Trust God's Promises in the Battle

Hey, hey. Good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're going to talk about this civil war that develops between the house of Judah and all the rest of Israel. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray. We'll get into God's Word.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and for your Word. We pray that if we read your Word, your Spirit would please help us to understand it. Give us instruction for our lives. Give us hope for our hearts. In Jesus' name, amen.

Here we go, 2 Samuel, beginning at verse 12, and we'll read through verse 32.

and the other on the other side of the pool. Then Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men now arise and compete before us." And Joab said, "Let them arise." So they rose and went over by number, twelve from Benjamin, followers of Hishbosheth, the son of Saul, and twelve from the servants of David. And each one grasped his opponent by the head and thrust his sword into his opponent's side. So they fell down together.

Therefore that place was called the field of sharp swords, which is in Gibeon. So there was a very fierce battle that day. And Abner and the men of Israel were beaten before the servants of David. Now the three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asiel. And Asiel was as fleet of foot as a wild gazelle.

a wild gazelle. So Asael pursued Abner, and in going, he did not turn to the right hand or to

the left from following Abner. Then Abner looked behind him and said, Are you Asael? He answered,

I am. And Abner said to him, Turn aside to your right hand or to your left and lay hold on one of

the young men and take his armor for yourself. But Asael would not turn aside from following him.

So Abner said again to Asael, Turn aside from following me. Why should I strike you to the

ground? How then could I face your brother Joab? However, he refused to turn aside. Therefore,

Abner struck him in the stomach with the blunt end of the spear, so that the spear came out his back,

and he fell down there and died on the spot. So it was that as many as came to the place

where Asael fell down and died stood still. Joab and Abishai also pursued Abner, and the sun was going

down when they came to the hill of Ammah, which is before Gihah, by the road of the wilderness of

Gibeon. Now the children of Benjamin gathered together behind Abner and built a unit and took their stand

on top of a hill. Then Abner called to Joab and said, Shall the sword devour forever? Do you not know

that it will be bitter in the end, bitter in the latter end? How long will it be then until you tell

the people to return from pursuing their brethren? And Joab said, As God lives unless you had spoken,

surely then by morning all the people would have given up pursuing their brethren. So Joab blew the

trumpet, and all Israel stood still, sorry, and all the people stood still and did not pursue Israel

anymore, nor did they fight anymore. Then Abner and his men went on all that night through the plain,

crossed over the Jordan, and went through all Bithron, and they came to Mahanaim. So Joab

returned from pursuing Abner, and when they had gathered all the people together, there were missing

of David's servants, 19 men, and Ashel. But the servant of David had struck down of Benjamin and Abner's

men, 360 men who died. Then they took up Ashel and buried him in his father's tomb,

which was in Bethlehem. And Joab and his men went all night, and they came to Hebron at daybreak.

Well, we need to ask ourselves our three questions. A, what's this about? B, what's the best verse to

summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So what's this about,

right? This is the first clash between David's men and Ish-bosheth's men, right? Israel and Judah.

And we find that they're at this pool, and you got some people on one side and others on the other,

and they're going to have this contest. It's almost like wrestling with swords, right? And they grab

each other by the neck and pull them back here, and they take their sword and thrust each other in the

sword. It's bad. It's a fierce battle. But eventually, flight. Run away. And this is where we kind of get

into these commanders of the army, right? We have Abner. Remember Abner, the son of Ner, is the one who's

supporting Ish-bosheth, right? He takes flight with his guys. They run off. They're trying to get away.

And Asael, one of these three bros, he's chasing after him. He says, is that you? He says, yeah, it's me.

He says, you should just stop running after me. He says, not a chance, dude. And it takes his spirit,

shoves it back, goes through the guy. It's a gruesome type scene. And everybody who walks up on it is like,

whoa, dude, what just happened? So they chase him and chase him and chase him all the way

till just the edge of the wilderness. And the forces of Israel, Abner and his guys get up on the top,

and they will convince him, stop this. It's not going to go well. You really want to do this all

through the night? Right? They've got this position of strength. And so finally, you have Joab who says,

all right, Joab's one of David's men. And he says, all right.

You know, blows the horn. And they stop the pursuit.

And here we find that there's less than 20 of David's men

who die, right? So, but of the servants of David has struck down, of Benjamin and Abner's men,

three hundred and sixty men who died. So, 19 of David's servants, but over 300 of Ish-bosheth's or Abner's.

So, we see David prevailing and Ish-bosheth failing.

So, that's what this is about, this battle, this first clash between

the forces of David and the forces of Ish-bosheth or Abner.

Well, what's the best verse to summarize this?

Probably in my Bible, I would underline verses 30 and 31, right?

That's kind of giving the numbers of what's going on there.

So, that's what I underline in my Bible is the best verse to summarize this.

Maybe you'd do something different. That's fine. Let me know.

But last see, calling. What are we called to do, right?

Well, pick up your sword, pick up your spear, go to battle.

Well, we don't fight against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers and the principalities of the air, right?

We're not in a physical battle.

Now, there may be time. Maybe you are enlisted.

Maybe you are an officer. Maybe you are a warrior and you need to fight.

I hope it's for a just cause.

I'm no pacifist here.

But what are we called to do, right?

I think what this is showing us is that there was a real battle for the heart of Israel.

And we know that God had made these promises and He was going to make them good.

And the forces of David were going to prevail because God's covenant was going to be established.

So, we can have faith, right?

We're called to trust in the Lord once again, that He is faithful to His promises.

He made these promises.

It was prophesied even by Jacob as He's blessing His sons, that the scepter is going to go to Judah.

David is this lion of the tribe of Judah.

And we know from that, as we're going to get there in a few chapters in 2 Samuel,

that blessing is going to get passed down to Jesus to be a king who would rule forever.

So, we trust God's promises.

We know He's good.

We know He's true.

Let's go ahead and pray.

Father, we thank You for this day.

We thank You for Your Word.

And we pray that as we look to You, our King, that we would trust.

Trust Your promises, that Your plans for us are good in this life.

Trust You, that You are loving, and You keep Your covenant.

Lord, it's easy for us to get wrapped up in the challenges and the loss and the difficulties of the day

and forget that You are good.

And even when we may be fighting what seems like with our own blood,

Lord, we know that You, indeed, are King and our Sovereign.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

May the King of Peace give you peace as you rest in Him.

I'll see you next time.

Bye.