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Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 12 November 2025:
1 Chronicles 19:1-2 — Now after this Nahash the king of the Ammonites died, and his son reigned in his place. And David said, “I will deal kindly with Hanun the son of Nahash, for his father dealt kindly with me.” So David sent messengers to console him concerning his father. And David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites to Hanun to console him.
David’s desire to show kindness reflects the covenantal heart of God. Nahash, though a pagan king, had once extended favor to David, and David responded with loyalty and compassion. True godliness honors past kindness, even from unlikely sources. David’s gesture models Christlike mercy, seeking peace and extending grace where hostility might be expected (Romans 12:18).
1 Chronicles 19:3-5 — But the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think, because David has sent comforters to you, that he is honoring your father? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle, at their hips, and sent them away; and they departed, and told David concerning the men. And he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed. And the king said, “Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.”
We can misinterpret others’ motives and actions when we view them from a position of fear, doubt, and our own sinful motives, and this may cause us to act sinfully towards them – needless quarrels start that can be very destructive. Love calls us to give others the benefit of the doubt when acts of kindness are offered. Remember, only God truly knows the heart of another person. Be careful not to assume the worse of others.
Let’s review our discussion on this account which we read previously in 2 Samuel 10: David sends a delegation to king Hanun to console him concerning the recent death of his father. Hanun, the young, inexperienced, poorly advised king of the Ammonites misinterprets David’s gesture of kindness, believing it to be a trick, and responds by publicly humiliating and dishonoring David’s envoys. The result is a pointless war between the Israelites, Ammonites and Syrians where over 47,000 people needlessly die.
It is not at all hard to understand why Hanun acted the way he did: sending spies as envoys is a common tactic, and David’s modus operandus included this sort of deception. Remember in 1 Samuel 27, king Achish trusted David while David was secretly massacring villages within his land, leaving “neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath.” (1 Samuel 27:11) During the death of a king and the subsequent transition to new leadership, a kingdom is very vulnerable, and Hanun surely felt insecure and defensive. A wiser David would have recognized the sensitivity of the situation and would have dealt with Hanun more carefully; but David, rather than considering Hanun’s perspective, assumed that Hanun would see things from his perspective, a big mistake we often make in our relationships.
Hanun on the other hand reacted to David’s poorly timed gesture rashly, likely due to his insecurity as a new king. Insecurity makes people defensive and often causes them to assume the worst in others. Insecurity can destroy relationships. Hanun did one of the worse things someone can do in a relationship, he belittled, embarrassed, humiliated and dishonored David and his men. He robbed them of their dignity. In this case, neither party had the maturity, self-confidence, or moral courage to seek forgiveness and reconciliation. It continued to escalate into great destruction.
Suspicion destroyed the opportunity for peace. Pride and paranoia turned compassion into conflict. When fear replaces trust, people often misinterpret grace as manipulation. David’s initially measured response shows restraint under offense, a mark of godly leadership (Proverbs 19:11). However, things still got our of hand, resulting in much needless pain, suffering, and death.
1 Chronicles 19:6-9 — 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 from Mesopotamia, from Aram-maacah, and from Zobah. They hired 32,000 chariots and the king of Maacah with his army, who came and encamped before Medeba. And the Ammonites were mustered from their cities and came to battle. When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country.
Hanun, having foolishly humiliated David’s ambassadors, now escalates the situation by posturing for war. Instead of repenting or seeking reconciliation, he spends a fortune, 1,000 talents of silver, to hire foreign mercenaries. His decision reveals the spiritual blindness that often follows pride and guilt: rather than turning to humility and peace, Hanun turns to self-preservation and prideful aggression. What began as a diplomatic misjudgment now grows into full-scale war.
Strategically, the Ammonites’ encampment “before Medeba” is not random. Medeba was a historically disputed territory between Israel and Ammon, originally conquered by Israel during the wilderness conquest and assigned to the tribe of Reuben (Numbers 21:30; Joshua 13:9, 16). Over time, as Israel grew complacent and Ammon grew bold, the land exchanged hands multiple times. By taking a defensive stance in this symbolic location, Hanun effectively reopens old wounds, reviving generational hostility and rekindling forgotten grievances.
