1 Chronicles 20:1-8
Rabbah Is Conquered (2 Samuel 11:1; 12:26–31)
1 It happened in the spring of the year, at the time kings go out to battle, that Joab led out the armed forces and ravaged the country of the people of Ammon, and came and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem. And Joab defeated Rabbah and overthrew it. 2 Then David took their king’s crown from his head, and found it to weigh a talent of gold, and there were precious stones in it. And it was set on David’s head. Also he brought out the spoil of the city in great abundance. 3 And he brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work with saws, with iron picks, and with axes. So David did to all the cities of the people of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Philistine Giants Destroyed (2 Samuel 21:15–22)
4 Now it happened afterward that war broke out at Gezer with the Philistines, at which time Sibbechai the Hushathite killed Sippai, who was one of the sons of the giant. And they were subdued.
5 Again there was war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair killed Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
6 Yet again there was war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, with twenty-four fingers and toes, six on each hand and six on each foot; and he also was born to the giant. 7 So when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David’s brother, killed him.
8 These were born to the giant in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
The mistake began to be made by king David was to listen to some advisors to stay home out of the battles that they did not risk losing him as their leader after a close call before. He should have been out in the fray, leading the forever as kings do by example and to direct the efforts. Instead, general Joab led the army to victory over Ammon and put that king’s crown on David along with all the riches of the spoils gained. The people of Ammon were put to forced labor as spoils of war as well. We see the results of David’s idleness in 2 Samuel 11:2 where he saw a beautiful woman bathing on her rooftop next door and the consequences (2 Samuel 11:4-5, 26, 12:9, 10, 13-14) that led to with his mind unoccupied with war strategies. The battles raged on against the enemies of the LORD and His people such as with the Philistines mentioned here, with giants falling by the hands of him and his men that were accredited to him as their king. His shying back from the battle for safety (Proverbs 29:25, Hebrews 10:38, 2 Timothy 1:7, 1 Peter 3:14) is an example for us to avoid, choosing to stand firm in the Lord for the battles of souls and hearts in proclaiming the gospel (Ephesians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 16:13, Ephesians 6:10-11, Colossians 1:10-11) instead. Do not shy back from the battles, dear brothers and sisters! The warning is clear: we are to engage and be strong in the Lord in the power of His might as our King of kings and Lord of lords instead of drawing (Hebrews 10:39) back and allowing an entrance to sin through idleness like king David.
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