_FOREIGN WARS._
2 SAMUEL viii. 1-14.
The transitions of the Bible, like those of actual life, are often
singularly abrupt; that which now hurries us from the scene of elevated
communion with God to the confused noise and deadly struggles of the
battle-field is peculiarly startling. We are called to contemplate
David in a remarkable light, as a professional warrior, a man of the
sword, a man of blood; wielding the weapons of destruction with all
the decision and effect of the most daring commanders. That the sweet
singer of Israel, from whose tender heart those blessed words poured
out to which the troubled soul turns for composure and peace, should
have been so familiar with the horrors of the battle-field, is indeed
a surprise. We can only say that he was led to regard all this rough
work as indispensable to the very existence of his kingdom, and to
the fulfilment of the great ends for which Israel had been called.
Painful and miserable though it was in itself, it was necessary for
the accomplishment of greater good. The bloodthirsty spirit of these
hostile nations would have swallowed up the kingdom of Israel, and
left no trace of it remaining. The promise to Abraham, "In thee and in
thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed," would have
ceased to have any basis for its fulfilment. Painful though it was to
deal death and destruction on every side, it would have been worse to
see the nation of Israel destroyed, and the foundation of the world's
greatest blessings swept for ever away.
The "rest from all his enemies round about," referred to in the first
verse of the seventh chapter, seems to refer to the nearer enemies
of the kingdom, while the wars mentioned in the present chapter were
mostly with enemies more remote. The most important of the wars now
to be considered was directed against the occupants of that large
territory lying between Palestine and the Euphrates which God had
promised to Abraham, although no command had been given to dispossess
the inhabitants, and therefore it could be held only in tributary
subjection. In some respects, David was the successor of Joshua as
well as of Moses. He had to continue Joshua's work of conquest, as
well as Moses' work of political arrangement and administration. The
nations against whom he had now to go forth were most of them warlike
and powerful; some of them were banded together in leagues against
him, rendering his enterprise very perilous, and such as could have
been undertaken by no one who had not an immovable trust in God. The
twentieth Psalm seems to express the feelings with which the godly
part of the nation would regard him as he went forth to these distant
and perilous enterprises:--
The Lord answer thee in the day of trouble;
The name of the God of Jacob set thee up on high;
Send thee help from the sanctuary,
And strengthen thee out of Zion;
Remember all thy offerings,
And accept thy burnt-sacrifice; [Selah
Grant thee thy heart's desire,
And fulfil all thy counsel.
We will triumph in thy salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners:
The Lord fulfil all thy petitions.
Now know I that the Lord saveth His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses,
But we will make mention of the name of the Lord our God.
They are bowed down and fallen;
But we are risen, and stand upright.
Save, Lord;
Let the King answer us when we call.
It is an instructive fact that the history of these wars is given
so shortly. A single verse is all that is given to most of the
campaigns. This brevity shows very clearly that another spirit than
that which moulded ordinary histories guided the composition of
this book. It would be beyond human nature to resist the temptation
to describe great battles, the story of which is usually read with
such breathless interest, and which gratify the pride of the people
and reflect glory on the nation. It is not the object of Divine
revelation to furnish either brief annals or full details of wars
and other national events, except in so far as they have a spiritual
bearing--a bearing on the relation between God and the people. From
first to last the purpose of the Bible is simply to unfold the
dispensation of grace,--God's progress in revelation of His method of
making an end of sin, and bringing in everlasting righteousness.
We shall briefly notice what is said regarding the different
undertakings.
