Scripture: 2 Samuel 10:1-19
Sermon Series: 2 Samuel: When God is Your King! – Sermon 10
“No good deed goes unpunished.” That quote goes back to the 12th century but was made famous recently by the musical Wicked (picture). In the musical the song “No Good Deed” features the character Elphaba (picture) who realizes her attempts to do the right thing backfire, reinforcing the notion that good deeds can have negative consequences. No good deed goes unpunished.
A Texas newspaper reported an act of kindness returned with insult. A man saw a homeless person, Philip, with a sign that said, “Traveling and hungry, anything helps. God bless.” Moved by compassion, the man let Philip sleep on the couch in his apartment for two nights. Unfortunately, the good Samaritan awoke one morning to find Philip had stolen his wallet, car keys, and car. No good deed goes unpunished.
Have you been there? Maybe you helped a colleague with a crucial project, but then your colleague took all the credit. Or you volunteered to help organize a charity event, but your efforts were met with constant complaints and criticism. One woman spent years taking care of her aging parents. Her siblings accused her of trying to control their inheritance. No good deed goes unpunished.
We do the right thing, expecting to be blessed for it, but instead are blasted. No good deed goes unpunished. That’s David in 2 Samuel 10.
Verse 2 has that wonderful word again, hesed. In the ESV it’s translated “loyally,” in other translations it’s “kindness.” It’s used 250 times in the Old Testament and is often translated “steadfast love.” Kindness fits this context. You and I experience God’s kind acts every moment of our lives. Because we’ve been shown kindness, we’re to show kindness.
In chapter 9 David shows hesed to his nemesis’s disabled grandson, Mephibosheth. Now in chapter 10, David acts with kindness towards a pagan king. Chapter 10 is to be contrasted with chapter 9. Chapter divisions aren’t inspired and sometimes prevent us from seeing the big picture.
Hesed is part of David’s domestic policy, now it’s part of his foreign policy. David acts in loving kindness to those inside Israel and those outside. He shows hesed to the son of a dead Ammonite king.
David is a model for us. He cares about the grandson of his enemy, the son of a pagan king and even his own abused soldiers. As Christ-followers, we must be kind. Yet, our kindness isn’t limited to believers. We’re to be kind to pagans too.
What the Bible teaches and what we believe at Grace is on the wrong side of history. I’ve shared with our leaders that one day we may have protesters out in front of our church. Do you know what we’re going to do? We’re going to pass out water bottles to them. We’re going to be kind to them.
1 Thessalonians 5:15, “See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.” How do you relate to the unsaved around you? To neighbors, to co-workers – unsaved family? Are you kind? There’s a wideness in God’s mercy and when we exhibit kindness the world notices. So, what’s your reputation? David demonstrateskindness – what about us? If you’re taking notes…
1. A godly person shows unexpected kindness, vss. 1-2.
Last year when Henry Kissinger (picture) died heads of state from around the world sent their condolences. Kissinger served as Secretary of State under two presidents (Nixon and Ford) and dominated foreign policy as we withdrew from the war in Vietnam and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize.
As Kissinger’s death brought worldwide condolences, it’s what happening here as David reaches out to Hunan, the new king of the Ammonites, after the death of his father. Somehow Nahash, who was an adversary of Saul, had become David’s ally when David was a fugitive. Though Nahash was a cruel king (1 Samuel 11), it’d been in his best interests to neutralize Saul by supporting his rival, much as we work with China as opposed to Russia. Nahash showed kindness to David, and they became allies. David seeks to maintain friendly relationships after his death and shows kindness to Hunan.
Mephibosheth’s name is associated with shame. Hunan’s name means “grace.” Yet, the opposite is true. Mephibosheth is a man of grace, but Hunan brings shame upon David’s ambassadors. The parallel between the two chapters is noteworthy. Nahash was recently succeeded by his son to the throne. Mephibosheth was the descendant of a recently dead king. David shows kindness to both, but the response is very different.
David doesn’t expect a war with the Ammonites. The delegation that he sent to Hunan is not military but is sent to express sympathy. In the vacuum of power, David could have gained more victories and territory. But David is a man of sincerity, not an opportunist. He’s motivated out of compassion.
Too many believers act politically for their own benefit. It’s tempting to take advantage of situations to move yourself up the corporate ladder, often at the cost of someone else.
But David is a man of character. He reaches out in compassion. In a time of loss, you and I can make a difference in someone’s life just by being kind.
Albert Schweitzer (picture) said: “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.” Yet, like David, we cannot control how our actions are interpreted, we can only control our intents and motives.
2. The godly find that their righteous motives are questioned, vs. 3.
Remember the Elvis Presley (picture) song, Suspicious Minds? It’s about a mistrusting relationship. It was written by Mark James (picture) while he was married to his first wife. He found he had feelings for his childhood sweetheart, who’s also married. James’s wife had suspicions that something was going on. James wrote the song because he felt that they were “caught in this trap that they could not walk out of.”
