But they fled before Israel, and David killed seven hundred of their charioteers and forty thousand of their foot soldiers. He also struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. – 2 Samuel 10:18

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 13, 2013): 2 Samuel 10

There are some things in life that absolutely need our attention. But the flip side is that there are some things in life that do not need our personal attention. As a leader, I know this – there are some things that I have to do, and some things that I can delegate. And success is in being able to know which is which. But the other reality of my life is that sometimes the things that need my attention are the easiest ones to delegate. The things that need my attention are often the ones that others are willing to do for me. And the other things, the stuff that I know that I should delegate, they are the lonely tasks that no one seems to want to do. But success remains in my ability to personally do the things that I need to do, and finding the ones who I can delegate the other tasks to.

Sometimes it seems that David lacks the wisdom to tell the difference between the things that he needs to do and the things that he can delegate. And that causes him problems. But sometimes I also wonder if maybe I am being too hard him. One of the areas that seem to require David’s presence is in the arena of war. David is the military master. It is the way that he stormed onto the main stage of Israel. But there seems to come a point where the military master delegates – he sends his generals off to war rather than going himself. But it might be that his generals really did not want him there. After all, if David was in the battle, the victory would belong to David. But if David was at home, then the victory would belong to the generals – and then they could make a name for themselves.

2 Samuel 10 tells exactly this story. There is a change of leadership in one of the border kingdoms. And as often happens when leadership changes, the policies of the past are thrown out in favor of new, more enlightened policies - and one of these policies is a new approach to Israel and Joab, a general of Israel, is dispatched to deal with the problem. And while Joab deals with the issue, he is unable to do so decisively. But it is probable that Joab did not really want his king in the battle. This was a chance for Joab to make a name for himself – for Joab to be seen in Israel as a military master, just like his king.

In the end, the battle is not decisively won until David enters the battlefield. In some ways it is a warning from the hands of God – David, this is where you need to be. It was a lesson that David failed to learn, and that failure would soon cost him more than he would ever guess. Because in 2 Samuel 10 we have the foundation laid for another battle, and once again it is a battle that David would attend. Instead of going off to war, he would find himself in the arms of a woman named Bathsheba. And everything that we know about David would change.      

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Samuel 11