1 Chronicles 19-22: The full gamut of faith
In 1 Chronicles 19-22, we find a dizzying array of events. In chapter 19, David sent envoys to express condolences to King Hanun of the Ammonites on the death of his father, but Hanun abused the messengers and sent them home deeply humiliated. This compelled David to send Joab, Abishai, and the elite troops to confront Hanun. However, when the group arrived, they found themselves outnumbered and surrounded by Hanun and his hired allies. Facing an overwhelming attack on two fronts, Joab divided his men into two groups and deployed them to face both attacks simultaneously. He then exhorted his men to be strong rather than surrender, to watch out for each other rather than stand alone. He then prayed, “May the Lord’s will be done.” In short, Joab did his best to come up with a smart strategy to face the challenge at hand. He resolved to be strong and selfless in any situation. And he left the rest to God.
As a result of these things, Joab and his men prevailed, and in chapter 20, Joab and the rest of the army destroyed the Ammonites’ land and besieged the capital Rabbah. The king who humiliated David’s envoys was defeated, and when the Philistines attacked at Gezer along with their giant heroes, David and his soldiers were able to defeat them, too. Whether we are attacked from all sides or standing victorious over our enemies, we must be smart, strong, and selfless to the best of our abilities, and we must trust God to take care of the rest.
External circumstances, however, are not the only things that matter in life. The opening verse of chapter 20 recounts, “In the spring when kings march out to war, Joab led the army and destroyed the Ammonites’ land. He came to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem.” If this sounds familiar, it is because it is remarkably similar to 2 Samuel 11:1: “In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.” The Chronicler, who tended to focus on the national level rather than the personal, does not delve into the details of what David was doing with Bathsheba during this time, but he clearly intended to bring that parallel scene to mind.
As if that was not enough, in chapter 21, David compounded this personal sin by ordering a census. Now, counting people was not in and of itself problematic; Moses did as much following the exodus. The problem was that David was concerned primarily with the strength of his military. Verse 5 records, “Joab gave the total troop registration to David.” More specifically, there were 1.1 million armed men in the northern territories, and 470,000 in the south. What is really interesting is that even Joab, who was both morally questionable and loyal to a fault, protested. In verse 3, he advised the king to not proceed with the census, and when David persisted, in verse 6, we discover that Joab refused to count two tribes “because the king’s command was detestable to him.” Indeed, David’s census was a clear indication of his pride. He had defeated the Ammonites and their friends, and his army was now the undisputed champion of the region. He thought himself invincible, and in doing so, he forgot what God had done for him. God was not pleased. He offered David three options for punishment, three days later, 70,000 of the soldiers in which David had found so much pride were dead.
Harsh as it was, though, this punishment was actually merciful. In verse 15, God “relented concerning the destruction” and ordered the angel to stop just before it inflicted devestation upon Jerusalem. God then ordered David to go and set up an altar where the angel stopped, and so the king purchased the plot of land that would become the temple.
Finally, in chapter 22, with crisis averted and the temple plot secured, David made preparations for the construction of the temple. He amassed vast amounts of gold, silver, bronze, and other materials, and he gave careful instructions to his son, Solomon. These instructions culminated in the exhortation of verses 12-13, “Above all, may the Lord give you insight and understanding when he puts you in charge of Israel so that you may keep the law of the Lord your God. Then you will succeed if you carefully follow the statutes and ordinances the Lord commanded Moses for Israel. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.” That is, as monumental as the temple project was going to be, it was far more important for Solomon to have authentic faith and obedience. This was the greatest thing he could accomplish as king.
Given what David went through in the previous chapters, this instruction seems hypocritical, to say the least. In fact, the only possible way for David to avoid hypocrisy would be if he really did learn the lesson: When life seems to attack us from all sides, or when we seem to have life by the tail, we must do all that we can to be smart and strong, and also to truly lean into the Lord with authentic faith and obedience. Faith and obedience must take priority over our own plans, however monumental they may be.
The truth is that, if we fail in all our earthly plans and the whole world comes crashing down around us, we will succeed if we have carefully followed and obeyed God. Conversely, if we succeed in all our grand schemes but fail in faith and obedience, we will have truly failed indeed.