Piling On
2 Samuel 10:1-19
By this point in his reign, David has become a force to be reckoned with, as he has never lost a battle! His administration is set in place and his people are beginning to understand what life can be like when you are the strongest nation in the world. The time of slavery and struggle seem to be behind them. Their main enemies, the Philistines, have been pushed into submission just in time for a new enemy to arise – the Ammonites. Battles with this people group will continue for a while, but they are dealt a serious blow even after hiring mercenaries to help them against Israel. Even in the face of strong opposition, David is not daunted and God provides yet another victory.
As kids we used to play flag football, which would inevitably end up in a big dog pile of children with the ball somewhere at the bottom of the pile. Even those the player carrying the ball was already down, we would all jump onto the pile, just for fun. We called it “piling on.” While David seems to take these attacks in stride, it does seem like “piling on” would be a good way to describe the actions of the nations around him. Just as one front becomes peaceful, another group rises up to cause him trouble. Hiring soldiers from another nation certainly would be a difficult army to defeat. But not for God. David never complains or appears to be weary. He just goes out and expects God to take care of it for him. You don’t see him trying to hire mercenaries from another country (like his predecessor Saul had tried to do) but instead calls up his own fighting men and goes out in God’s power. The text makes it sound like he never even considered the fact that he might be beaten, for God had never let him down. His faith was well founded.
Have you ever had one of those days when it seemed like the problems were just piling up, one on top of the other until you just wanted to collapse? We all have those days. And it is easy to feel defeated and just plain weary. Sometimes we have to pay the consequences of our own sin, but there are also times when Satan just seems to “pile on” one tough situation after another and we feel like the bottom person in that football tackle, getting kicked and punched by everyone who bothered to jump into the fray. It would be cliché to say “just go with God.” That just sounds hollow most of the time. What did David do? He marshaled the resources available to him and marched out to face the battle. But He did so with full confidence that God would take care of him and his people. God doesn’t promise that we will never face struggle. In fact He promises the opposite. But He also promises that He will provide the resources we need and that He will be there with us. We can walk out in confidence and the knowledge that the solutions to the problems will come from God’s hand and will be in accordance to His will. So, when you are at the bottom of that pile, remember that God is still protecting you and pulling off the bullies so that you will be able to stand.
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