2 Samuel 10:1-19: Courageous Faith

2 Samuel 10:1-19: Courageous Faith

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 2 Samuel, and today the next passage we come to is 2 Samuel 10:1-19. Hear now the words of the Living and True God:

¹ After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites. ³ But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.” ⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men. ⁷ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. ⁸ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country. ⁹ When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹⁰ The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you. ¹² Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁴ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem. ¹⁵ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶ And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates. They came to Helam, with Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. ¹⁹ And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, every word we find written in this passage is a priceless treasure because it’s your self-revelation. Thank you that we don’t have to guess about who you are or how we can know you or live in the realm of your blessing. You’ve already told us in your Word. So help us to understand everything we need to understand and be changed in every way we need to be changed through the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

There are a wide variety of situations in our lives that require courage. I remember one of them for me was back when Becky and I were dating and I wanted to ask her to marry me but was afraid she might say “no.” Because, when you ask someone to marry you, you’re really putting yourself out there, you know? So, I was nervous. In fact, I was so nervous that I actually tried to very subtly get her to indicate what she would say several weeks before I officially popped the question. We went to Sonic together and were sitting in the car, and I forget exactly what I asked, but it was something to effect of whether she could theoretically see us spending the rest of our lives together. And apparently, whatever she said in response gave me enough courage to purchase a ring and propose to her in a more official manner several weeks later. And even then, it still took a fair amount of courage.

So, there are many different kinds of situations in which courage is necessary—and it can often be a real challenge. Unfortunately, over the course of my life, there have been numerous situations in which I should have been courageous but wasn’t. Many of them involve the Holy Sprit prompting me to share the gospel with someone but me being slow to obey and allowing the window of opportunity to pass by without me saying much of anything.

So, how can we overcome the fear we naturally have about a variety of things and become courageous people? What can we look to as the source of our courage? And even more fundamentally, what are some of the areas in which courage is required?

These are just a few the questions we’ll address today in our examination of 2 Samuel 10:1-19. This passage shows us that times of great need require God’s people to exhibit courageous faith. That’s the main idea. Times of great need require God’s people to exhibit courageous faith. And that’s drawn especially from verse 12, in which Joab tells his men, “Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.”

But before we get to that, let’s begin with verses 1-2: ¹ After this the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son reigned in his place. ² And David said, “I will deal loyally with Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father dealt loyally with me.” So David sent by his servants to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the Ammonites.

Although Israel had at times been at war with the Ammonites, David more recently had a pretty good relationship with the Ammonite king Nahash. Therefore, when Nahash dies, David seeks to extend that good relationship by sending his servants to consol Hanun, Nahash’s son.

However, things don’t exactly go as planned. Look at verse 3: But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Has not David sent his servants to you to search the city and to spy it out and to overthrow it?” So, even though David had no malicious intentions whatsoever, Hanun’s advisors—for whatever reason—give Hanun some very bad advice that, as we’ll see, ends up starting a totally unnecessary war in which tens of thousands of people die.

By the way, this is a good reminder of how vital it is for us to be very careful about the voices we listen to. Unfortunately, there are a lot of Christians who listen to the counsel of unwise friends or allow themselves to be very influenced by social media personalities who have a lot of followers but who are nevertheless lacking in spiritual maturity.

This is why I appreciate a writer named Brett McCracken’s concept of a wisdom pyramid. I imagine most of us are at least somewhat familiar with the food pyramid that’s now considered outdated but that functioned for several decades as the USDA’s official guidance for maintaining a healthy and balanced diet. Similarly, the wisdom pyramid gives us guidance for maintaining a healthy and balanced spiritual diet. And in this, I’ve taken Brett McCracken’s work and adapted it a little bit. The bottom category of the pyramid—which is most important and serves as the foundation of everything else—is, of course, the Bible. As I sometimes like to say, the Bible isn’t just true but is the very standard of truth itself. So, we should immerse ourselves in the Bible and allow ourselves to be influenced by the Bible more than anything else.

Then, the next most important thing is church. This includes church tradition throughout the centuries as well as the teaching of a person’s local church. God’s put you in the church you’re a part of for a reason and, in his sovereign wisdom, has called a team of men to be your pastors. So, it’s very appropriate to look to those men for spiritual guidance more than whatever online personalities you enjoy listening to. After that, the third most important thing is nature. The Bible teaches that God’s revealed himself in nature to a significant degree. He’s embedded truths about himself in everything from the smallest molecule to the largest galaxy. Just as authors write their thoughts in books, God’s written his own thoughts in leaves, rivers, sunsets, mountains, and animals. So, get outside and let yourself be captivated by the wonders of God’s creation.

