare war against David?

Well, I tell you what, he'll send envoys to me.

I'll shave off half their beards and cut off their clothes so they walk home semi-naked.

He will know I'm in business.

And so that's what happens.

The Ammonites get themselves ready.

Now, without getting too technical or boring you with the details here,

the way the rest of the story is broken up is with a series of five they saw or they heard statements

which come at the beginning of each scene.

That there's one in verse 6, one in verse 7, one in verse 9, one in verse 15, and one in verse 19.

Starting off in verse 6, the NLV translates it,

they realized.

Literally, the Ammonites see war coming.

They have hired a load of help then from the Syrians.

And then David, when he hears that in verse 7, sends out Joab with the mighty men to sort it out.

It seems from the context, and we'll see this in weeks to come,

that most of this happens in the city of Rabba.

And the situation is perilous for Joab because the Ammonites come and meet him outside the city

while the hired Syrians come behind him,

trapping the soldiers in between two armies,

one just outside the city and one coming up from behind him.

In response, Joab sets his brother up to fight the Ammonites in front of the city

while he takes the best of the men to fight the professional soldiers who've come from Syria,

telling his brother Abishai that they will fight for one another,

helping each other out if it all gets a bit much.

What's amazing and should stun you as you read the passage

is that both Joab and Abishai win,

and the Assyrians flee back into their city of Rabba,

and the Assyrians run back and regroup.

Now the follow-up battle with the Assyrians at Rabba will happen in chapters 11 and 12,

and you might know a guy called Uriah the Hittite who dies close to the wall,

and we'll find out more about that story in weeks to come.

So chapter 10 kind of works as this link passage, if you like.

It links back with David's hesed kindness in chapter 9,

and it links forward with this battle for a place called Rabba,

which we'll find in weeks to come.

But before that, the Syrians have regrouped and they're ready for a second try.

Hadadezer, their king, has gathered more of his military power,

but still he is defeated by David and the Israelites,

killing 40,000 of their horsemen and 700 of their chariot riders,

including their army captain.

Now, if all that seems familiar to you,

it's because this victory was also mentioned in chapter 8,

which we saw previously.

It's a famous victory as David wins peace with the surrounding nations,

and they all think twice now about threatening David.

Now, that's the story.

I grant you that the killing of 40,000 soldiers

doesn't exactly sound like calm before a storm,

but believe me, if you know the rest of this story,

this is the calm before the storm.

This is the very top of the roller coaster.

Click, click, click, and we're here.

It's all downhill from here.

And then look at the safety check right in the middle here.

This is the final test of the bar of the roller coaster.

Look at verse 12.

Let me read it to you again.

Be strong.

Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God.

The Lord will do what is good in his sight.

Now, it's worth noting that this is Joab,

the crazy commander of David's army, who's saying this.

Joab, who to this point, and really from this point,

shows himself essentially to be a thug,

who's capable of killing lots of different people.

But here the writer puts these amazing words in his mouth,

which are meant to help us navigate the rest of the book of 2 Samuel.

So let's just consider those words together

and work backwards through them with me.

Notice the statement at the end.

Notice that he says that the Lord will do what is good in his sight.

That might sound to you just relatively straightforward.

Of course, God will do what is good in his sight.

That's kind of obvious, isn't it?

Every religion, everybody who believes in God says,

oh yeah, God does what's good to him.

God does what's good in his sight.

But there's more to it than that,

because it's interesting that while Joab is confident

that God will do what seems good to him,

he knows that there is no promise to him

that he and his brother Abishai will survive the next few hours.

He has no promise of victory for his army.

So look at the beginning of the sentence,

as we read with the children from verse 11.

He says, if the Arameans are too strong for me,

then you are to come to my rescue.

But if the Ammonites are too strong for you,

then I will come to rescue you.

Be strong and let us fight bravely.

There's a lot of ifs there.

Joab is genuinely not sure what is going to happen next,

even while he is sure that God will do what is good in his eyes.

He's pinned by the Ammonites and the Syrians.

And his confidence is not,

God is going to give me a famous victory here.

It's not that, is it?

