2 Samuel 8:1-18
And after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines, and subdued them: and David took Methegammah out of the hand of the Philistines. 2 And he smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And so the Moabites became David’s servants, and brought gifts. 3 David smote also Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates. 4 And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots. 5 And when the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Hadadezer king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. 6 Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought gifts. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. 7 And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, king David took exceeding much brass. 9 When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer, 10 Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass: 11 Which also king David did dedicate unto the Lord, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued; 12 Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men. 14 And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David’s servants. And the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. 15 And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people. 16 And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder; 17 And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe; 18 And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief rulers.
He had just been established as king over all Israel, led God’s people into victory over the Philistines, moved the ark to Jerusalem, and received a remarkable covenant promise about his descendants having an everlasting dynasty. David was experiencing a period of rest and prosperity, but the nations around Israel were still in opposition to God and saw David and his exalted kingdom as a threat. He also had the calling to expand Israelite borders and lay claim to the land that God had originally promised to His people (Genesis 15:18-21). The time came for the king to go back to war. Psalm 68 was likely written during or reflecting back upon this period of David’s life. It was psalm of victory, in which the Lord led His people in victory over their enemies and it depicts Yahweh as the conquering King who gifts His people with the spoils of victory. As a man after the Lord’s own heart, David was quick to recognize that it was the Lord who was the true King of the people of Israel and it was the Lord who gave His people any victories that they had. During this period in 2 Samuel 8, we are given one of the great pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ, ruling and reigning from heaven in the hearts of His people and leading them in triumphant victory as they taking His gospel to the lost world. As you and I march in the “army” of the Lord today and wage spiritual warfare in this world, there are three principles that you and I are called to that are reflected in David’s victory campaigns in 2 Samuel 8.
First, we are to strive in the warfare of God’s kingdom. Sometime after the events of 2 Samuel 6-7, David went about to conquer the longtime enemies of Israel, the Philistines. The Philistines had been successfully driven from Israel by David earlier (2 Samuel 5:17-25), something that Israel had failed to do in any lasting way. However, the Philistines still lived within their borders as a threat to Israel and David went about to subdue them. “Methegammah” is a city that we know little about by name, but it seems to be a nickname for a city like Gath or one of the other important Philistine cities. The name means “bridle of the mother” and therefore depicts the city that David conquered as a “mother city” of Philistia. David didn’t entirely eliminate the Philistines, but he broke through their strongholds and rendered them powerless in the future against Israel. He then dealt with the Moabites, a longtime enemy who opposed Israel. Despite David being descended from Ruth, a Moabitess, the Moabites had proven themselves to be opposed to the people of God by attacking Israel and leading them into sin (for example, see Numbers 22-25). David had previously entrusted his family to the Moabites while hiding out in the Cave Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1-5), but some Jewish tradition holds that the Moabites had betrayed him and killed his parents. Instead of eliminating the Moabites, David killed two-thirds of them and forced the remaining third to pay tribute to him as king. With the Philistines (to the West) and Moabites (to the East), subdued, David then turned to the North to the Aramean king of Zobah (modern day Syria) named Hadadezer. It is likely that this included other kingdoms in the region as well that rallied together under Hadadezer and, by conquering them, David could effectively expand the Israelite border to God’s originally promised marker at the Euphrates River (Genesis 15:18). The results of this campaign were that David took from the Hadadezer 1,000 chariots, 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 footmen. He crippled all of the horses except enough to move 100 chariots in order to render them ineffective for war. In doing this, David avoided the trap of “multiplying horses to himself” (Deuteronomy 17:16) and trusting in a powerful, well-equipped military. The Israelites also killed 20,000 men that came to aid Hadadezer. After soundly defeating them, David put up garrisons throughout the territory and brought it under Israelite control. In these campaigns, David pictures in earthly warfare, the spiritual warfare that the Church engages in today under Christ’s reign. We wage war on sin, our flesh, and a fallen world system that is led by Satan. We do this, not by physical combat in foreign lands, but by taking the truth of the gospel to the lost world so that people might be transformed by God’s Spirit and brought under Christ’s Lordship. Christians are called, not to take up physical arms, but to “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). As we go, we trust that just as “the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went” (v. 6), that Christ is with us, empowers us, and keeps us wherever we go in His name (Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5; Philippians 2:12-13).
