Day 117: 1 Chronicles 19, 20 and 21

Do you think David is honoring your father by sending men to you to express sympathy? (1 Chronicles 19:3)

During the days of Saul there was great enmity between Israel and Ammon. Saul’s decisive victory over the Ammonite forces cemented his position as king over Israel. We learn in verse 2 that David held the Ammonite king Nahash in high regard. The text doesn’t spell out for us why that is, except with a vague reference to some kindness shown David. It is probable that Nahash may have provided David refuge during the time he was hiding from Saul. Whatever the case, upon Nahash’s death, David wanted to show kindness to his son Hanun in return for the kindness he’d been shown years earlier. Not only was it the right thing to do, but it should have also served to strengthen the tentative alliance between the two nations.

When the Israeli envoys arrived in Ammon they were greeted with suspicion. Hanun’s advisors encouraged him to deal harshly with this threat, and the order was given for the ambassadors to be humiliated. Diplomacy demands that when an ambassador is welcomed, he is to be received as though he were the king himself. Not only were the envoys humiliated, but David and all Israel were shamed as well by this despicable act.

The resulting conflict would result in Ammon’s destruction.

Have you ever suffered a lapse in judgment and questioned someone’s motives when they deserved the benefit of the doubt?