It's God will do what seems good to him.

Now, that's not because Joab doesn't have faith.

This isn't being written as a sign of Joab's weakness.

Well, the point is that Joab knows enough

to know that God will do what seems good to him,

but that doesn't carry a particular specific promise

that this situation that's in front of him.

To put it really bluntly,

Joab knows that it could seem good to God

for him to be defeated.

Think about it like this.

Joab is essentially articulating two truths for us.

On the one hand, he knows that there is a God

who rules and reigns,

who has plans that can never be thwarted.

God knows who he is and knows what he's doing

and will do what he plans to do.

He knows that David can defeat Goliath.

He knows that trumpets and shouting

can bring down city walls.

He knows that striking rods against rocks

can produce water when God wants it to,

that rivers can stand still

and people can wear a cross.

None of that is in doubt.

He knows who God is

and knows that God does what God says.

Yet on the other hand,

he knows that there's a whole host of things

in his life and in his world

that he has absolutely no certainty for.

There are things that God only knows,

information which he has withheld from his people.

So Joab knows that he has not been promised victory

in that moment,

in that battle.

You can imagine, can't you,

that Joab, at this point in his life,

one of his brothers has died in tragic circumstances,

even though they were winning a battle.

He knows, doesn't he,

that God is capable of fulfilling his plans

whilst also humbling him.

I might die, says Joab.

Now keep working backwards in verse 12

with those two sets of information,

God's solid plans and my uncertain future.

What does Joab do

with those two sets of information?

What does he say to Abishai, his brother?

You know, okay, God has his good plans.

We're not sure what's going to happen to us.

Run in fear.

No, he doesn't say that, does he?

What does he say?

Verse 12, he says,

be strong, fight bravely for God's people

and for the cities of God,

fighting boldly for what they understand

to be God's purposes,

trusting that whatever the outcome for them personally,

this is the best way to live our lives,

trusting God, even though we're uncertain.

It's fascinating, isn't it?

The safety bar at the top of this roller coaster

in Joab's life and the life of Israel

is not a promise that God will not bring hard things

into their lives.

Notice that.

The safety bar is not a promise

that he will win every battle.

It's a promise that God doing what is good in his sight

is enough for him to live courageously, bravely,

whatever the future holds.

Think about this for ourselves for a moment.

Perhaps it is this morning

that you are facing uncertain times.

Maybe your job is a bit rocky.

Maybe your family relationships are a bit difficult.

Maybe your housing situation needs resolving.

Perhaps you need to get a good set of results

in your next exams.

But listen, if you're a Christian this morning,

what you need to understand

is that those things are in this hand,

not this one.

There is no guarantee

that you'll get the grades that you want

or the university place that you want

or the job that you want

or that the family relationships

will work out as you want.

There is nothing like that promised to you.

And being a Christian

doesn't guarantee those things for you.

Listen, if you find a preacher who says to you,

listen, come to God and all of your plans will work out.

If someone says that to you,

don't listen to them.

They're a liar.

God does what seems good to him,

what is good in his sight.

The God of the universe,

the one who rules and reigns,

who knows all things and governs all things,

who never makes mistakes

and never thwarted by circumstances,

he will do what he knows is good,

what is best in the fullest sense of the world.

He will do that.

And that promise,

the promise for God to do what is good in his sight

is better for you

than the promise for him

to do whatever it is that you want him to do.

And that means that you can live bravely for God,

living not for yourself,

but for God and his people

and trusting his purposes.

Think about another example with me for a moment.

Maybe you're a parent.

Let me tell you that there is no promise.

This is in this hand.

There is no promise

that your children's lives will work out

in the way that you want them to.

Some of you know that, don't you, painfully.

There is no promise

that they will trust in the Lord.

There's no promise

that they will live their lives for him,

even though that's what we desperately long for.

There is no promise from God

that if you do A, B, C, D,

it will all work out well for your children.

There is no promise like that.

John Calvin,

who's the great reformer of the 16th century,

wrote in his sermon on this passage,

he says this,

we remain in suspense about much of our lives.

We remain in suspense.