1. The first campaign was against the Philistines. Not even their
disastrous discomfiture near the plain of Rephaim had taught
submission to that restless people. On this occasion David carried
the war into their own country, and took some of their towns,
establishing garrisons there, as the Philistines had done formerly
in the land of Israel. There is some obscurity in the words which
describe one of his conquests. According to the Authorised Version,
"He took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines." The
Revised Version renders, "He took the bridle of the mother city out
of the hand of the Philistines." The parallel passage in 1 Chron.
xviii. 1 has it, "He took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the
Philistines." This last rendering is quite plain; the other passage
must be explained in its light. Gath, the city of King Achish, to
which David had fled twice for refuge, now fell into his hands. The
loss of Gath must have been a great humiliation to the Philistines;
not even Samson had ever inflicted on them such a blow. And the
policy that led David (it could hardly have been without painful
feelings) to possess himself of Gath turned out successful; the
aggressive spirit of the Philistines was now fairly subdued, and
Israel finally delivered from the attacks of a neighbour that had
kept them for many generations in constant discomfort.
2. His next campaign was against Moab. As David himself had at
one time taken refuge in Gath, so he had committed his father and
mother to the custody of the king of Moab (1 Sam. xxii. 3, 4).
Jewish writers have a tradition that after a time the king put his
parents to death, and that this was the origin of the war which he
carried on against them. That David had received from them some
strong provocation, and deemed it necessary to inflict a crushing
blow for the security of that part of his kingdom, it seems hardly
possible to doubt. Ingratitude was none of his failings, nor would
he who was so grateful to the men of Jabesh-gilead for burying Saul
and his sons have been severe on Moab if Moab had acted the part
of a true friend in caring for his father and mother. When we read
of the severity practised on the army of Moab, we are shocked. And
yet it is recorded rather as a token of forbearance than a mark of
severity. How came it that the Moabite army was so completely in
David's power? Usually, as we have seen, when an army was defeated
it was pursued by the victors, and in the course of the flight
a terrible slaughter ensued. But the Moabite army had come into
David's power comparatively whole. This could only have been through
some successful piece of generalship, by which David had shut them
up in a position where resistance was impossible. Many an Eastern
conqueror would have put the whole army to the sword; David with a
measuring line measured two-thirds for destruction and a full third
for preservation. Thus the Moabites in the south-east were subdued as
thoroughly as the Philistines in the south-west, and brought tribute
to the conqueror, in token of their subjection. The explanation of
some commentators that it was not the army, but the fortresses,
of Moab that David dealt with is too strained to be for a moment
entertained. It proceeds on a desire to make David superior to his
age, on unwillingness to believe, what, however, lies on the very
surface of the story, that in the main features of his warlike policy
he fell in with the maxims and spirit of the time.
3. The third of his campaigns was against Hadadezer, the son of
Rehob, king of Zobah. It is said in the chapter before us that
the encounter with this prince took place "as he went to recover
his border at the river Euphrates;" in the parallel passage of 1
Chronicles it is "as he went to establish his dominion by the river
Euphrates." The natural interpretation is, that David was on his way
to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates, when this Hadadezer
came out to oppose him. The terms of the covenant of God with Abraham
assigned to him the land "from the river of Egypt to the great river,
the river Euphrates" (Gen. xv. 18), and when the territory was again
defined to Joshua, its boundary was "from the wilderness and this
Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates." Under the
provisions of this covenant, as made by Him whose is the earth and
the fulness thereof, David held himself entitled to fix the boundary
of his dominion by the banks of the river. In what particular form he
designed to do this, we are not informed; but whatever may have been
his purpose, Hadadezer set himself to defeat it. The encounter with
Hadadezer could not but have been serious to David, for his enemy had
a great force of military chariots and horsemen against whom he could
oppose no force of the same kind. Nevertheless, David's victory was
complete; and in dealing with that very force in which he himself
was utterly deficient, he was quite triumphant; for he took from his
opponent a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, as well as twenty
thousand footmen. There must have been some remarkable stroke of
genius in this achievement, for nothing is more apt to embarrass and
baffle a commonplace general than the presence of an opposing force
to which his army affords no counterpart.
