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Patriarchs and Prophets
And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together from their
cities, and came to battle.”
1 Chronicles 19:6, 7
.
It was indeed a formidable alliance. The inhabitants of the region
lying between the river Euphrates and the Mediterranean Sea had
leagued with the Ammonites. The north and east of Canaan was
encircled with armed foes, banded together to crush the kingdom of
Israel.
The Hebrews did not wait for the invasion of their country. Their
forces, under Joab, crossed the Jordan and advanced toward the Am-
monite capital. As the Hebrew captain led his army to the field he
sought to inspire them for the conflict, saying, “Be of good courage,
and let us behave ourselves valiantly for our people, and for the cities
of our God: and let the Lord do that which is good in His sight.”
1
Chronicles 19:13
. The united forces of the allies were overcome in
the first engagement. But they were not yet willing to give over the
contest, and the next year renewed the war. The king of Syria gathered
his forces, threatening Israel with an immense army. David, realizing
how much dependent upon the result of this contest, took the field in
person, and by the blessing of God inflicted upon the allies a defeat so
disastrous that the Syrians, from Lebanon to the Euphrates, not only
gave up the war, but became tributary to Israel. Against the Ammonites
David pushed the war with vigor, until their strongholds fell and the
whole region came under the dominion of Israel.
The dangers which had threatened the nation with utter destruction
proved, through the providence of God, to be the very means by which
it rose to unprecedented greatness. In commemorating his remarkable
deliverances, David sings:
“The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and exalted
be the
God of my salvation:
Even the God that executeth vengeance for me, and
subdueth
peoples under me.
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