You’ll find that those who live suspiciously, think suspiciously. Because they have evil motives, they assume others do too. Those who are liars think that others lie too. Unfounded suspicion indicates a sinful mind.
So, are you guilty of assumicide? It’s what happens when you make false assumptions about others so that you portray them in the worst possible light. We do it all the time.
Assumicide kills relationships. We end up believing the worst. We’ve all been guilty of drawing wrong conclusions on the basis of tiny scraps of evidence: He didn’t call back so he must not want to talk to me. They never hire people like me. How could he be a Christian and act like that? I saw her in a bar. She must have a drinking problem. I’ll bet they’re sleeping together. You can’t trust someone who dresses like that. But it’s not only pagans who do this. We do it to our brothers and sisters in Christ. If there is any place where we should give someone the benefit of the doubt, it’s in the church.
If you’re a victim of assumicide, it’s very hard to fight back against it. Few things hurt more than being misunderstood. The closer they are, the greater the pain. John Calvin (picture) said, “If a man distrusts his wife, the master his servant, one neighbor the other, it spreads like a venom which corrupts the heart. And instead of winning peace, people lose it.” We suspect and see in others a reflection of ourselves. That’s the case in 2 Samuel 10.
David’s well-intentioned message launched a train of events that were to his disadvantage. It must have raised the question in his mind of whether it was prudent to show kindness in the future. Some of you have been there. You think, “Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me.” But we do not just show kindness to others, we do it for the Jesus’ sake.
If you’ve ever been shamed, you have to feel for these emissaries. My heart goes out to many of you because you grew up where you were constantly shamed. That’s what the Ammonites do to David’s men.
Who do you listen to? Hanun gets terrible counsel. He defies protocol. There are rules for diplomats, but he breaks them. It seems as if he wants to break the peace treaty his dad had with David.
Shaving off one side of a Jewish man’s beard was an act of disgrace. Beards were marks of dignity, of a man’s virility. Hacking off their clothing revealed the men’s buttocks and genitals. The insult was against their masculinity.
I can imagine these diplomats running the gauntlet through an angry mob of jeering Ammonites. It would be like forcing each of these men to disrobe, put on a hospital gown, and then march them through the streets with the gowns unfastened in the back.
It was a fifty mile walk to Jerusalem. They stop in Jericho at the first town outside of Ammonite territory on the other side of the Jordan.
David ministers first to his own – clothing can be restored; beards can be regrown. He urges them to stay in Jericho to avoid further humiliation and remain in seclusion until they’re presentable.
Shaming is a terrible thing. A man was successful in business and had a well-educated son who was highly respected and honored, like his father. But one day to everyone’s surprise, the young man was charged with embezzlement. At his trial, he was nonchalant and arrogant about his sinful actions. When the judge told him to stand up for sentencing, he still seemed unrepentant. Then hearing a slight shuffle on the other side of the room, he turned to see that his aged father had also risen. The once erect head and straight shoulders of that honest man were now bowed low with shame. He had stood to be identified with his boy and to receive the verdict as though it were being pronounced upon himself. Suddenly this son realized the terrible grief he was inflicting on him, and tears welled up in his eyes. He’d tarnished the family name. Now his poor father was caught in the backwash of his son’s evil deeds, although he’d done everything, he could do to keep him on the straight and narrow path.
Sometimes you have to embarrass a child to get their attention. But parents as much as possible, protect your children. Keep correction private. And please never shame your spouse in public or verbally chastise them to gain an audience or allies.
3. God uses imperfect servants, vss. 6-14.
In one Wizard of Id (picture) cartoon Rodney comes from battle to stand before the king. He’s beaten and bruised. The king asks, “Where have you been?” Rodney replies, “Out fighting our enemies to the West. I’ve pillaged and I’ve burned, and I’ve killed our enemies to the West.” The king says, “But I don’t have any enemies to the West.” Rodney said, “Well, you do now!” That’s what’s going on here. We’d expect David to gather an army to attack the Ammonites. He didn’t. Instead of trying to get even, he absorbs the insult. The land of the Ammonites was outside of the Promised Land (Map). He didn’t need to conquer it. He’s an example for us. We’re too quick to fight.
It sets us up for bitterness when we let insults soak into us and not run off of us. Paul writes about this in Romans. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all” (Romans 12:18). But while David tried to keep the peace, that’s not what the Ammonites were doing. They expected David to be angry and planning for war.
It’s worth noting that they didn’t have to assume the worst and prepare for a fight. They could have taken steps to put matters right. They could have apologized, humbled themselves and sought peace. They chose not to. They assume the worst, that David would be unforgiving after what they’d done.
