Join us on a journey through the battles and diplomacy in Chronicles as David navigates unexpected conflicts. Our episode offers a deep dive into how these ancient lessons translate into today’s world, helping us glean wisdom on using worldly resources for divine intentions and staying true to one’s divine calling.
00:09:48 Practical Applications: Staying in God’s Will
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Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in 1 Chronicles chapters 18 and 19. Listen to our guest reader, Senator Kevin Grantham, President of the Colorado State Senate, read chapter 18, and then we’ll hear Faith Comes by Hearing’s reading of chapter 19.
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1 Chronicles 18 After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines. And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute. David also defeated Hadadezer king of Zobahemath, as he went to set up his monument at the river Euphrates. And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots. And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem. And from Tithath and from Kun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze, With it, Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze. When two, king of Hamath, heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, he sent his son, Hedorah, to King David to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him. for Hadadezer had often been at war with two, and he sent all sorts of articles of gold, of silver, and of bronze, These also King David dedicated to the Lord together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek. And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. Then he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s servants.” And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. So David reigned over all Israel, and he administered justice and equity to all his people. And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, and Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Shavshah was secretary. And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Carathites and the Pelathites, and David’s sons were the chief officials in the service of the king.
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1 Chronicles 19 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 Hanan 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.
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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?
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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. When David was told concerning the men, he sent messengers to meet them, for the men were greatly ashamed.
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And the king said, Remain at Jericho until your beards have grown and then return.
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When the Ammonites saw that they had become a stench to David, Hanan and the Ammonites sent 1,000 talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen from Mesopotamia, from Aramaica, 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. 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,
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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.
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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, Joab’s brother, and entered the city. Then Joab came to Jerusalem. 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 Shophak, the commander of the army of Hadad-Ezer, at their head. And when it was told to David, he gathered all Israel together and crossed the Jordan and came to them and drew up his forces against them. And 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 Shophak, the commander of their army. And when the servants of Hadad-Ezer 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.
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In the first journal I ever wrote back in 1983 concerning these chapters, I wrote 1 Chronicles 18-20, David’s Wars. And I wrote Key Verse 18-13, And the Lord helped David wherever he went. Praise God, if we are faithful, God will help us wherever we go and whatever we do. In 1997, I read 1 Chronicles 17 through 19 on the same day, and I wrote, David wants to build God a temple. God says no, but David did his part by gathering materials for the temple, gold, bronze from the enemies he defeated. God used the spoils of the secular world to build his temple. God owns it all. As Christians, we can go and get it out of the world and use it for godly purposes. And in 2009, I read 1 Chronicles 17 through 19 on the same day. I think I shared this journal entry yesterday, but I’ll share it again. David stays humble before God. He realized God raised him up as king and the Lord helped David wherever he went. Let it be so for me as well. And then I wrote part of my prayer. For a heart like David, help me wherever I go. Looks to me like in chapters 18 and 19, David gets back to what God called him to do. He was a warrior, so he went back to work. After God told him no on building the temple, David did exactly what God had purposed him for, and that was to defeat the enemies around Israel. And when David did what God called him to do… the word of god says and the lord gave victory to david wherever he went and in chapter nineteen david tries to be nice to somebody and it backfires on him and it ends up in some unnecessary war verse two 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 but the princes of the ammonites said to haman 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 let’s get to a couple of practical applications from these two chapters number one as i wrote in my nineteen ninety seven journal God uses David to defeat the enemies, to gather up spoils, gold, silver, bronze, materials that are eventually going to be used to build his temple. So we can go get the spoils from the secular world and use them for God’s purposes. I wonder how that relates to you and your work in your world today. Are there things you are gaining from the secular world that you can use to help build God’s kingdom here on earth? The second application from these chapters is stay in God’s will. When David got back to work, God blessed him. If you’re out of sorts, if maybe you’re wandering, if you’re unsure of what you’re doing, go back, seek the Lord, find his will, and pursue it. And I believe you will see the blessings come again in your life. And the third practical application from these chapters is sometimes our motives are taken the wrong way, as was David’s when he sent the people to console Hanan’s father for dying, and it was taken completely the wrong way. I think this can be the case, especially with text messaging and instant messaging and emails today, where you read words, but you can’t necessarily get the tone of what the sender is saying. So my caution is to be careful not to take things the wrong way. In Chapter 19, it caused an unnecessary war. In your life, it may cause unnecessary pain as well. Stephen Covey wrote a book not so long ago called Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and the first one is seek first to understand, then be understood. So, maybe the message is unclear. Seek first to understand before you react in a negative way. Save yourself a lot of pain and suffering. Father, we thank you for the practical applications we’re learning even out of books like 1 Chronicles. We thank you, Lord, for the completeness of your word and through AdBible that we’re getting a full picture of all of your word. Continue to teach us. Continue to enlighten us with the practical principles we can learn for our lives even through books like 1 Chronicles. We give you thanks. In Jesus’ name, amen. Thanks for listening to Ad Bible today. We make very few financial appeals after our daily programs, yet from time to time it is necessary to do so. Today is one of those days, so please don’t shut me off. The Ezra Project started in 2002 with one mission, to connect God’s people to God’s Word. Back then, and still today, I believe the number one need in the Christian church is to come back to God’s Word. I’m not a preacher. I don’t have a pulpit to encourage Christians to engage in their Bibles or a church to support this radio program. But with your help, we can continue to proclaim God’s Word to you and thousands of others. Ours is a unique approach. We don’t preach the Word or even teach the Word. We share the powerful impact of God’s Word in a normal life over 50 years of daily Bible reading. I started reading my Bible at 15 years old and have virtually read my Bible every day since. In AddBible, I share my personal Bible reading journal starting in 1983 and continuing to this day. I share from my heart how the Bible has intersected my life and how it can intersect yours. We need less preaching about the Bible and more personal engagement in the Bible. We need to know the Bible is still applicable to a 21st century life. That’s our mission at the Ezra Project. If you agree that the greatest need among Christians is to get back into the Bible and apply it to our daily lives, I invite you to visit our website, EzraProject.net, and donate today. You can do it online or by mail. Our mailing address is there on our website. We have so much more to share on this program. Your partnership will allow us to do so. Thanks for considering a financial donation today. Thanks for listening to Ad Bible Today.