This is how strife operates: once pride enters, the past becomes ammunition. Proverbs 17:14 warns, “Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.” Once a breach occurs, the flow of contention is uncontrollable. Hanun’s insecurity and suspicion opened that floodgate. Proverbs 20:3 adds, “It is to one’s honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.” Hanun’s hasty reaction displays the folly of wounded pride.
The situation also embodies the principle of Proverbs 26:20 — “For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.” The Ammonite princes, whispering suspicions into Hanun’s ears, were the “wood” fueling the fire. Their counsel, rooted in paranoia, turned a potential friendship into an avoidable war. Proverbs 15:18 concludes the pattern: “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” Hanun’s impulsiveness contrasts sharply with the wisdom of restraint.
David’s reaction, though justified in the context of ancient Near Eastern honor and security, raises a spiritual question: could he have responded differently? David was a man after God’s heart, yet he was also a warrior-king bound by cultural norms of retaliation and national defense. However, viewed through the lens of Christ’s teaching, we see a higher ethic, one that transcends vengeance.
Jesus’ command in Luke 6:27-36 redefines victory: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you… bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” The kingdom mindset does not measure strength by domination, but by mercy. To love one’s enemy is to display the divine character of the Father, “for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”
If David’s heart at this moment mirrors the zeal of the flesh, Christ calls us to the restraint of the Spirit. The natural man seeks to crush opposition; the spiritual man seeks to redeem it. Jesus challenges us not merely to win conflicts but to transform them by grace. “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)
David’s military might will soon triumph, but his moral victory could have been greater had reconciliation triumphed over retaliation. Still, this story prepares us for the perfect King to come — One who, instead of crushing His enemies, would die for them.
The first rule in relationships is to seek first to understand before seeking to be understood. We must be sensitive to the vulnerabilities and insecurities of others. If we have offended someone, we must quickly seek forgiveness, restitution and reconciliation, even if the other party is not wholly innocent. If we have been offended, we must quickly forgive and seek reconciliation. “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:18) “Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians 13:11) Finally, we must NEVER dishonor or humiliate another person, but rather treat all people with dignity and respect.
1 Chronicles 19:8-13 — When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army of the mighty men. And the Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the city, and the kings who had come were by themselves in the open country. When Joab saw that the battle was set against him both in front and in the rear, he chose some of the best men of Israel and arrayed them against the Syrians. The rest of his men he put in the charge of Abishai his brother, and they were arrayed against the Ammonites. And he said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will help you. Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.”
Joab’s courage rests on faith, not numbers. Surrounded and outmatched, he rallies his men with conviction: “Be strong… for our people and for the cities of our God.” His strategy reflects godly balance — human effort under divine sovereignty. “May the Lord do what seems good to him” is not resignation but submission. Faith does not deny danger; it entrusts the outcome to the Lord while doing what must be done (Joshua 1:9; Philippians 1:20). Meanwhile, placing his trust in the Lord, Joab used sound tactics of “interior lines,” to overcome a numerically superior, dual-front threat from the Ammonites and allied Arameans, a method later famously employed by other famous generals thorough history such as Napoleon Bonaparte:
Joab’s situation was critical: he was “hemmed in” with enemy forces in front (the Ammonites at the city gate of Medeba) and behind (the Aramean mercenaries in the open field). To avoid being enveloped and destroyed, he employed a calculated counter-strategy: Joab divided the Israelite army into two main bodies. He took command of the “best men of Israel” and arrayed them against the Arameans, correctly identifying them as the more formidable professional threat and the key force to neutralize first. He then placed the rest of the troops under his brother Abishai, with instructions to engage the Ammonites. Crucially, they established a system of mutual reinforcement: “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will come to help you” (v. 12).
The enemy forces, though numerous, were an allied coalition rather than a single unified command. Joab exploited the likely lack of perfect coordination between the separate “kings who had come,” while Joab fought with his brother, enabling the Israelites to out tempo the enemy decision/response cycle.
