Let's take our Bibles and let's go over to 2 Samuel and chapter 10. Why? Well, because we have been looking at some pretty interesting stuff in this book. This is David, a man after God's own heart, and yet it is at this junction that we find things begin to topple for David. This is probably where we could mark in our Bibles that things begin to get out of his control. In chapter 8, we saw that David showed forth a great deal of courage. You may not remember it, but if you went back and reviewed chapter 8, you would find that David slew, David slew, David slew. He had all these exploits, all of these battles that he had won, and he was a champion among men. And he had gained a name for himself, it even says in that chapter, because he had done such a good job at doing battle. you and I are called to do battle. Isn't that true? We need to take our relationship with Christ, we need to let it go out into the world to be seen and understood of other people. David gained a name for himself and thus it reflected upon God well. Well then we saw in chapter 9 David's kindness. So we saw his courage, we saw his kindness. He said, who is of the house of Saul? I can show kindness. He wanted to pour out the blessing upon Jonathan's son when he found that he had one person in his family left. And he did so. He brought Mephibosheth in, gave him a seat at the table, even though he was lame in his feet. The chapter ended with him at the king's table. And it notes that it was even though he was lame in his feet. It reminds us of Nehemiah, who was sad in the presence of the king. And he had never been sad before because that was not to be done. A king didn't want somebody sad in their presence because it might bring them down with all of the things on their heart. But David, David showed kindness. And even though this man didn't bring anything into the room that would lift the spirits of others, at least externally, he did by virtue of the kindness David was showing. So he overcame evil with good, didn't he? Even though he was lame in his feet, David showed forth kindness. Well, as I said, chapter 10 shows us things turning sideways a little bit. I want to talk to you about David's complicity. David's complicity. Why? Because it is at this time we see David beginning to embrace the ways of the world in which he lived. Where we saw the passages before saying, David slew, David slew, we're going to see David sent, David sent. Suddenly he's not out there anymore. He's not getting in the battle, he's not getting sweaty, and he's not using his sword as readily. And so with that in mind, I want you to keep your eye on that idea, and we'll try to see if we can't bear it up in the passage. Verse 1 of chapter 10 says, and it came to pass after this, this is after Mephibosheth had been placed at the king's table, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanan, his son, reigned in his stead. Then said David, I will show kindness unto Hanun, the son of Nahash, as his father showed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David's servants came into the land of the children of Ammon." Now, you know about Ammon. And what you know is that he is related to the Jewish people. This people group is of the seed of Lot. So they're related by blood in some little bit more distant fashion because of course the seed of promise is through Isaac and Jacob and this is Abraham's Nephew and so there it's a relationship, but it's not you know direct It's not it's not the inner circle of the family, but they had become adversaries To the people of Israel for quite some time you may remember that it was Amman who came To the people of Jabesh Gilead remember that And they said, pluck out your eye, and then we'll let you live. So it was a bad day. But it was Saul who came to Jabesh Gilead's aid and slapped back the Ammonites. They wanted the land. They wanted that place. It's on the east side of the Jordan. And they wanted their land. They said, it's our land. And it was Jephthah who first answered that question biblically. We won't go into all the dynamics, but we know that Ammon has a history with these people. And so what we're seeing now is that there's been something that's changed. He says, I want to show kindness to this son of Nahash as he showed kindness to me, as that prior king, as his father showed kindness to me. The word is hesed. And I find it interesting that the king of Ammon showed kindness, hesed, to David. I think that's really something we need to look at for a second. You know, as believers, we do have a blessing that the world doesn't truly understand. Sometimes that blessing is so amazing to us that we just go through the world with a joy in our hearts that somehow forgets that there's a time when God will bring us into leanness so that the world can do kindness to us. I remember one man saying it this way, sometimes we need to give the lost person in our world the gift of our need. Isn't that interesting to think about? We need to give them the gift of our need. Because our lives were