“If thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.” “His heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.” “And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of Lord, as did David his father.” (I Kings 3:14; 11:4; 15:3).
Consistently David is set forth as the man who should be remembered and imitated. To the kings, he was God’s standard of an acceptable ruler of His people. This was the case in spite of his failures! Incidents wherein he had sinned were part of the written history of Israel. By his own estimate and by God’s, he had done that which was worthy of execution (II Sam. 12:5). Furthermore, he had made serious mistakes in directing the moving of the ark and in the numbering of Israel, mistakes which had brought the wrath of God upon some of his countrymen. Yet God’s overall assessment is clear: David was a man of exemplary character; he had attributes which dominated his conduct, overshadowed the incidents of sin, and marked him as a great man of God.
In II Samuel 8 and 9, four words occur which identify four of these attributes which are hallmarks of the person God loves; the words are “judgment,” “justice”, “kindness” a n d “recover” (8:15;9:-; 9:3).
“Judgment”, “justice” and “kindness” come from the same three Hebrew words that occur in Jeremiah 9:24; “I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth: for in these things I delight.” The same spiritual attributes which characterize God’s rulership of the world marked David’s rulership of Israel. He was doing what God wanted: following God’s lead, manifesting Divine standards, being a man after God’s own heart. Yes, there were incidents of failure, but the basic practice of the man was doing that in which God delights.
“He executed judgment” (MISHPAT “judgment” in Jer. 9:24) : this word speaks of a careful weighing of the situation before taking action. It indicates decisions not affected by bribes or gossip or half-truths. And he executed “justice” (TSEDAQAH “righteousness” in Jer. 9:24). TSEDAQAH is part of a family of Hebrew words which indicate conduct that is straight, truly in line with the standard of God. This is one of the great characteristics of the Messiah and of those who rule with him (Jer. 23:56).
What the world desperately needs is a ruling order that will “execute judgment and justice in the earth.” Then God’s standards will be the rule of the land: carnal violence will not be tolerated, entertainment that exploits and encourages it will not be allowed. Immorality will be branded as “sin” rather than rationalized. Judicial decisions will not be affected by the wealth or influence of the parties involved. Truth and equity will be the conditions of the Messianic age and David tries to implement the same precepts in his own time. God saw that and it pleased Him.
Furthermore, in his daily affairs, David practiced Chesed (“kindness” in Il Sam. 9:1, 3, 7; 10:2 “loving kindness” in Jer. 9:24). This is the great Hebrew word which expresses the Divine attribute of covenant love upon which our salvation depends. Throughout the Old Testament, it describes God’s “mercy”, His “goodness” a n d His “loving kindness.” Most of us would feel relieved if we knew we were manifesting this attribute in our personal lives; David went beyond this, however, in practicing Chesed in the affairs of state. As God is in a superior position to ourselves and graciously considers our needs, so did David towards the house of Saul and towards the Ammonities.
God’s Mercy Is Not Unconditional
Upon a cursory consideration, the incident with Ammon may not seem to demonstrate Chesed because when David’s overture of friendship is despised, he turns to become the enemy of Ammon. This, we may feel, is not in accord with the loving kindness of God which we may think is unconditional and unqualified and will continue no matter how we respond to Him. If such is our view of the grace of God, we may well end up experiencing the fate of Hanun. God is gracious and merciful but we must respond to His grace with gratitude and service. His mercy is not unconditional! “If ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you” is the clear warning of the Spirit through the prophet (II Chr. 15:2). Accordingly, David’s action against the Ammonites does not at all negate the assessment that he practiced true Chesed in his dealings.
God loved the implementation of judgment, justice and kindness that He saw in David’s life, and He loved David’s faith in the promises God had made. An extraordinary example of that faith is indicated by the word “recover” in II Samuel 8:3.
David set out to “recover his border at the river Euphrates”. Zobah lay to the north of Mt. Hermon many miles from Israel’s northern-most towns. What is David doing up there? What is he doing aggressively attacking a mighty power that was not bothering him?
