An Unnecessary War

1 Chron. 19:1-19

"Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight."  (13)

War is perhaps the worst of human endeavors. Sometimes, we may say that war is a necessary evil such as to remove the threat of an evil dictator like Hitler. In today’s passage, a war started all because of a young arrogant king who didn’t know how to receive envoys who had come in peace. David sent envoys as an expression of sympathy because Nahash his father had been a friend. He wanted to show support to Hanun his son in a time of grief. David remembered the grace and friendship of Nahash even in death. David is exemplary in remembering God's grace and being loyal to a friend. But Hanun listened to some bad advisors who told him that they were only spies sent by David to spy on them. So Hanun humiliated the envoys by shaving their beards and cutting off their garments at the buttocks. This was a show of humiliation and disrespect. In so doing, Hanun set into motion a set of events that would cost thousands of lives. 

The first lesson here is to remember God's grace and the grace of man. In addition, it is important to treat others with respect and dignity. Even more so, among God’s people, we must love one another and show one another respect. There is no excuse for offending others and humiliating them.

The next lesson is that instead of making an apology, Hanun mustered troops for war. There is a time to realize when we are wrong and own up to our mistakes and sins. But some people would rather go to war than admit they are wrong.

Finally, David was forced to respond to this move by going to war. He gave his men one word: “Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.” (13) And of course, the LORD helped David to win the war as he depended on God. 

As a king, I suppose David had no choice but to respond with aggression. He had a country to defend. But in the case of Christians, we must forgive our enemies. Jesus tells us to pray for those who persecute us. This is hard but this is the gospel. May God help me to follow Jesus’ way and forgive those who offend me. 

Lord, help me to love my enemies. Help me not to return insult for insult but to forgive others when they wrong me. Help me to avoid offending others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.