WHAT WILL THE LORD DO?

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king. David thought, "I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me." So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father.

When David's men came to the land of the Ammonites, the Ammonite nobles said to Hanun their lord, "Do you think David is honoring your father by sending men to you to express sympathy? Hasn't David sent them to you to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?" So Hanun seized David's men, shaved off half of each man's beard, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away.

When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for 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 a stench in David's nostrils, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand 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 to their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah 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 if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to 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 with him advanced to fight the Arameans, and they fled before him. When the Ammonites saw 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. Hadadezer had Arameans brought from beyond the River; they went to Helam, with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer'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 seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. When all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with the Israelites and became subject to them.

So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore.

2 Samuel 10

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In Chapter 8 of 2nd Samuel, We read of the many victories that the Lord had led David to as he conquered nations that bordered Israel and Judah, expanding territorial boundaries to meet what the Lord had promised He would give them. And at the end of the fighting, the Lord had promised David to have peace from his enemies.

And we get a sense that this did happen at least for some time. Because as Chapter 10 opens, we read that “in the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died” with his son Hanun succeeding him as king. Scripture tells us that the deceased king had sown kindness to David during his reign so after his death David decided to return the favor and “show kindness to Hanun”, sending “delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father”.

As the delegation “came to the land of the Ammonites”, we see where the Ammonite nobles become suspicious of the delegation’s motives. They say to the Ammonite king Hanun, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending men to you to express sympathy? Hasn't David sent them to you to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?"

Their words sway Hanun to believe that David had sent the men to attack him instead of express sympathies and so he had them seized and “shaved off half of each man's beard” before cutting “off their garments in the middle at the buttocks” and sending them away. These actions were clearly meant to embarrass the men who were “greatly humiliated” over what had been done to them.

Well, word of Hanun’s ordered actions got back to David and he sent “messengers to meet (his) men telling them to “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back." This would ensure the men would not face humiliation and ridicule in Jerusalem over what had been done to them. Their honor as men chosen by David to represent him was important to preserve.

Meanwhile, the Ammonites realized that David would not take what they had done lightly and would most likely come to attack. And so they “hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maacah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob” to construct an army that they thought would be able to defeat David’s Israelite forces. David, hearing about the forces gathered by the Ammonites, “sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men” and the battle was about to take place.

This is how the war began to size up. The Ammonites “came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance to their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country”. Joab, seeing “there were battle lines in front of him and behind him”, chose “some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans”. He then “put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother and deployed them against the Ammonites”. Joab then gave the following direction to the troops saying:

“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 for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in His sight."

And with that, “Joab and the troops with him advanced to fight the Arameans” who “fled before him”. Meanwhile, the Ammonites “saw that the Arameans were fleeing” and fled themselves before Abishai, going into the city. With this, Joab “returned from fighting the Ammonites” and went back to Jerusalem.

Well, after all this you would think that the Ammonites and Arameans would just admit defeat and let things stay as they were but that didn’t happen. For “after the Arameans saw that they had been routed by Israel, they regrouped” with Hadadezer having “Arameans brought from beyond the River” and sending them “to Helam with Shobach the commander of Hadadezer's army leading them”.

Again, word got to David about the Aramean regrouping and so he “gathered all Israel, crossed the Jordan and went to Helam to meet the Arameans who had “formed their battle lines to meet David” and with that the battle started. It was obvious that the Arameans should have not chosen to challenge David again because before they fled Israel, David and his men had “killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers” as well as “Shobach the commander of their army”. And when “all the kings who were vassals of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel”, they decided to make “peace with the Israelites” and become “subject to them”, afraid “help the Ammonites anymore”.

The Lord had once again delivered Israel’s enemies into their hands in battle. And why did He do so?

Joab helps us find the answer in this passage when he tells his men, “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.”

In other words, do not be afraid and stay bravely focused on the matter at hand…the battle…because in the end, the Lord will do what is good in His sight.” And He will do this because He is in control.

Friends, these words can offer us encouragement as well as we go forth each day to carry out what Jesus instructed us to do…to go forth and make disciples of all nations…baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit…and teaching them to obey all He commanded. (Matthew 28:19-20) For as we go forth to do the will of the Lord, we are always up against our own adversary. For David and his fighting men, it was the Ammonites and Arameans in this passage. For us, it’s Satan who wants nothing more than do anything he can to take us away from what the Lord wants us to do.

So how do we deal with this?

We go forth unafraid and fight bravely for the cause of Christ, knowing that we never fight alone. And we know this because Jesus assured us at the end of His Great Commission that He would be with us always, even until the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20) And if we partner with Jesus every day, going forth with His power in our hearts, minds and souls, then Satan will never be able to have victory over us…for he will never have victory over Jesus.

Indeed, our Lord will do what is good in His sight and He will do it in, through and around us. And we gain additional assurances when we look at how this particular verse. 2 Samuel 10:12 is translated in other bible translations. Let’s look at a few while asking the question, “What will the Lord do?”

What will the Lord do?

He will do…

…whatever He sees need doing. (2 Samuel 10:12 from The Message)

The Lord has a plan and that plan is going to be fulfilled. Trust in that. And so the Lord will do whatever He sees needs done for His plan to be carried out successfully, to include using us. We need only offer ourselves to Him each and every day to be used in any way He sees fit.

What will the Lord do?

He will do…

…what seems good to Him. (2 Samuel 10:12 from the Amplified Bible)

Scripture tells us that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights”. (James 1:17) And indeed, the Lord does do whatever seems good to Him and will grant good from above to make that happen. Since we know that we serve a Lord who is perfectly right and just, then we can rest assured that He will always do what is good…and see His works as just that…not just some of the time but all of the time.

What will the Lord do?

He will do…

…whatever pleases Him. (2 Samuel 10:12 from the Contemporary English Version)

After all, He is the Lord…the Maker and Creator of everything. And so it only makes sense that He makes everything happen in a way that is pleasing to Him. With that, it’s not our place to demand that He do anything because those demands are always made regarding what will please us…and that might not always match with what please the Lord. So our prayer should be for the Lord to do what is pleasing in His sight because that, in fact, is what He will do. His word assures us of this.

What will the Lord do?

He will do…

…what He thinks is right. (2 Samuel 10:12 from the New Century Version)

The Lord doesn’t make mistakes and so He never does wrong. We need to remember this always. And so all that He does is right and we should praise Him for that, even when things in our life don’t seem to work out in the way we think they should. After all, as sinners, who are we to argue against the Lord?

What will the Lord do?

He will do…

…His will and it will be done. (2 Samuel 10:12 from the New Living Translation and Holman Christian Standard)

Friends, the Lord will indeed do what He sees needing done…what seems good to Him…what please Him…and what He thinks is right. All these add up to His will and His will is going to be done in our life and in this world we live in. And no matter how much a person fights against the will of the Lord, that fight is useless because no one person is greater than the power of the Lord…a power that will ensure His will is always done.

It’s this truth that allowed Joab and his men to men to go to battle bravely and unafraid. And it’s truth that should allow us to do likewise as we go through every day we’re blessed with.

Question: What is the Lord doing in your life today?

The answer is simple. He is doing what is good in His sight…just as He does each and every day. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

http://www.faithhopeandlove.info/

Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com