4. But though David had defeated Hadadezer, not far, as we suppose,
from the base of Mount Hermon, his path to the Euphrates was by no
means clear. Another body of Syrians, the Syrians of Damascus,
having come from that city to help Hadadezer, seem to have been too
late for this purpose, and to have encountered David alone. This,
too, was a very serious enterprise for David; for though we are
not informed whether, like Hadadezer, they had arms which the king
of Israel could not match, it is certain that the army of so rich
and civilized a state as Syria of Damascus would possess all the
advantages that wealth and experience could bestow. But in his battle
with them, David was again completely victorious. The slaughter
was very great--two-and-twenty thousand men. This immense figure
illustrates our remark a little while ago: that the slaughter of
defeated and retreating armies was usually prodigious. So entire was
the humiliation of this proud and ancient kingdom, that "the Syrians
became servants to David, and brought presents," thus acknowledging
his suzerainty over them. Between the precious things that were thus
offered to King David and the spoil which he took from captured
cities, he brought to Jerusalem an untold mass of wealth, which he
afterwards dedicated for the building of the Temple.
5. In one case, the campaign was a peaceful one. "When Toi, king of
Hamath, heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer, then
Toi sent Joram his son unto King David to salute him and to bless
him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and had smitten him, for
Hadadezer had wars with Toi." The kingdom of Toi lay in the valley
between the two parallel ranges of Lebanon and anti-Lebanon, and it
too was within the promised boundary, which extended to "the entering
in of Hamath." Accordingly, the son of Toi brought with him vessels
of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass; these also did
King David dedicate to the Lord. The fame of David as a warrior was
now such, at least in these northern regions, that further resistance
seemed out of the question. Submission was the only course when the
conqueror was evidently supported by the might of Heaven.
6. In the south, however, there seems to have been more of a spirit of
opposition. No particulars of the campaign against the Edomites are
given; but it is stated that David put garrisons in Edom; "throughout
all Edom put he garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to
David." The placing of garrisons through all their country shows how
obstinate these Edomites were, and how certain to have returned to
fresh acts of hostility had they not been held in restraint by these
garrisons. From the introduction to Psalm lx. it would appear that the
insurrection of Edom took place while David was in the north contending
with the two bodies of Syrians that opposed him--the Syrians of Zobah
and those of Damascus. It would appear that Joab was detached from the
army in Syria in order that he might deal with the Edomites. In the
introduction to the Psalm, twelve thousand of the Edomites are said to
have fallen in the Valley of Salt. In the passage now before us, it is
said that eighteen thousand Syrians fell in that valley. The Valley of
Salt is in the territory of Edom. It may be that a detachment of Syrian
troops was sent to aid the Edomites, and that both sustained a terrible
slaughter. Or it may be that, as in Hebrew the words for Syria and Edom
are very similar (ארם and אדם), the one word may by accident have been
substituted for the other.
7. Mention is also made of the Ammonites, the Amalekites, and the
Philistines as having been subdued by David. Probably in the case of
the Philistines and the Amalekites the reference is to the previous
campaign already recorded, while the Ammonite campaign may be the one
of which we have the record afterwards. But the reference to these
campaigns is accompanied with no particulars.
Twice in the course of this chapter we read that "the Lord gave David
victory whithersoever he went." It does not appear, however, that the
victory was always purchased with ease, or the situation of David and
his armies free from serious dangers. The sixtieth Psalm, the title
of which ascribes it to this period, makes very plain allusion to a
time of extraordinary trouble and disaster in connection with one of
these campaigns. "O God, Thou hast cast us off; Thou hast scattered
us; Thou hast been displeased: oh turn Thyself to us again." It is
probable that when David first encountered the Syrians he was put
to great straits, his difficulty being aggravated by his distance
from home and the want of suitable supplies. If the Edomites, taking
advantage of his difficulty, chose the time to make an attack on
the southern border of the kingdom, and if the king was obliged to
diminish his own force by sending Joab against Edom, with part of his
men, his position must have been trying indeed. But David did not let
go his trust in God; courage and confidence came to him by prayer,
and he was able to say, "Through God we shall do valiantly; for He it
is that shall tread down all our enemies."