We just don't know.

We don't know.

Just like Joab,

I think we would love a promise,

wouldn't we,

that we wouldn't lose our own lives.

But don't forget

that this suspense that we live in

is intended to drive us to the Lord

who does what is good in his sight.

Not away from him in despair,

but towards him in dependence.

It's a good thing

that the God of infinite goodness and wisdom

does what he thinks is best,

not what I would like him to do necessarily.

God's freedom to accomplish his plans

rather than his bondage to do your plans

is a good thing for all of us.

So we should courageously live for him,

commanding the gospel at every turn,

making use of the things that he's given us

in the life of the church

to live patiently waiting

for God to do what pleases him.

You can think about it too, can't you,

with other examples.

You can think about it with your health

or with your job

or with your marriage,

that there's no promise

that you will live as long as you want to.

There's no promise

that you'll have the job of your dreams.

There's no promise

that your marriage will be easy and blissful.

It might be that God has set for you

suffering and difficulty

in all of those areas,

but that doesn't mean

that God has forgotten you

or in any sense that he's lost control

or in any sense that you can't have confidence

in him at all

because God is doing what seems good to him

so that you can live courageously for the Lord

in the place that he's put you in,

knowing that in all those uncertainties,

they are still in God's good hands.

And he has more power than you

and is achieving something more beautiful

and glorious than our health

or our wealth or our prosperity.

Now that's the simple truth

in 2 Samuel chapter 10.

2 Samuel 10 · chapter mention

But let me tell you,

it's even more brilliant than that.

Okay?

There is something else going on in these verses

which is so incredible

it's going to blow our minds this morning

when we see it.

What's fascinating here

is when Joab says this, okay?

What is it that Joab has seen

that makes him say,

God will do what seems good to him

even though I'm not sure

what's going to happen to me?

What is it that Joab has seen

that makes him say that?

Do you know?

Well, he has seen the kindness of King David

be rejected, hasn't he?

David, in covenant kindness,

has moved towards these Ammonites

and tried to show them

this kind of promise-keeping love and care

and it's been rejected.

And yet, still,

he says,

God will do what's good in his sight

even though I don't know

what's going to happen to me.

You know, he knows, doesn't he?

If the kindness of the king

can be rejected,

there's no guarantee

that me, a brutal warrior,

is going to win this battle.

David was kind

and that was overturned.

How do I know

what's going to happen to me?

Now, if you zoom forward

at one and a half thousand years

from King David,

you meet the real king,

don't you?

King Jesus,

God the Son in human flesh.

And what does he do?

He doesn't send envoys

to the Ammonites

in covenant kindness, does he?

No, he comes to us

in covenant kindness.

He says,

I have come not to be served,

but to serve

and give my life

as a ransom for many.

I have come

in covenant kindness

to you

to love you

and give my life for you.

And what happens

to King Jesus

in his hesed love?

What happens?

He's humiliated.

Not by having his beard

half shaved off,

not by having his clothes

cut down at the waist,

but by being nailed to a cross

in total nakedness.

All of his clothes removed,

hanging in shame

and guilt on the cross.

And rather like the Ammonites,

we declare war,

don't we,

on the kindness of God's king.

They declare war

by doing that

to David's envoys.

We declare war

on the God

who made us

by what we do to Jesus.

And yet we find

that even through

the death

of the Lord Jesus Christ,

even because

of the death

of the Lord Jesus Christ,

God rescues

and saves people

for himself,

forgiving their sin,

cancelling their moral debt,

paying in his own blood

what their sin deserves.

Now, because that's true,

because the rejection

of the kindness

of the king

can lead

to salvation

for me,

I have even more reason

than Joab

to say,

God,

do what seems good

to you,

even if I don't know

what will happen

to me.

God will do

what is good

in his sight

and it will be good

for me.

That is the safety bar

in my life,

just like it's the safety bar

in Joab's life.

And if you like,

when Joab pushes it,

there's a few bits

of wobbles.

When we put it,

there's no wobble

at all

because we know

that the kindness

of King Jesus

that was rejected

through his death

on the cross

has led

to our salvation.