righted somewhere early enough to where we're not out in the la-la land that most of the world's in, sometimes it's hard for us to look at the world and receive from them. Because God has met our every need. But we need to sometimes give the neighbor the gift of our need. Let him help us. Because then they'll realize that we don't feel like we're superior. We don't think we're superior. We're just loving Jesus and enjoying the bounty. But sometimes when people have it together, it makes people feel bad about themselves. Isn't that true? If somebody's in a sick bed, you walk in and you're all chipper and having a good day, man, they feel more miserable than ever. I'd rather you just walk out because it makes them feel more sick. The Bible says we are a saver of life unto life and a saver of death unto death. Have you ever walked past a decaying animal on a walk in your neighborhood? It's like, whoa, don't like that smell. So we give the gift of our need. And what I'm saying is Ammon had a history and it was not a great one. So it's weird to see David say, I want to do kindness to them. Now, what was the kindness that Nahash had done? Well, there's two possibilities that have been floated in the history books. One is that he was somebody who, when Saul was chasing David over the highways and byways, that he's over here by the river of Jordan, perhaps just crossed over onto the eastern side, and Nahash may have sent some supplies to support them. Because why? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You see, he hated Saul. Saul was the one who slapped him back. Some believe that was the truth. Another said, no, we recall that Moab had been given the stewardship of David's parents and his wives. And we remember that there was that occasion where ultimately David had to go and really deal with them because somehow that king in Moab had turned upon his family and slew them. And it is said by some in the history books extra-biblically that one from David's home or household escaped and fled to Ammon. And Ammon gave him sanctuary. And so this may be, we don't know which of the two, but it's probably one or the other. And what he's saying is he showed me kindness. Maybe it's both. If he took care of his family, maybe he took care of him too. But this is a kindness. He was in need. He's being chased all over Hill and Dell. And next thing you know, Ammon has shown up to be some sort of a sucker of his need. And so we see him saying, I want to show him kindness. He showed me kindness. I want to answer in kind. And by the way, If you're a God's child, the first thing you and I ought to want to show the world is kindness, chesed, one-sided love commitment. They may not treat us well, but we need to treat them well. That's what God does for us. And if we're living as he would have us live, we will have that kind of a relationship that shows the world chesed. Well, David wanted to show this kindness. Interestingly enough, the Bible says in verse 3, that the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, thinkest thou that David doth honor thy father, that he had sent comforters unto thee? Hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee to search the city, to spy it out, and to overthrow it?" Now, that's interesting. And what I want you to notice here is that this is very much like the experience you and I are going to have in this world. You try to do something nice for somebody, sometimes they don't. They don't quite get it, because they only know the plumb line of their own lives. They think evil, and they know they're evil. So they know that if they were doing something for somebody, it would have to have ulterior motives. They just can't get beyond that. These kings, these princes who are here among this newly ordained or coronated king, they're suggesting that David's got an ulterior motive. They've got suspicion. Do you know the world has suspicions about you and me? I think they do. They think we're up to something. Nobody can be smiling. If you're smiling, what are you up to? The reality is that the world will be suspicious of us. We see it in our world today, don't we? The best people in the world today are the believers, the ones who love, the ones who care, the ones who give, the most charitable. It is the believers. And who is it that everybody is despising and dismissing? and chastising and castigating. It is the good amongst us. Some of the best people, most non-threatening people in the world are the believers. Now we are Americans, so we might be a little more threatening because we've got guns. We're supposed to defend liberty. But the fact of the matter is that it would take a whole lot to get any true believer to do some serious damage with a gun. It took a lot to get the forefathers of this country to do it. And all I'm saying is As you look at this, these guys are suspicious. It kind of reminds us of Rehoboam, doesn't it? Remember Rehoboam? Solomon has passed off the scene. Rehoboam's in the throne room. His buddies are there, and the people are