The phrase “recover his border” supplies the answer! David was reclaiming land that belonged to Israel! But Israel had never occupied that part of the country. Dan was the farthest north they had gone. How could David be recovering Israel’s land if they had never before occupied it? Furthermore, if he went all the way to the Euphrates, he would encounter opposition from some of the Syrian nations. Attacked individually, the various Syrian tribes might have been little match for Israel’s army; but if they ever combined forces, they could present an assembly of chariots and horsemen against Israel that would give them an overwhelming advantage.
What could David possibly be thinking of? He was thinking of the promise found in Gen. 15:18: “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates . .”. True, Israel had never occupied from Dan to the Euphrates in fact, but it was theirs by promise of the God of the whole earth.
We may think that this aspect of the promises to Abraham reference only to the Millenium. That is not the case. It was to be Israel’s under Joshua if they would only have the courage to take it. As Moses reviews the instructions of God given in Horeb, he reminds them that God had said: “Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the seaside, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them.” (Deut. 1:7-8). They were given the land to the Euphrates.
But it would only be theirs if they would love God, walk in His ways and have faith that He would do as He promised: “Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be your’s; from the wideness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.” (Deut. 11:24-25) This very promise is repeated to Joshua after the death of Moses. “Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates . . . ” (Josh. 1:3-4)
The only reason Israel had never extended their border to the Euphrates is because they had never tried to do so with faith in God and obedience to His commands. The land was theirs but they had never walked thereon. Now David was determined to do so. To David’s mind, Israel’s borders were precisely where God had promised they would be so he set out to “recover” that which belonged to Israel.
When David announced his intentions, there would inevitably have been strenuous objections from some of his officers. With the defeat of the Philistines (II Sam. 8:1), Israel’s local military situation was secure. They had subjected Moab and generally “the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.” (II Sam. 8:2; 7:1) If Israel attacked Zobah to the North, they would confront an enemy who could muster 1,000 chariots and a Calvary of 700 horses (8:4) while Israel had none. In addition, Zobah might be helped by her Syrian neighbors (8:5). Why take such a risk when all was going well?
But this was not David’s thinking. If they went forth in faith, here was territory where the Lord would give Israel the victory — to the man of faith, there was no risk. David was right, for God is righteous and true to His promises: “And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went.” (8:6)
A new problem had been created, however. By it’s aggressive policy, Israel had created a new set of enemies to the north, who, if given the opportunity, would combine against the people of God. The opportunity came when Hanun the Ammonite distained David’s friendly overture and prepared to do battle with Israel. He was able to hire much help from Zobah, the Syrians and Maacah (10:6) all people Israel had overrun in their earlier excursion to the north. In fact, the help Ammon secured was of such magnitude that Joab evidenced considerable uncertainty about the outcome of the battle. The Chronicles account clarifies the reason for his pessimism in recording that the forces hired by Ammon included 32,000 chariots (I Chron. 19:7). Israel still had none and no cavalry because Israel’s king did not put his trust in horses or chariots but in the living God. (II Sam. 8:4)
Again God was true to His word and Israel’s enemies fled before them (II Sam. 10:13-14). The battle was won but the war was not over. This defeat served to enrage and rally the Syrians throughout the entire area, even those living north and east of the Euphrates. (vs. 1516) So huge a company was assembled that David could no longer leave the battle to the army under Joab; “when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over Jordan, and came to Helam. And the Syrians set themselves in array against David . . .(v. 17).
Eliminated from the host of Israel would be the fainthearted who were dismayed at the king whose policies had provoked conflict with such a mighty foe. Who was David to think that he could risk the peace of the entire nation by recklessly antagonizing these northern peoples? Who was he to sally forth claiming land that was Israel’s only by promise? Who was he? He was a man after God’s own heart who believed that what God promised He would surely perform; he was a man who, when he went out to battle and saw horses and chariots and a multitude more numerous than his own, was not afraid, for he was confident the Lord his God went with him to fight for Israel against their enemies.
Who was David? He was a man setting a standard of godly conduct for others to observe and emulate. He was a man of loving kindness, judgment, righteousness and faith; a man who would confidently pray: “Arise, 0 Lord: let not man prevail: let the heathen be judged in thy sight. Put them in fear, 0 Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men.” (Psalm 9:19-20)
“And the Syrians fled before Israel . . . and they made peace with Israel, and served them.” (II Sam. 10:18-19)
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One