The effect of these victories must have been very striking. In the
Song of the Bow, David had celebrated the public services of Saul,
who had "clothed the daughters of Israel in scarlet, with other
delights, who had put on ornaments of gold on their apparel"; but
all that Saul had done for the kingdom was now thrown into the shade
by the achievements of David. With all his bravery, Saul had never
been able to subdue his enemies, far less to extend the limits of
the kingdom. David accomplished both; and it is the secret of the
difference that is expressed in the words, "The Lord gave victory
to David whithersoever he went." It is one of the great lessons
of the Old Testament that the godly man can and does perform his
duty better than any other man, because the Lord is with him: that
whether he be steward of a house, or keeper of a prison, or ruler
of a kingdom, like Joseph; or a judge and lawgiver, like Moses; or
a warrior, like Samson, or Gideon, or Jephthah; or a king, like
David, or Jehoshaphat, or Josiah; or a prime minister, like Daniel,
his godliness helps him to do his duty as no other man can do his.
This is especially a prominent lesson in the book of Psalms; it is
inscribed on its very portals; for the godly man, as the very first
Psalm tells us, "shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not
wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."
In these warlike expeditions, King David foreshadowed the spiritual
conquests of the Son of David, who went forth "conquering and to
conquer," staggered for a moment, as in Gethsemane, by the rude shock
of confederate enemies, but through prayer regaining his confidence
in God, and triumphing in the hour and power of darkness. That noble
effusion of fire and feeling, the sixty-eighth Psalm, seems to have
been written in connection with these wars. The soul of the Psalmist
is stirred to its depths; the majestic goings of Jehovah, recently
witnessed by the nation, have roused his most earnest feelings,
and he strains every nerve to produce a like feeling in the people.
The recent exploits of the king are ranked with His doings when He
marched before His people through the wilderness, and Mount Sinai
shook before Him. Great delight is expressed in God's having taken
up His abode on His holy hill, in the exaltation of His people in
connection with that step, and likewise in looking forward to the
future and anticipating the peaceful triumphs when "princes should
come out of Egypt, and Ethiopia stretch forth her arms to God."
Benevolent and missionary longings mingle with the emotions of the
conqueror and the feelings of the patriot.
"Sing unto the Lord, ye kingdoms of the earth;
Oh, sing praises unto the Lord,
To Him that rideth upon the heaven of heavens that are of
old.
Lo, He uttereth His voice, and that a mighty voice."
It is interesting to see how in this extension of his influence among
heathen nations, the Psalmist began to cherish and express these
missionary longings, and to call on the nations to sing praises
unto the Lord. It has been remarked that, in the ordinary course of
Providence, the Bible follows the sword, that the seed of the Gospel
falls into furrows that have been prepared by war. Of this missionary
spirit we find many evidences in the Psalms. It was delightful to
the Psalmist to think of the spiritual blessings that were to spread
even beyond the limits of the great empire that now owned the sway
of the king of Israel. Mount Zion was to become the birth-place of
the nations; from Egypt and Babylonia, from Philistia, Tyre, and
Ethiopia, additions were to be made to her citizens (Ps. lxxxvii.).
"The people shall be gathered together, and the nations, to serve
the Lord" (Ps. cii. 22). "All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall
worship before Him" (Ps. xxii. 27). "All nations whom Thou hast made
shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord; and they shall glorify
Thy name" (Ps. lxxxvi. 9). "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye
lands. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts
with praise" (Ps. c. 1, 4).
Alas, the era of wars has not yet passed away. Even Christian nations
have been woefully slow to apply the Christian precept, "Inasmuch
as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." But let us at least
make an earnest endeavour that if there must be war, its course may
be followed up by the heralds of mercy, and that wherever there may
occur "the battle of the warrior, and garments rolled in blood,"
there also it may speedily be proclaimed, "Unto us a Child is born,
unto us a Son is given, and the government is on His shoulders: and
His name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace" (Isa. ix. 6).