dissembling. Half of the group is going to Jeroboam's side. The ten tribes are going that way. And Rehoboam says, I'm going to get them. I'm going to bring them back. But before all that, Rehoboam. has the kingdom under his control. What happens? The people come and say, well, you lighten our load. Your dad, we've served him with rigor. You just lighten our load a little bit. He asked the older men. They say, yeah, yeah, you need to lighten it up on them. They've been working hard for a long time. Just give them a little bit of leisure and encouragement. And his young brothers said, no, don't do it. You tighten it up. Because he tightened it up and listened to his counselors, he ended up splitting the kingdom. It's not unlike that. A man who would walk with wise men should be wise, but a companion of fools should be destroyed." Hanun is a man who actually has listened to his friends, the princes. They say, don't think he came to comfort, think he came to conquer. You see, that's what the world thinks about us. They think we want to make a theocracy in the world. No. We just want to lift up a standard so this ship called America will stay afloat. We just have a problem with people drilling holes in the boat, because we are theophobes. Amen? That's what we are. We're afraid of what God might do if we keep pushing the envelope. Well, the Bible says in verse 4, therefore, because he listened to the counselors, he took David's servants, he shaved off one half of their beards, and he cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. It was a humiliation indeed. And it says, and when they told it to David, he sent to meet them. Now notice again, he sent. He sent, in verse 2, to show comfort. He sent now to meet these men who've been humiliated. And because they were greatly ashamed, he sent to meet them. And he said, tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. Now, there's a humiliation here that's been really set upon God's people. I mean, they could have taken the guys and killed them. These are ambassadors. I couldn't help but read about ambassadors being shamefully treated without thinking of Benghazi, you see. Our people haven't taken care of our ambassadors. Can you imagine the picture of that slaughter after all of the nonsense had gone, all the dust had settled? There were dead people in that room. Our kings didn't take care of their own. David receives his ambassadors back. He says, you guys go over to Jericho. And you sit there for a while. Now, Jericho is not the city. It hasn't been rebuilt. It's probably just a few places, like maybe even caves and type things. It might even be like an oasis. It means the city of palm trees. So I like to think he said, you guys go to the country club. You guys go to the condo. You guys enjoy the pool and some tea by the side of it until you feel a little bit better. OK? So he took care of them. He said, you go over there. You nurse your wounds. And when you get ready, you come back. So he gave them some of their dignity back. A word from the king, a little vacation, and a little encouragement that they could return. But it's interesting, because David is drunk in deeply of what has happened to his ambassadors. And verse six says, and when the children of Ammon saw that they stank before David, the children of Ammon sent and hired the Syrians of Beth Rehob, and the Syrians of Zobah, 20,000 footmen, and the king of Maacah, 1,000 footmen and 12,000 men. And so what we see here is about 23,000, I think it is, that the Ammonites have hired. And the Bible says when David heard of that, because he hasn't made a move yet, they've just got fear in them. Now, to be fair, we must remember that those princes have been watching the landscape. They know what happened to Moab. Chapter 8, verse 2, the Bible says that Moab had their people lined up and two-thirds of them were killed and only one-third was allowed to live. And these are closer brethren. Moab and Ammon, they were brother cities from Lot's descent. So they might be thinking really suspicious. And David wanting to show kindness, it might have been misunderstood. It was not a well-received gesture at the very least. But these men now have really got themselves all in a frenzy. They're nervous wrecked. They just grabbed the bull by the horns and they're wondering what's coming next. So right away, they go hire the Syrians. Now, the Syrians are going to be a big deal because the Syrians are the ones they're going to keep going to for help. You see, the world will be suspicious toward us, but the world will also have support amongst its own. The Bible says that the world will hate you Don't marvel at that. It hated me first. And it's going to hate you. So don't be naive. David, I think, is showing a little bit of naivety because he's not engaged. What's happened is he's sent for comfort. He's sent now to console his own. He keeps sending. He's not going himself. Typically, he would show up, but he's not showing up. Verse 6 gets these 32,000 troops that are there. It says in verse 