Next, we are to walk in the blessing of God’s kingdom. Verses 7-14 list out the spoils of David’s campaigns against Israel’s enemies. From Hadadezer, David took golden shields that would have been symbols of the prosperity of Hadadezer and a lot of bronze and brass. By taking these shields and the large amount of bronze, it showed the transfer of the wealth, power, and glory of the kingdoms of the world to God’s kingdom. The golden shields would be placed in Solomon’s temple later as a sign of the Lord’s power and much of the bronze that was taken in these wars would later be used by Solomon in the construction of the temple. This serves as a beautiful picture of the rule and reign of Christ over His kingdom. Now, Christ is conquering the hearts of men as His church takes the gospel to the world. His kingdom grows as more and more souls that formerly belonged to the kingdom of darkness are brought into His kingdom (Colossians 1:12; Acts 26:18). One day, He will return and put down all rule and authority and the kingdoms of the world will all belong to Him (Revelation 11:15). This culminates in the New Jerusalem where “the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into” the city (Revelation 21:24). In the process of defeating the enemies of Israel, expanding Israel’s borders, and bringing wealth into the kingdom, David also allied and helped Toi, king of Hamath in the process because Hadadezer was a mutual enemy of his. Toi sent his son, Joram, along with gifts and wealth. Joram’s name in 1 Chronicles 18:10 is “Hadoram” which means “Hadad is exalted.” “Hadadezer,” the king David delivered him from, means “Hadad is my help.” Hadad was a pagan storm God whose name means “the one who smashes” and these names mean that these kings trusted in this false god. Toi’s deliverance through David led to him change the name of his son from “Hadoram” (Hadad is exalted) to “Joram” which means “Yah (short for Yahweh) is exalted.” Toi was not only politically saved by David, but he and his kingdom came to at least acknowledge the greatness of David’s God. It is a picture of our call to represent Christ in such a way that the world glorifies our God (Matthew 5:14-16). One final note must be made of what David did with all of the spoils of war. He gave it all to the Lord (v. 11). David recognized that anything he accomplished was because of the Lord’s blessing and presence and everything He did was for the Lord’s glory. We must never forget that all that the Lord has blessed us with by way of spiritual blessing is all to be used for His glory, not our own satisfaction. Our gifts and blessings of adoption, redemption, and inheritance (Ephesians 1:3-14) are all for His glory. Our life and all that we do is for His glory (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:31).
Lastly, we are to serve in the righteousness of God’s kingdom. In verses 15-18, we read about the individuals that David appointed as leaders in his kingdom. Verse 15 tells us the character and nature of his rule. We have seen that David is far from perfect and he will fall yet again in the future, but his rule was marked by “judgment and justice” overall. This meant that David’s rule was demonstrated the Lord’s wisdom and righteousness. He was a just king and God had surrounded him with faithful and loyal men who would serve in leadership roles alongside him in his kingdom. One thing that becomes clear throughout Scripture is that the men that God used greatly in roles of authority were surrounded by other faithful followers of the Lord who supported them. The Apostle Paul took the gospel to much of the ancient world and is credited with writing about half the New Testament, but in each of his letters he lists many names that helped him along the way. The list of men that helped and worked for David included scribes, priests, generals, etc. He needed to, not only be a just king, but have just men to help him lead a kingdom that glorified the Lord. One detail at the end of verse 18 prevents us from praising David too much. David’s sons being “chief rulers” was an issue. The word “rulers” can actually meas “priests.” David’s sons had no business in such roles. This was in direct violation of God’s Word and some of David’s sons would contribute to the disasters that marked the latter years of his rule. This detail is perhaps included here to remind us that God was Israel’s Savior, not David. For all of the good he would do, David would still leave much to be desired. Israel’s hope would not rest in Him, but in the Lord and in the Lord’s Messiah that would come from David’s line. Only He rules in absolute righteousness. Jesus, not men, has always been our standard.
You and I as New Testament Christians are currently engaged in the spiritual warfare of the kingdom of God. We wage war against Satan and his world system, not with physical arms, but truth (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). As a part of God’s kingdom, we must recognize that the battle and the success are really not ours, but it are all the Lord’s. It is in His strength that we fight for His purposes and glory. It is in His blessing that we walk in this world. It is in His righteousness that we serve. While David would lead Israel in much success, only King Jesus brings true and lasting victory for God’s people. Perhaps you have been looking to some earthly Savior. Perhaps you’ve thought that you are your own “savior” or “king” or meant play those roles in someone else’s life. If so, those are roles we can never fill. The glory is not ours. The kingdom is not ours. The work is not ours. It is all the Lord’s. Let us resign ourselves entirely to our great King and Savior and walk in the victory that only He provides.