After that, the fourth most important element of a healthy spiritual diet is books—especially books that are a bit older and have stood the test of time, but also newer books by trusted authors. In a world of instant gratification and short attention spans, books help us learn to be disciplined and patient and cultivate habits of thinking that will serve us well. The books we read go a long way in forming us into the people we are.

And finally, the smallest and least important section of the pyramid is the internet. Obviously, there are plenty of spiritually edifying things on the internet, but finding them and then focusing on them can sometimes be challenging. And if we were to divide this top section of the pyramid into two sections, the top of the top of the pyramid would be social media. Unfortunately, however, instead of being utilized sparingly, social media often ends up being a staple of our spiritual diet and something that, at time, influences us even more than the Bible itself.

So, this pyramid is how we can strive to maintain a healthy and balanced spiritual diet—and how we can try to ensure we’re not listening to the wrong voices as Hanun does in 2 Samuel 10.

Then moving forward in the chapter, after Hanun’s advisors tell him that the men David sent must be spies, we read in verses 4-5, ⁴ So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half the beard of each and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away. ⁵ When it was told David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.” So, even though the mission of these men was to offer Hanun consolation, Hanun absolutely humiliates them.  

After that, verses 6-8 tell us, ⁶ When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Syrians of Beth-rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 foot soldiers, and the king of Maacah with 1,000 men, and the men of Tob, 12,000 men. ⁷ And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men. ⁸ And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate, and the Syrians of Zobah and of Rehob and the men of Tob and Maacah were by themselves in the open country.

So, David wasn’t looking for a fight, but he nevertheless found himself in the midst of one. The story then continues in verses 9-11: ⁹ When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. ¹⁰ The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. ¹¹ And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come and help you.”

This plan kind of reminds me of an action movie where two people are standing back-to-back and are surrounded by a crowd of people who are fighting against them—except instead of two people standing back-to-back, it’s two divisions of an army standing back-to-back. And Joab explains that, if one of the divisions starts to lose, the other division can help them.

By the way, this is a wonderful illustration of why Christians need each other spiritually and why cultivating meaningful relationships with other Christians in contexts such as Community Groups is so important. During times when we’re weak, we need other Christians to help us. And during times when other Christians are weak, they need us to help them. And helping each other in a meaningful way requires that we actually know each other in meaningful way.

Joab then says something that’s at the very heart of this chapter. Right before entering into battle, he says to Abishai his brother in verse 12, “Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” These words are an expression of courageous faith. Even though Joab’s done some not-so-great things in previous chapters, he hits the nail on the head in this particular instance. The need of the hour is courageous faith, and that’s exactly what Joab exhibits.

Just to be clear, I believe a good definition of courageous faith is trusting God enough to obey him even when you’re afraid. Again, it’s trusting God enough to obey him even when you’re afraid. So, courageous faith isn’t the absence of fear but the willingness to do what God tells you to do in spite of your fear.

And just like the situation we read about in 2 Samuel 10, there are many situations today in which we need to exhibit courageous faith. One of the most notable is in telling people about Jesus. Other situations include standing firm in our Christian convictions in the workplace even when it costs us a promotion, lovingly addressing sin in the life of another Christian, continuing to tithe even in the midst of financial uncertainty, refusing to gossip even when we find ourselves in the midst of gossip, serving in the church in a way that takes us out of our comfort zone, or even leaving a comfortable living situation in order to follow God’s calling as a church planter or cross-cultural missionary.

Becky and I experienced that last situation firsthand when we moved here to Pittsburgh in order to start this church. We moved here with no money outside of the relatively modest amount in our personal savings account. We also didn’t have any local connections or relational network with people in this area. And we only had one person who moved here with us to start the church. So, the church started with three people, and two of them were Becky and myself. Plus, I had never been a pastor before or even on staff at a church in any capacity.

So, we found ourselves in a situation that felt overwhelming, to say the least. Yet, as I’ve said, courageous faith isn’t the absence of fear but rather the willingness to do what God tells you to do in spite of fear. And thankfully, God graciously enabled us to do that. So, what about you? Where do you need to exhibit courageous faith?

And as we look at what Joab says in verse 12, notice two things. The first is the motivation for our courage. Joab exhorts his brother, “let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God.” We should be courageous both because we care about the welfare of people around us and ultimately because we’re passionate for the glory of God. Our care for people’s welfare corresponds to Joab’s mention of being courageous “for our people,” and our passion for God’s glory corresponds to Joab’s mention of being courageous “for the cities of our God.”

Then, secondly, notice the foundation of our courage. In the final portion of Joab’s exhortation, he states, “and may the Lord do what seems good to him.” We’re able to be courageous only as we’re willing to rest in the sovereign power, the sovereign wisdom, and the sovereign goodness of God. We have to be content to let God be God in our situation and surrender the outcome entirely to him. That’s the foundation of courageous faith.