7 that David heard of it and he sent Joab again. He sent he said he sent Joab now understand You know David was he was still young. He was still able to go to battle But he sends Joab. This is gonna be a problem for him Chapter 11 and verse 1 the Bible says and it came to pass After the year was expired at the time when Kings go forth to battle look at the end of it that David's tarried still in Jerusalem. He's getting a pattern. He's getting a mindset that, you know, I'll just send. I'll just send. I don't need to do anything anymore. This is where he's going to fall into trouble with Bathsheba. This is why we believe that this is where the book begins to turn toward chaos for David. He begins to become complicit with the ways that the world does things rather than doing things the way God would have them done. Verse 8 says, he sent Joab in verse 7, with all the host of the mighty men. He took the choicest of the choice. And you remember all of the cataloging of the mighty men of David. Each of these men had some spurs that they've earned. Each of them had notches on their belt. Each of them were exemplary. So he took the best of the best, and it amounted to what he calls a host of the mighty men. All of the host of the mighty men. Why? Because there's 32,000 arrayed against them. And it says, and the children of Ammon came out and put the battle in a ray, verse 8, at the entering end of the gate. And the Syrians of Zobah and Rahab and Ishtab and Meacah were by themselves in the field. So get the picture. In the valley, there's this city. Could be up on a rise there. There's a city. And then off to the side, there's a whole host of people. You've got this battlement set up outside the gate, just waiting for a fight, saying, come on, but on the sides. There is a whole host of Syrians. Joab sees this, and he's not to be daunted by it. He realizes that what the Ammonites have done is they've set it up so that there might be crossfire that they were going to have to walk into, coming from the sides, coming from the front. It didn't look good. So the Bible says when Joab saw this in verse 9, that he got all of the choicest of the choice men with him, And he took them to go against the Syrians. Abishai, verse 10, was given the rest of the people. He was told to go against the city, while he, Joab, would go against the more daunting numbers of the Syrians. So you have Joab being manly. I mean, he truly was a leader. He took the helm. He said, I'll take the worst. And if I begin to get beaten, you come over and help me. If you begin to get beaten, I'll come over and help you. Much of this is review for us, because we like the battle scenes. Man, when the dust is flying, we're like, OK, I remember that, because there's a vivid picture in our minds, perhaps. But the Bible says that he said, if they be too strong for you, I'll come to you, and so forth. You do the same for me. Verse 12, be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people and for the cities of our God. And the Lord do that which seemeth good. Now, Joab is not what we would call a spiritual man. He has already killed Abner. in contradiction to the will of the king. Yet he has favor with David to some degree. So as you look at this setting, you see him beginning to realize this could be my day. You know, we have soldiers that are in our armed forces who are not allowed to pray, not allowed to invoke the name of Jesus in a very overt way without feeling like they're somehow making somebody feel bad about themselves. What I'm saying is, is even our chaplains are being chastised and castigated in our military today. But if you were facing a battle, wouldn't you like somebody to tell you the Word of God? David had his people out there, and though Joab wasn't the most spiritual guy in the world, when he realized he might die today, he felt the ruminations of his soul. And sometimes people will not feel the ruminations of their soul until they get into a very tight spot like this. And he begins to invoke God. And he says, God do what seems right to him. And that's all he had. They were daunting. And yet, he invoked the reality of God. And I would encourage anybody who's in a tight spot, do not stifle that. That is God's last call. Reach to the cross because therein lies the salvation that we all definitely need. The Bible says in verse 13, And Joab drew nigh, and the people that were with him, unto the battle against the Syrians, and they fled before him." See? God did do what seemed good to him. And the Bible says that they fled from him. Verse 14, and when the children of Ammon saw that the Syrians were fled, then fled they also before Abishai, his brother, and entered into the city. So Joab returned from the children of Ammon and came to Jerusalem. Kind of one of those things where you see a guy slapping his hands and saying, that's a job well done, going home. Well, the Syrians aren't done yet. What we've seen is, is that David has found that the world is not a nice and friendly place. There's a suspicion about those