It’s what we often do when we sin – we rationalize, defend ourselves or claim to be a victim. It’s what Adam and Eve did in the Garden. God just wants us to own it so that He can fix it.
This is the way small problems turn into big conflicts. Someone assumes the worst. But there’s a way out. It involves stopping to think, humbling myself, repenting and confessing that I did the wrong thing.
Instead of defusing the conflict, the Ammonites prepare for war. They spend 1000 talents to hire a mercenary army of 33,000. It’s big bucks. “When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanun and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen” (1 Chronicles 19:6). Think of the expense and risk Hunan is willing to take because his darkened mind couldn’t conceive that David who’d already shown him hesed would forgive him. When you have an evil heart, you assume that they’re making evil plans against you, even if there’s no evidence that it’s true.
It didn’t take David’s intelligence network long to find out what was happening. He didn’t need to fly a Chinese spy balloon over Ammon. His intelligence network told him the Ammonites were preparing for war.
“And when David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the host of the mighty men” (2 Samuel 10:7). Joab was David’s military commander. He’s an insecure, evil man. But he’s still the top military commander in David’s army. In spite of his sin Joab has faith in God and amazingly God uses Joab.
It’s an important reminder for us. God doesn’t have any perfect servants, only flawed ones like us and because of His grace, He still uses us. It’s from the lips of Joab that we find the only mention of God in this chapter.
Joab and Abishai were incredible warriors. They were like a special ops unit. Joab goes with a skilled force, but not a large force. His job was defensive in nature. I don’t think David or Joab understood the full extent of the Ammonite’s plans or the military force assembled by them.
Listen to Joab’s words. “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” (1 Samuel 10:12). When Joab says, “cities of our God,” he’s indicating that this is a religious battle.
One of my favorite movies is The Return of the King (picture). I love the summons to battle that Aragon, heir to the throne, gives his troops. “My brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails…but it is not this day…This day we fight!” Joab makes a similar plea. He isn’t known for his spirituality, yet here we find an eloquent theological charge.
This rally illustrates the healthy balance between human effort and faith in God. We must exhaust our resources doing whatever we can while acknowledging any success is ultimately in God’s hands. We must pray as if it all depends on God, yet work as if it depends on us. What Joab says covers so much more than this incident. Joab didn’t know what the Lord would do. He did know that the Lord would do what is good, that the Lord would do what seems best to Him. But he didn’t know the outcome of the battle.
This is vital for us in our Christian walk. We sang about it earlier, “Battle Belongs.” It’s the place where we find resolution and solace. As a pastor, I continually meet with people for whom this is the issue: “I don’t know what the outcome of this will be.” “I don’t know whether this cancer treatment will be successful.” “I don’t know whether my partner will stay with me.” “I don’t know whether they’ll lay me off.”
How do we respond? We need to respond like Joab: “The Lord will do what seems good to Him.” It comes down to this: Do I believe that God is sovereign and will do what is good? That lines up with what Joab is saying. He said, “We’re gonna do what we can do. We’re gonna be courageous for the cities of God. And may the Lord do what seems good to Him.”
Joab’s uncertainty isn’t a lack of faith. What we doubt are the things that are unclear to us. What is faith? I love John Woodhouse (picture), “Faith is knowing that the Lord is good, and that He does what is good. What is good is decided by God, not us.”
4. God brings peace either through His grace or His judgment, vss. 15-19.
Do you remember Lt. General Russel Honore (picture) who became a household name as he coordinated relief efforts in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina? He was a no-nonsense leader, a quality perhaps best exemplified in his slogan, “Don’t get stuck on stupid.”
The Syrians are “stuck on stupid” as they come back to be defeated again. We hate losing to an underdog. When a sports team in a big high school goes home after they lose to a tiny school, they’re itching for a rematch to save face. That’s what happened with the Syrians. They couldn’t handle that they lost to a small army of Israelite soldiers on foot without horses and chariots,
This time David goes to battle. The way it’s worded, it seems that David took out the Syrian general, Shobach, himself. There’s a copyist error. Instead of 700 chariots, it was 7,000 as found in 1 Chronicles 19.
The victory was decisive. The kings who’d joined Hadadezer made peace with David, agreeing to serve him. It discouraged other nations from coming to the aid of the Ammonites in the future. At this point every knee was forced to bow to Israel’s king. 2 Samuel 10 is a regionalized version of God’s war of Psalm 2. David is the Lord’s anointed. Hanun-Hadadezer & Co. have set themselves against the Lord and against His Anointed.
“Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
3 “Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs;
the Lord holds them in derision.
