Choosing sides ...

When the Ammonites saw that they had become odious to David, the Ammonites sent and hired the Arameans of Beth-rehob and the Arameans of Zobah, twenty thousand foot soldiers, as well as the king of Maacah, one thousand men, and the men of Tob, twelve thousand men. When David heard of it, he sent Joab and all the army with the warriors. The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle array at the entrance of the gate; but the Arameans of Zobah and of Rehob, and the men of Tob and Maacah, 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 picked men of Israel, and arrayed them against the Arameans; the rest of his men he put in the charge of his brother Abishai, and he arrayed them against the Ammonites. He said, "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 and help you. Be strong, and let us be courageous for the sake of our people, and for the cities of our God; and may the Lord do what seems good to him."

Who would we want to fight alongside?

The Ammonites, the aggressors, take the safest position, close to the gates of their own city.

They send the Arameans, paid soldiers, to stand on their own out in the field, well on the far side of the enemy. This move effectively surrounds the Israelites, but put the Arameans in a place where they can’t retreat to safety if things go badly. If Israel breaks out (and that would be the wise tactical move), it will be away from the city.

Israel stands its ground surrounded; the two brothers choose, as generals of their respective armies, to fight back to back. You have to admit, though, their position looks really bad.

Where would we want to be?

So Joab and the people who were with him moved forward into battle against the Arameans; and they fled before him. When the Ammonites saw that the Arameans fled, they likewise fled before Abishai, and entered the city. Then Joab returned from fighting against the Ammonites, and came to Jerusalem.

But when the Arameans saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they gathered themselves together. Hadadezer sent and brought out the Arameans who were beyond the Euphrates; and they came to Helam, with Shobach the commander of the army of Hadadezer at their head. When it was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and crossed the Jordan, and came to Helam. The Arameans arrayed themselves against David and fought with him. The Arameans fled before Israel; and David killed of the Arameans seven hundred chariot teams, and forty thousand horsemen, and wounded Shobach the commander of their army, so that he died there. When all the kings who were servants of Hadadezer saw that they had been defeated by Israel, they made peace with Israel, and became subject to them. So the Arameans were afraid to help the Ammonites any more.
2 Samuel 10:6-19 – NRSV

The outcomes of everyone’s choices are obvious now, aren’t they? Those who remain obsessed with their own safety are useless when things get tough, aren’t they? And the people who are only in it for the money, the mercenaries, aren’t much better; one solid push and they’re on the road again. They only come back to fight because they know that they’ve offended the Israelites, so they might as well return with overwhelming force. A little shock and awe from the Arameans. Except it doesn’t turn out like they expected, does it?

Where is the right place to be? I would want to be one of the people who knew that people I trusted were covering my back. I’d want to know that they felt like they had as much to lose as I did. I would want to believe that our relationship was a small but sure shield from the cruel flukes of misfortune and the vicious attacks of any enemy. Right next to the bigger shield that covers me every day.

Where do we want to be? I don't know about you, but I feel that I have chosen well.

Blessings,

Ron

My heart instructs me ...

Hear the word of the Lord:

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you."

As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.

Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.

You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 16 – NRSV

Grace and peace,

Ron

The mountains that surround Jerusalem

Today’s devotional is a meditation on Psalm 125:

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Where is stability in our world? How many who are in their 30’s will have a 30 year career in one job? How many businesses that we visit this year will be gone ten years from now? How will the tax codes that refunded us money this year take it away next? Change is the nature of this world, not stability. Dependability, truth, reliability, loyalty – these attributes of stability are to be found in the Lord, who abides forever as he is, and, in occasional glimmers, in those people who seek to be like him.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
from this time on and forevermore.

If there is anything that people in this world seek, it is security. In many ways I can protect or insulate my family from the cares or the dangers of this world, but that wall is admittedly fragile. We pay our government dearly to protect us from these dangers, yet it cannot. We accumulate money and assets to guard ourselves against the instability of the world in open denial of the reality that whatever the stock market giveth, the stock market taketh. So we join this club, or attend that school, or network with these people, or identify with that church, only to find that these things don’t bring us security either. The only true source of security in this world is God. He is faithful to those who are faithful to him, and that faithfulness is not bound by time, location, or circumstance.

For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.

God is our protection from evil, even that evil that comes from within ourselves. How might the world have been different if Cain had listened to God’s warning that sin was at the door? How different might our world be if we listened to the promptings of our gut, our emotions, of his Spirit about the temptation waiting to mar the goodness that God has given us?

Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!

Peace comes from God as the result of relying on his stability, resting within his security, yielding to his protection from evil. Yet that peace is not an absence of change, or insecurity, or evil. Not only do these persistently intrude into the lives of the faithful, but frequently, these are precisely the problems that God calls his children to righteously confront so that others might have the hope of peace. Yet that peace will not typically be found in our environment, but in our heart and our relationships.

May God grant you peace through his grace,

Ron