who are godly and successful and good. You know, even Ecclesiastes, he says, you know, when a man is successful and prospers, it is vexed by the fact that he's envied of his neighbor. Interesting a person can really begin to thrive and somebody comes along and say well I should have had that you know and it's kind of the way of the world isn't it? Well the world looks at David and they think suspicious thoughts and then we see that the world looks at David and says we need the support of the rest of the world and they come against him and Then finally we have to realize the only way to overcome the world is to bring it into subjection That doesn't mean the people because the world is a system You and I live in a system. It's the world said, love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. For these are not of the Father, but these are things that are passing away. We need to not love those. It says, if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So we can't love this world. And what has to happen is that though we're in the world, we're not of the world, and we need to learn how to navigate through the world as Pilgrims and sojourners. We need to have the testimony that says We seek a city whose builder and maker is God by faith We need to obtain a good report a good witness from other people that when the time comes in their day of visitation They will glorify God because they saw our walk you see and David is now going to be drawn out of his throne room and the Bible says in verse 15 when the Syrians saw that they were smitten before Israel they gathered themselves together and and had that razor sent and brought the Syrians that were beyond the river. Circle the word river and write in your margin the word Euphrates. This is not the River Jordan, which is usually when something's used as the word river. This is the River Euphrates. In other words, he's calling people in from out of town. Okay, you've got over the Jordan, that's where they've been fighting out in here, and now the Syrians are bringing in more. And it's almost like, you know, this floodgate kind of a thing going on. He calls in the Syrians that were beyond the river, verse 16, and they came to Helam. And Shobak, the captain of the host of Hadarezer, went before them. Now, when Shobak is mentioned, that's because he was a very notorious captain. This is the big guns. The other guys were the hired guns, okay? The Ammonites hired the Syrians, and they only got a bunch of people who were hireable. Okay, but this now is the Syrians who were the big guns the professional soldiers coming in to help Those who were for sale and for rent and so this is a big deal and Shobak himself comes He's the captain of the host of Hatteras and he went before them and the Bible says in verse 17 and when it was told David look at this he gathered a Israel together and passed over so we saw him sent he sent he sent now he went he finally went and when he went he went and passed over and the Bible says in the Syrians set themselves in array against David and Fought with him now. It's funny. It doesn't say with the people of Israel. They fought with David It's an interesting thing that God was using David in a very profound way here God is trying to pull him back from the ledge, if you will. Come on off the ledge. David is starting to become complicit with the world. He's sending, sending. Oh, you go do this. You go do that. I'll sit here. You tell me what's going on. And this is going to get him in big trouble in the next chapter. It's going to get him in big trouble. But here we have him going. And the Bible says that they came and arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. And verse 18, and the Syrians fled before Israel. And look at this, and David slew. You just want to shout. It's like the cheerleader's in the stands. The football game's going. David made the catch. He made the play. He made the touchdown. David slew. It's a good thing. Each of us has that call. Oh, how the world to evil allures me. Oh, how my heart is tempted to sin, right? That's our world. We have to subjugate the world. David went out, he went and he slew the men of 700 chariots of the Syrians and 40,000 horsemen and smote Shabak, the captain of the host, who died there. This was another great exploit. This was another great victory. This was more shining upon the greatness of his name. David was becoming a man of renown. He came into the battle and it became his battle again. And in verse 19 it says and when all the kings that were servants to had a razor saw That they were smitten before Israel and that's all the kings that the Syrians had subjugated when they saw that had a razor Was smitten before Israel they made peace with Israel and they served them You know, this world is a wonderful creation of God I'll have my devotions out on the back porch and I've got a friend out there. He's a little chipmunk I'll be reading my Bible. It'll be the coolest thing. And all of a sudden, this chipmunk will run across. He'll run in behind. And