Those were the good plans

of God.

So ifs don't matter

because God will do

what seems good to him

and so I cling to him.

I can be of good courage,

I can be strong,

I can fight bravely

to live a life

that pleases him

courageously

for the people of God

and his purposes

as he works all things out

for the accomplishment

of his plan.

Listen,

I started this morning

and we're at the top

of this roller coaster

and the next five chapters

of 2 Samuel

are terrifying.

terrifying.

But let me say

the next five chapters

of your life

might be terrifying.

Who knows

if we're even going to have

another five chapters.

Yet I know

that there are

some of you this morning

who are still imagining

that you can ride

the roller coaster

of whatever life

is bringing next

without a safety bar

at all,

without any confidence

in the Lord Jesus.

You know,

I don't know

what it is

that you're thinking

as you stare down

the track

of the rest of your life

not knowing

where it's going

or what's going to happen.

I don't know

what you're thinking

that you assume

that you do not need

to know a God

who has good plans

even in the ifs

of our own lives.

How do you imagine

that you can ride

that roller coaster

without him?

Listen,

we're paused today

at the top,

aren't we?

Click, click, click

and we're waiting

and today is the day

to grab the safety bar

and say,

listen Lord,

you have good plans.

There are lots of ifs

in my life

but you have good plans

in the kindness

of the Son

of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm grabbing hold

of those

and trusting you

for that

even in the ifs

of my own life.

Saying to the Lord,

Lord, thank you

for opening my eyes

to the terror

that life is without you

that I might trust in you.

Now help me Lord

to trust you,

to live courageously

for you,

knowing that

if the kindness

of King Jesus

can forgive my sin

then there's no

loop-de-loop

in my life

which can throw me off.

There's no sudden drop

or bank curve

that will come equal

to your sovereign goodness.

For others of you

this morning,

I know

because I talk to you,

I know that

even as Christians

there are twists

and turns

and loop-de-loops

in your own life

which are scary

and terrifying.

But we are paused

together,

aren't we,

this morning

to remind ourselves

I belong to the Lord

of closed-hand good plans

even in the ifs

of my own life.

And that means

I can live bravely

for the Lord.

I can live courageously.

Not trusting erroneous promises

that say,

hey, come to the Lord

and everything will be alright.

No.

But trusting that God

does what seems good to him.

You know,

we're not promised,

are we?

It's the kind of theology

of the street

if you like,

isn't it?

You know,

if you do good things

God will give you

what you want.

Yeah,

that's how we talk,

isn't it?

You know,

if I go to church,

if I say my prayers,

if I read my Bible,

then God will give me

the things that I want

for my life.

That's what we say,

isn't it?

Listen,

that theology of the bus

is nonsense

just like everything else

you hear on the bus,

right?

It's rubbish.

What is true

is that God

has good plans

in the Lord Jesus Christ

centered on him,

granted for us

through no good thing

that we have done,

only through his kindness

to us

and we can trust

those plans

even if

ours don't work out.

So we say,

don't we,

God,

do what you want.

I trust you

that what seems good

to you

is what I want

for my life.

Trust in me,

says the Lord Jesus,

and I will do something

that is even better

than your own dreams.

I will fulfill

my plans

and dreams,

says the Lord.

Let me pray

as we close.

Heavenly Father,

we come before you

this morning

and we say

that we're sorry

that we've had

the arrogance

even to suggest

to you

that you should

accomplish our plans

and not your own.

And yet,

Lord,

we also come

with the tears

and pain

of knowing loss

and difficulty

and challenge

and pain.

And yet,

Lord,

we want to,

by faith,

say,

Lord,

do what is good

in your sight

and the Lord's

and the Lord's

love.

And I will

say that we trust you

first.

We would rather live

in a world

where you're in charge

than one where

we're in charge

because we know

that if you're the God

who can save

through the death

of your son,

you are the God

who can bring us

into your eternal kingdom

even through

a thousand pains

and sufferings.

So please,

Lord,

keep our eyes

fixed on Jesus.

Keep our hearts

tender to him,

we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.