David was known to be a warrior, so much so, that sometimes
even his generosity wasn't trusted. Here
we read that when David sent men to comfort Hanun the king of the Ammonites in
the loss of his father, the Ammonites assumed that he had treacherous motives.
So, Hanun embarrassed those benevolent emissaries unnecessarily by shaving half
of each one's face and by altering their robes to make very inadequate
miniskirts for them.
To make a long story short, the Ammonites soon regretted
their foolish maltreatment of David's men. Even though the Ammonites hired
thousands of Syrians to ward of David's revenge, they were no match for David,
Joab, Abishai, Israel and Israel's God. Both of those gentile nations were
routed soundly and the Syrians never again agreed to work as mercenaries for
the Ammonites.
This scenario is still played out today in the lives of
believers. We may set out to show some kindness to a person in their grief, and
yet our attempts may easily be interpreted to be inadequate or even hostile.
But, if God is on our side, who can stand against us (Romans 8:31)? Even if
those who have it in for us go out and garner additional forces to come against
us, if we are walking with God, Satan is our ultimate enemy and against him we
CAN prevail. Put on the whole armor of God, Christian friend... we are in a
war! Gird your loins with truth, wear the breastplate of righteousness, keep
your gospel shoes on, use your shield of faith, strap on the helmet of
salvation, wield the sword of the Spirit & pray earnestly as you stand in
your post (Ephesians 6:14-18). And, in all of this, please fight the enemy
(Satan). Don't turn on your own company. Your fellow-saints are not the foe.
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