he literally, at first, was blowing by me, sneaking up. Now he comes up and stops right in front of me, not about an arm's length away. He sits there. And he looks at me. And then he goes on his way. I've got quite a relationship with this chipmunk. Sometimes he'll run back. He'll show me he's got two, two nuts in his cheeks because he's proud. And one time he was coming along, he kept dropping one. But he's like, I got this. Now, my point is this, is that God has made a beautiful world in all of its way. And godliness has promise of this life and that which is to come. We don't have to buy into the world's system. It's going to be suspicious about us. It's going to be supported against us. And it's going to come back and it's going to try to subjugate us. And it will if we don't watch ourselves. The Bible says, be sober, be vigilant, right? Your adversary, the devil, seeks whom he made a bound for. That's what he's doing. He's running around. He'd like to drink us all down for a nice little morsel. Okay, he'd like to do, but we have to subject the world. We have to say, I'm not going to become squeezed into the mold of this world, right? The Bible says, be not conformed to this world. We're supposed to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. So all of the goodness, all of the wonderment, all of the sunshine, all of the rainbows, I can't see a rainbow anymore because the world has hijacked it. And they've subjected it to themselves. We need to not give up so easily. We need to take our children and show them the rainbow. Say, that's what God did when he judged the world. He said, I'll not do it that way again. We need to remind them whose rainbow that is. You see, the world will try to subject you and me. It'll take the things that we hold dear and desecrate them. David went back into the battle when he went back into the battle all these Kings saw that the person who oppressed them was now being oppressed they made peace with David and Served Israel and it says in verse 19 at the end So the Syrians feared to help the children of Ammon anymore Now don't miss this that river. I told you to think about this was a river that Abraham was promised his boundaries would reach to all the way to the Euphrates. And this is the first time David had gotten that border that far. So this was a good day. David had procured peace. David had secured substance for his son Solomon. He was lit up about the whole prospect of having a seed that would endure. But now, now he's had to be pulled off of the throne and be told to go back into the fray. And in verse 1 of chapter 11 we see And it came to pass, after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent..." He's complicit. He's playing the game the world plays. And it says, "...and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon." So God allowed Joab to destroy the children of Ammon, but the Bible says, "...but David tarried still at Jerusalem." The next thing we're going to see is he's looking over a wall where he ought not be looking, and he's getting caught up in something that is going to send his entire family into a complete chaotic state. Five-fold judgment. There's going to be death, rape, sedition, a coup is going to be brought. There's going to be two of them, actually, where there's going to be all kinds of trouble. Why? Because David absented himself from the battle. You know, nobody can fight your battle for your stand. Nobody can fight it for you. Jesus has given us the victory. We fight from victory, not for victory, but we can forfeit it if we do not stand fast. So what we've seen here is that David started out showing kindness. He saw that he had to stand courageous, and ultimately he needed to stay committed. But when we get to chapter 11, he didn't learn it. He didn't learn it. And we need to. This is where David begins to depart. This is where he begins to come unglued. He's been stellar. And I just want to say this, guys. It's so important to get the children early. Give them a long run of enjoyment of Christ, of the Word of God. I had my grandkids call me today on the phone, and three of them They quoted a verse to me. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven one after another. And they quoted it to me. I'm just praising God that they're getting that now because when they're 20, when they're 30, when they're 40, when they're 50, things change. Every one of those, pretty much, we've passed by those numbers. We know it was different at 20. It's different at 30. It's different at 40. It's different at 50. And we need to give our children a good foundation, don't we? We need to spare them. We need to give them the fortitude. We need to give them the foundation to know that if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts. And we can get back up. We fall down, we get up. And David would get up and he would walk through a clamor. And some of us may have to walk through a clamor if we don't begin to stand. Committed because that's where we started. That's where we need to end