The Theology of Calvin . . . and Hobbes (Fighting)

 

 

 

 

 

Getting to Know . . . 2 Samuel (chapter 10) Humiliation . . . and War!

Hanun succeeds his father as king of the Ammonites. Wanting to show kindness to him (as Hanun’s father showed to David, ref?), David sends a delegation to express his sympathy concerning Hanun’s father (v. 2).

The Ammonite army commanders think the envoy is coming as spies, shaves off half their beards and cut off their garments at the buttocks (v. 4). David commands his humiliated men to stay at Jericho until their beards have grown.

The Ammonites realize they had become obnoxious to David and hire 20,000 Aramean soldiers, 1000 from the king of Maakah, and 12,000 from Tob (=33,000 soldiers!) (v. 6).

David sends Joab out with an entire army. Joab selects some of the best troops and deploys them against the Arameans. The rest of the men fight under Abishai his brother against the Ammonites. Joab commands Abishai that they will assist each other if the respective enemies are too strong. “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.” (v. 12).

Joab’s troops cause the Arameans to flee; the Ammonites also fled before Abishai. The Arameans regroup, bring in troops from Helam. David kills 700 of their charioteers and 40,000 of their foot soldiers. He also killed the commander of their army. The kings who were vassals of Hadadezer became subject to Israel. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites anymore (v. 19).

Some takeaways for me:
1. In a time of war, men do unspeakable things to each other. The humiliation of David’s men by the Ammonites caused that nation to become “obnoxious” to David and leads to war.
2. Joab’s confidence that “The Lord will do what is good in his sight” (v. 12) ought to be my confidence as well.
3. Life is a battle! And there is no room for spiritual conscientious objectors!

Where am I to spiritually fight today?

 

“‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas” (poem)

‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas
By Tony Cooke and David Beebe

‘Twas the fight before Christmas,
And all through the house,
Not a creature was peaceful,
Not even my spouse.

The bills were strung out on our table with dread,
In hopes that our checkbook would not be in the red.
The children were fussing and throwing a fit,
When Billy came screaming and cried, “I’ve been bit.”

And Momma with her skillet, and I with the remote,
She said, “You change one more channel and I’ll grab your throat.”
When on the TV there arose such a clatter,
I sat up on the couch to see what was the matter.

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
The cable was out, it was my worst fear.
“The Cowboys, the Celtics, the Raiders, the Knicks,
Without the sports channel I’d soon need a fix!”

And then in the midst of my grievous sorrow,
I remembered the times I had promised, “tomorrow…”
“Not now, my children, but at some soon time,
Dad will play with you, and things will be fine.”

Now under conviction, I looked at my wife,
Where was my kindness? Why all the strife?
My heart quickly softened; I now saw my task,
Some love and attention was all they had asked.

I gathered my family and called them by name,
And told them with God’s help I’d not be the same.
We’ll keep Christ in Christmas and honor His plan.
No more fights before Christmas – on that we will stand.

My children’s eyes twinkled; they squealed with delight.
My wife gladly nodded; she knew I was right.
It was the fight before Christmas, but God’s love had come through,
And just like He does, He made all things new.

 

Psalms of the Salter: Some Thoughts on Really Living for the Lord: Psalm 149

Psalm 149

¹ Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
    let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
³ Let them praise his name with dancing
    and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
⁴ For the Lord takes delight in his people;
    he crowns the humble with victory.
⁵ Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
    and sing for joy on their beds.

⁶ May the praise of God be in their mouths
    and a double-edged sword in their hands,
⁷ to inflict vengeance on the nations
    and punishment on the peoples,
⁸ to bind their kings with fetters,
    their nobles with shackles of iron,
⁹ to carry out the sentence written against them—
    this is the glory of all his faithful people.

Praise the Lord.

 

Psalms of the Salter: Some Thoughts on Really Living for the Lord: Psalm 144

Psalm 144

Of David.

¹ Praise be to the Lord my Rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    my fingers for battle.
² He is my loving God and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples under me.

³ Lord, what are human beings that you care for them,
    mere mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;
    their days are like a fleeting shadow.

⁵ Part your heavens, Lord, and come down;
    touch the mountains, so that they smoke.
⁶ Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy;
    shoot your arrows and rout them.
⁷ Reach down your hand from on high;
    deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters,
    from the hands of foreigners
⁸ whose mouths are full of lies,
    whose right hands are deceitful.

⁹ I will sing a new song to you, my God;
    on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,
¹⁰ to the One who gives victory to kings,
    who delivers his servant David.

From the deadly sword ¹¹ deliver me;
    rescue me from the hands of foreigners
whose mouths are full of lies,
    whose right hands are deceitful.

¹² Then our sons in their youth
    will be like well-nurtured plants,
and our daughters will be like pillars
    carved to adorn a palace.
¹³ Our barns will be filled
    with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
    by tens of thousands in our fields;
¹⁴     our oxen will draw heavy loads.
There will be no breaching of walls,
    no going into captivity,
    no cry of distress in our streets.
¹⁵ Blessed is the people of whom this is true;
    blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

 

The Joy of Unit-Reading #51 (the Book of I Chronicles)

We are making great progress in unit-reading the books of the Bible! What book or books are YOU unit-reading?
I’ve learned a lot from reading I Chronicles, such as individuals and their names matter to the Lord! I’ve also learned that He is a warrior and wants us to fight the battles He lays out for us! Here are my notes:

My prayer for today: “Lord, help me to give freely and wholeheartedly to You — and to Your people! In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

 

The Joy of Unit-Reading #42 (the book of 2 Samuel)

Man, there is a lot of war and fighting in the Old Testament!  If we accept the Old Testament as God’s inspired Word, then we have to come to grips with the violent world of the Israelites.  As we continue our task of unit-reading all the books of the Bible (except for the Psalms), we have taken some notes on 2 Samuel:

One takeaway for me:  The Bible does not sugarcoat the war stories, deception, or depravity of the Old Testament figures.  Sin is real, but God’s forgiveness is available to all who turn to Him!

My prayer:  “Lord, thank You that I am not personally involved in a physical war, but don’t let me forget the spiritual conflict that rages all around me — and sometimes in me.  Teach my spiritual hands to fight — for Your glory.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.”

 

 

Psalms of My Life (Psalm 149)

Psalm 149

¹ Praise the Lord.

Sing to the Lord a new song,
    his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.

² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
    let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
³ Let them praise his name with dancing
    and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
⁴ For the Lord takes delight in his people;
    he crowns the humble with victory.
⁵ Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
    and sing for joy on their beds.

⁶ May the praise of God be in their mouths
    and a double-edged sword in their hands,
⁷ to inflict vengeance on the nations
    and punishment on the peoples,
⁸ to bind their kings with fetters,
    their nobles with shackles of iron,
⁹ to carry out the sentence written against them—
    this is the glory of all his faithful people.

Praise the Lord.