The plan worked — Joab routed the Arameans, and when the Ammonites saw their main allies fleeing, they also broke and retreated into their city. This success illustrates the power of using interior lines to mass superior force against one part of a divided enemy’s extended “outer” front. Napoleon Bonaparte effectively used the principle of interior lines, often when outnumbered, to defeat larger coalition armies during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Like Joab, Napoleon used rapid movement along interior lines to prevent enemy forces from concentrating. He would position his central force to hold one enemy contingent while quickly moving his main body to crush the other flank or force in detail. The goal was to achieve local numerical superiority at the critical point of attack, defeating the enemy in successive engagements before they could coordinate a unified response. Napoleon’s opponents were often multi-national coalitions (e.g., Austrians, Russians, Prussians) whose shared objectives and communication were often slow and lacked cohesion. Napoleon exploited these “gaps” in their cooperation to great effect. In both cases, Joab and Napoleon demonstrated that success in war does not solely depend on overall numbers, but on strategic positioning, concentrating force at the decisive point, maintaining the ability to reinforce key areas quickly, and exploiting the inherent difficulty of large, distributed alliances to coordinate effectively.
Beyond Joab and Napoleon, many other great generals throughout history have effectively utilized the principle of interior lines to concentrate their forces and defeat separated enemies such as Frederick the Great, Julius Caesar, Robert E. Lee, and George Meade. All these leaders exploited the same basic principle — a force operating on interior lines can rapidly concentrate troops and resources at a decisive point, exploit a distributed enemy’s slower movements (and coordination), and achieve local superiority even when holistically outnumbered.
Beyond battlefield genius, Joab’s true weapon was faith. He understood that victory comes not by might or numbers but by the favor of the Lord (Zechariah 4:6; Psalm 33:16–17). His tactical brilliance was the instrument; God’s providence was the power. Was it trust in God or superior tactics that won the day? It was both, but in the right order. Joab trusted first, acted second. The best strategies are futile without divine favor, but genuine faith moves us to act with courage, discipline, and wisdom.
When we feel surrounded and outnumbered in our own lives, hemmed in by adversity, betrayal, or impossible odds, the principle remains: trust God fully and act wisely. Faith doesn’t mean folding your hands and waiting; it means stepping forward in obedience, doing what you can while leaving what you can’t to the Lord. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31). Our part is to prepare, to stand firm, and to trust. God’s part is to deliver. Live by Joab’s creed: “Be strong… for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to Him.”
1 Chronicles 19:13 — Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to him.
God wants you to be strong, powerful, and successful, but not for yourself, but rather for others. Great strength is found in the spirit of a person fighting for God, family, friends, and those in need. Victory is always in the hands of the LORD. Who would want to fight against Him? If what you are fighting for is not from God, you are fighting in vain.
1 Chronicles 19:14-15 — So Joab and the people who were with him drew near before the Syrians for battle, and they fled before him. And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai his brother and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
Courage and faith rout fear and confusion. The enemy’s strength crumbled the moment they saw God’s people stand firm. Joab’s trust in the Lord’s purpose combined with his tactical adroitness given to him by God, brought victory without arrogance. Often, spiritual battles are won not by overpowering the enemy, but by refusing to retreat in faithless fear (Ephesians 6:13) and focusing on one thing at a time.
1 Chronicles 19:15 — And when the Ammonites saw that the Syrians fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, Joab’s brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem.
Fear can be very contagious, even among God’s people.
1 Chronicles 19:16-19 — But when the Syrians saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they sent messengers and brought out the Syrians who were beyond the Euphrates, with Shophach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. When David set the battle in array against the Syrians, they fought with him. And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David killed of the Syrians the men of 7,000 chariots and 40,000 foot soldiers, and put to death also Shophach the commander of their army. And when the servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with David and became subject to him. So the Syrians were not willing to save the Ammonites anymore.
The conflict that began with insult ends in complete submission. Those who resisted God’s anointed found peace only after surrender. The Syrians learned that opposing the Lord’s purposes leads to loss, but yielding brings peace. This foreshadows Christ’s ultimate reign — every knee will bow, willingly or unwillingly (Philippians 2:10-11). God’s mercy always invites peace before judgment demands it.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 12 November 2025: Respond to insult with restraint and to conflict with faith. Let kindness be your first instinct, humility your posture, and trust in God your strategy. Do what is right, and let the Lord determine the outcome.
Pray: “Father, thank You for showing me that true strength is rooted in mercy and faith. Teach me to respond to offense with patience and to adversity with courage. Help me to act honorably in every situation, trusting You to defend and deliver. May every battle in my life lead others to recognize Your authority and peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 