We then read about the outcome of the battle in verses 13-14: ¹³ So Joab and the people who were with him drew near to battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him. ¹⁴ And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites and came to Jerusalem.

However, that’s the end of it. Look at verses 15-17: ¹⁵ But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. ¹⁶ And Hadadezer sent and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates. They came to Helam, with Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. ¹⁷ And when it was told David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to Helam. The Syrians arrayed themselves against David and fought with him.

So, the Syrians can’t stand the fact that they’ve been shown up by Israel and assemble what appears to be a much larger army to fight the Israelites. David responds accordingly and gathers not just his mighty men—as he did previously—but “all Israel.” He also leads the army himself instead of having Joab lead it for him.

And as we read in verses 18-19, the result of the battle is decisive: ¹⁸ And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 700 chariots, and 40,000 horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. ¹⁹ And when all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel and became subject to them. So the Syrians were afraid to save the Ammonites anymore.

So, God was the one who gave the Israelites victory over their enemies. Their victory was ultimately his doing. Yet God gave them this victory through their courageous faith. Likewise, today, it’s only through God that we can do any good in our lives. Yet God’s pleased to accomplish his sovereign purposes through our courageous faith.

And I’ve already mentioned several kinds of situations in which we’re called to exhibit courageous faith, but let me emphasize one additional situation that’s relevant both to individual Christians and to our church as a whole. In the midst of a culture in which traditional Christian teachings are increasingly marginalized and even vilified, we’re called to courageously and steadfastly maintain those teachings without allowing ourselves to be intimidated into silence.

I believe this quote—often attributed to Martin Luther—says it well: “If I profess with loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except that little point which the world and the Devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefield besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point.”

In this analogy, the soldier’s loyalty isn’t proved by his willingness to march in peaceful surroundings but rather by his willingness to fight where the battle rages. All the marching is useless and meaningless if he goes AWOL during actual battles.

So, the question is, where does the battle rage in our society today? In what areas is courageous faith needed in upholding Christian teaching? Well, I’d say there are many areas but eight in particular I’d like to briefly mention. First, God’s authority. In a culture that idolizes personal autonomy and in which people desire to live as if they themselves are gods, we’re called to clearly maintain that God has absolute authority over us and has expressed his will authoritatively in the pages of the Bible.

Then, second is human sinfulness. In a culture that believes everyone is inherently good and is actually able to define for themselves what goodness is, we’re called to clearly maintain that God himself is the standard of goodness and that we’re a state of rebellion against him and are sinful to the core of our being.

Next, a third area is the coming judgment. In a culture that views God’s judgment as nothing more than a scare tactic, we’re called to clearly maintain that the day is indeed coming when God will judge the world and pour out on each person the punishment their sins deserve.

Moreover, a fourth area in which the battle rages is the exclusivity of the gospel. In a culture of religious pluralism that views all religions as equally valid, we’re called to clearly maintain—in the worlds of John 14:6—that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life and—in the words of Acts 4:12—that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Then, a fifth area is the nature of marriage. In a culture in which marriage is viewed as pretty much anything you want it to be, we’re called to clearly maintain that only God has the right to define marriage and has revealed it as the union of one man and one woman for a lifetime.

After that, sixth—and closely related—is sexual immorality. In a culture that’s eager to cross just about every sexual boundary we might imagine and dismisses the entire notion of sexual boundaries as laughably outdated, we’re called to clearly maintain that the only proper context for any kind of sexual activity is between a husband and wife in marriage and therefore that any form of premarital sex, extramarital sex, or pornography is inherently sinful.

Next, a seventh area is gender identity. In a culture that’s so confused about reality and so committed to personal autonomy that it’s even willing to deny something as basic as anatomy in order to affirm a person’s perceived gender identity, we’re called to clearly maintain that gender is a biological reality that should be embraced as a good gift from a loving God.

Then, an eighth area is the sanctity of life. In a culture that not only condones but even celebrates the supposed “right” to murder babies in the womb, we’re called to clearly maintain that life begins at conception and that taking someone’s life—including a pre-born infant’s life—is a grave offense against our Creator. It’s also a grave offense to deliberately take someone’s life when they’re elderly or assist them in taking their own life.

So, these areas are where the battle rages and are therefore where our loyalty to Jesus is proved. Will we be faithful in maintaining biblical teaching even when it’s not very popular?

I’m reminded of the church father Athanasius, who was the bishop of Alexandria in the fourth century. At that time in church history, a heresy called “Arianism” was spreading throughout the Roman Empire. Arianism taught that Jesus, as the “Son of God,” was similar to God and like God but not truly and fully God. Instead, it was claimed, Jesus was God’s first and highest created being. The way this was commonly expressed was by saying, “There was a time when the Son was not.”

