One of the most difficult things about motherhood has been resisting the urge to fight battles for my children when life seemed to treat them unfairly. It's also challenging to avoid taking matters into my own hands when I've been the victim of mistreatment.
In today's scripture passage, life takes an unfair turn for Israel. Chapter 10 of 2nd Samuel and chapter 19 of 1st Chronicles detail the same events, and Psalm 20 records David's thoughts about God's gracious help when we face such situations.
The Bible explains that after the Ammonite King, Nahash, died, David decided that the right thing to do was to show kindness and loyalty to the king's son and successor, Hanun.
Unfortunately, when David sent some of his men there as ambassadors to express condolences and extend an olive branch, some of King Hanun's advisors convinced him that David's men were probably not sincere, and that they'd likely come to spy on the city so that they could conquer it.
What they proceeded to do to David's ambassadors was atrociously humiliating to these Jewish men, so David advised them to stay in Jericho until they had healed from the unprovoked, unfair, hateful lies and mistreatment of the Ammonites.
Why did King Hanun's advisors make up lies about David's intentions? I imagine that they hoped to seem shrewd and smart in the eyes of their new king. But the truth is, those who tell lies typically suspect that everyone else is a liar. For that reason, they probably anticipated that David would be as dishonest as they were, so they devised a preemptive strike of sorts.
Sometimes, people may say things about us that are untrue for reasons we may never understand. Accepting that it's often necessary to wait on God for the truth to be revealed has allowed me to learn that He delights in righting wrongs in ways that are much better than anything we could mastermind.
In today's passage of scripture, David again trusted that God would fight his battles, and as a result, miraculous things happened. Our flesh often cries out for vengeance, but as I've said before, vengeance belongs to the Lord alone.
When the day comes that someone speaks dishonestly about you--and it will very likely happen--remember that there is One who knows the truth and He can be trusted to make all wrongs right--in His time, on His terms, with His truth!
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