5 Then He will speak to them in His wrath,
and terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 “As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 I will tell of the decree:
The Lord said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will make the nations Your heritage,
and the ends of the earth Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
10 Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Kiss the Son
lest He be angry, and you perish in the way,
for His wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”
The Jews sang this when they encountered a hostile world. Early Christians prayed this psalm when facing persecution. It’s the most quoted psalm in the New Testament. The Lord’s anointed is literally the Lord’s Christ.
Today the world mocks Christ-followers. We who embrace biblical ethics of honesty and morality are ridiculed. We who uphold the sanctity of human life are scorned. We who see marriage as the union between a man and a woman are called hateful. We who claim Jesus is the only way to God are despised. It’s easy to become discouraged. It seems like we’re losing the battle, but Psalm 2 reminds us that we’re not, and so does 2 Samuel 10.
Do you know what one of the most popular songs is that’s played at funerals today? Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” (picture). But if you choose your way and ignore Christ’s way, your way will end in destruction.
God isn’t threatened by this world’s rebellion. He doesn’t even get up off His throne to deal with the revolt – He sits. In response to man’s rebellion, He establishes His king. “Today” in Psalm 2:7 refers to Jesus’ coronation. Paul said that this occurred at Jesus’ resurrection. “And was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by His resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:4). Jesus was declared to be the Son of God in power by His resurrection.
In spite of all the resistance, God’s King will rule. We win! If we don’t have that assurance, what are we doing here? Why work, go to the office, raise children, gather for worship? But we don’t win with swords or spears or even political power. It’s a spiritual battle. God has given King Jesus authority over the nations. And we have a mission. He sends us to the four corners of the world. We extend the reign of Christ by proclaiming His Kingdom, by sharing the gospel.
Conclusion
2 Samuel 9 and 10 are about one theme, hesed, the kindness of King David. In 2 Samuel 9, the kindness of the king was experienced by Mephibosheth. He was taken from poverty to riches, from a nobody to becoming an adopted son of the king who always ate at the king’s table.
In 2 Samuel 10, the Ammonites rejected the kindness that King David planned to extend to them. They rebelled against God’s king. It didn’t go well for them. When we get to 2 Samuel 12, they’ll be destroyed for rejecting the kindness of God’s King.
2 Samuel 10 is also a picture of the Syrians. They fought against the kindness of God’s king, but after repeated losses, came to their senses, made peace and enjoyed the blessing of a right relationship with God’s king.
These responses to the king’s kindness by Mephibosheth, the Ammonites, and the Syrians parallel our responses to the kindness of the much greater descendent of David. It’s the kindness shown to us by King Jesus. So how are you responding?
Are you accepting God’s kindness like Mephibosheth? We can embrace the kindness of King Jesus and be taken from those crippled by sin to those healed for the forgiveness of our sins. We can embrace the kindness of King Jesus and be given an inheritance in heaven that can never perish as all the love and goodness that God the Father has for His Son flows onto Jesus and overflows onto us. As Mephibosheth was adopted into David’s family and given a seat at the king’s table, we too can be adopted as brothers and sisters who eat at the table of God with Jesus our elder brother for all eternity.
Are you rebelling against God’s kindness like the Ammonites? We can despise God’s goodness to us through Jesus. We can assume the worst of God’s intentions. We can spend our life resisting the gospel and living in opposition to Jesus. It’s a losing proposition. Just as fighting King David led to the destruction of the Ammonites in the Old Testament, fighting King Jesus will lead to the eternal destruction of anyone in the New Testament.
Have you resisted but are now accepting God’s kindness like the Syrians? The Syrians, like the Ammonites, initially resisted God’s king, rebelling against him. Twice they learned the painful lesson that rebelling against God’s chosen king is not a winning proposition. They wised up and made peace with God’s chosen king. They enjoyed the blessing of being subject to him instead of opposing him.
Is that you this morning? Have you come today in rebellion against King Jesus? Do you want to be in charge of your own life? Have you been telling Jesus to stick it? How has fighting King Jesus gone for you?
If that’s you, my prayer is that today, just like the Syrians, you repent. You decide to no longer fight King Jesus but turn to and trust Him. He loves you. He wants to be good to you. He loves you more than you can understand or imagine. He wants to forgive you and make you part of His forever family.
Mephibosheth didn’t deserve the goodness of the king, and neither do we. God is that good to us through Jesus. Only a fool would turn his back on the kindness of the king. Please don’t be a fool today, like the Ammonites were.
This morning, everyone in this room is in one of those three positions. Either you’re experiencing the kindness of King Jesus, like Mephibosheth, or you’re a hardcore resister of King Jesus’ kindness like the Ammonites, or you’re learning only a fool keeps fighting King Jesus. Like the Syrians, you come to your senses, change your mind, submit to King Jesus and experience His kindness.
So, which one are you? When you understand God’s steadfast love, it’s both life and eternal destiny changing…but you must choose the right one.