Thankfully, this heretical teaching was officially condemned at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. And typically, that would settle the matter. However, in this case, because of political interference on the part of several Roman Emperors, the debate continued. The emperor Constantine, who had been the one to call the Council of Nicaea in the first place, became sympathetic to Arianism, and many bishops in the church continued to hold Arian beliefs.

Yet Athanasius recognized that this is an issue that’s absolutely fundamental to the true biblical gospel. If Jesus isn’t fully divine, his death in the cross can’t possibly redeem anyone. So, Athanasius took a stand. He spoke out very boldly against Arianism and refused to accept Arians into his churches. As a result, he was forced into exile a total of five times—sometimes for as long as seven years.

Yet, through it all, he never wavered. Even though it seemed, at times, as though the vast majority of political leaders and even church leaders were against him, he remained resolutely committed to what he knew to be the teaching of Scripture on that critical issue of the deity of Jesus. For this reason, he came to be known in Latin as Athanasius contra mundum—"Athanasius against the world.” He was willing to stand against the whole world, if necessary, in his advocacy for the truth of the gospel. By the way, thankfully, his view did end up prevailing in the end.

So, what about you? Will you exhibit the courageous faith of Athanasius in the controversial issues of our day—such as the eight I’ve identified?

And of course, as we do that, we should never lose sight of the fact that—unlike the physical battle we see happening in our main passage of 2 Samuel 10—our battle is a spiritual one. As Ephesians 6:12 reminds us, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood” but rather against the demonic “forces of evil.” This means, among other things, that our disposition toward those in society who disagree with us should be one of humility and love rather than harshness or hostility.

The spiritual nature of our battle also means that much of the battle takes place on our knees in prayer. That’s where the battle’s won. Apart from faithful and fervent prayer, even the most thoughtful cultural engagement has no value.

Yet you might also wonder, what are some practical ways we can be faithful in upholding biblical teaching? It’s one thing to talk about boldly affirming biblical teachings about controversial issues, but how do we actually do that? Well, having suggested eight areas in which we need to uphold biblical teachings, let me now very briefly suggest eight ways we can actually do so. First, explain and defend biblical teachings when good opportunities arise in personal conversations. Second, refuse to affirm what the Bible forbids in your workplace even when your employer pressures you to do so. Third, teach the Bible to your children and lead them to embrace its teaching.

Fourth, model biblical teaching in your own life. Fifth, vote for political candidates who will uphold biblical values. Sixth, use your time and money to support the ministry of a local church that faithfully teaches the Bible. Seventh, support other organizations that are working to promote biblical values. And eighth, help other Christians be more faithful in all of these areas through personal discipleship. By the way, notice one thing that’s not on this list is to be a jerk about these things on social media. I think there are already enough Christians who have that covered pretty well. 

So, in 2 Samuel 10, we see that times of great need require God’s people to exhibit courageous faith. That was true for Joab and David in their struggle against the foreign nations they were battling, and it’s also true for us today. And we’ve explored specific ways we can do that.

Yet there’s another application here as well—and that is the danger of rejecting God’s kindness. Even though David expresses kindness to Hanun by sending messengers to console him after the death of his father, Hanun forcefully rejects David’s expression of kindness by dishonoring and humiliating the messengers he sent. Similarly, the Bible teaches that God’s shown us incredible kindness as well.

Even though we’ve sinned against God and deserve nothing but eternal punishment, God sent his own Son, Jesus, as an expression of his kindness in order to rescue us from our sin. Jesus accomplished this by living a perfectly sinless life and then dying on the cross in our place and for our sin. All the punishment our sins deserved was poured out on Jesus so it wouldn’t have to be poured out on us. Yet the story doesn’t end in the tragedy of his death but continues on in the triumph of his resurrection.

And because Jesus was raised from the dead, we can be sure that the Father accepted his sacrifice and that Jesus now stands ready to save everyone who turns from their sins and puts their trust in him. This means that we renounce our trust in all of our own moral accomplishments—as if they could ever make us right with God—and put our confidence entirely in Jesus to save us.

So, that leaves us with two options. Will we embrace God’s kindness…or will we reject it? In Romans 2:4, Paul asks, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” In other words, every moment that God delays pouring out his judgment upon us is an expression of kindness that’s meant to give us more time to embrace Jesus.

In reality, we deserve to be punished for our sins in hell immediately, without any opportunity for repentance. But God demonstrates extraordinary kindness in giving us countless opportunities to repent. Every moment he allows us to continue living is another opportunity. So, again, how will you respond to God’s kindness? Will you spurn his kindness, as Hanun did to David—or will you receive it?