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Context No. 3342 of 4322 · 1 Chronicles

Context · Reflection

1 Chronicles 19:6-13: in context

6When the children of Ammon saw that they had made themselves odious to David, Hanun and the children of Ammon sent one thousand talents of silver to hire chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia, out of Aram-maacah, and out of Zobah. 7So they hired for themselves thirty-two thousand chariots, and the king of Maacah with his people, who came and encamped near Medeba. The children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their cities, and came to battle. 8When David heard of it, he sent Joab with all the army of the mighty men. 9The children of Ammon came out, and put the battle in array at the gate of the city; and the kings who had come were by themselves in the field. 10Now when Joab saw that the battle was set against him before and behind, he chose some of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians. 11The rest of the people he committed into the hand of Abishai his brother; and they put themselves in array against the children of Ammon. 12He said, “If the Syrians are too strong for me, then you are to help me; but if the children of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will help you. 13Be courageous, and let’s be strong for our people and for the cities of our God. May the LORD do that which seems good to him.”

The Ammonites hire a vast force of Syrian chariots and cavalry, and Joab suddenly finds his army caught between two armies, one before and one behind. His response models courage joined with submission to God. He organizes wisely, dividing his forces between himself and his brother Abishai, each pledged to help the other if pressed too hard.

And then comes his charge: be strong, and let us be courageous for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the LORD do what is good in his sight. There is the balance of faith and action. Joab will fight with all his strength and skill, arranging his forces as wisely as he can, and yet he leaves the outcome entirely to God. He does not presume the victory, nor does he shrink from the battle; he does everything within his power and entrusts the result to the LORD. Faithful courage acts wholeheartedly and rests the outcome in God's hands.

Do I act with wholehearted courage in what God has given me to do, while leaving the outcome entirely in his hands, saying, may the LORD do what is good?

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