2 Samuel 10:6-12 – The Compassion of the King
How does the king react to his kindness being rejected? The first thing to notice is that he cares for his shamed servants. He shows such compassion for them, because he knows that they’re suffering for his sake. That’s something for us to remember as well. If you’re mocked or laughed at for being a Christian or for speaking up for him, you can be sure that your King feels this compassion for you as well.
In fact, even your very suffering can help give you assurance that you belong to him, because you’re walking the path he walked. Rather than keeping our heads down as Christians in order to try and avoid suffering, we should actually rejoice at the prospect that we might be counted worthy to suffer dishonour for his name.
The report of the ensuing battle is so short and matter of fact, that we might not think it was a big deal. But it would be hard to overemphasise just how daunting it would have been for the armies of Israel to fight on foreign soil against such large armies who were so familiar with warfare. That makes the words of Joab in v12 especially commendable. Some are critical of his speech because they think it’s pretty faithless. They think it’s quite defeatist. They would rather that he said, ‘let’s fight, because God is definitely going to help us win’. But actually, God hadn’t given them that promise. God doesn’t give us promises about particular situations we face in our lives. He gives us what we could call big-picture promises. For example: ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’. But that doesn’t mean we won’t get sick. It doesn’t mean we won’t lose loved ones. It doesn’t mean we won’t lose our jobs. It takes more faith, to say like Job: ‘Though he slay me, I will hope in him’. Or to say with Paul ‘it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by my life or my death’. It takes more faith to say: I’m going to trust him, I’m going to worship him – even if I don’t get better. True faith is serving God in a situation where you don’t have any immediate guarantees.
Question
- How does David treat those who are suffering for him?
Prayer Points
- Pray for Christians being persecuted in other countries.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.