When Kings Go Out To War

David was a great king and continues through Scripture to teach us much about leadership. But this is the first time, in all my readings through the Bible, I saw that it was in his greatest failing that these truths come to light. For many years, I have assured people that God can redeem any of our past brokenness and use it for His glory. Well here is an example of this because there are profound truths that come to light if we are tuned in.

As I was reading in I Chronicles 20 this morning, it started with, “In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war…” And it hit me that II Samuel 11 begins the same way. But in the case of Samuel, it goes on to tell about David’s greatest moral failure when he committed adultery and murder for his own lust. In Chronicles, it talks about the winning of the war and David’s break from being a man after God’s own heart as he does his own thing and takes a census. 

As I look through the Scripture there, I see the “slippery slope” developing. First, David did not go to war with his army. He stayed back. It is the first clue that David may be getting a little full of himself. He is exempting himself from the front lines. Now we know from II Samuel what David was doing during that time. He was taking advantage of Bathsheba and sinning against one of his top military men by committing adultery with his wife. David was seeing himself as powerful and entitled in that situation. 

When Joab and his army finished the battle and won the war, David went and collected the 75-pound crown from the Ammonite king’s head and placed it on his own head. He cleaned up the spoils and returned with the army to Jerusalem, acting as though it was his great leadership that won the war. By putting that crown on his own head, David was beginning to believe in his own strength and leadership rather than that of the Lord, a big slide down the slippery slope.

Now David is quite full of himself and believing in his own leadership rather than that of the Lord which allows Satan a foothold and he incited David against God. David calls for a census. Until that point, he was content to go with whatever he had. If the Lord said go, he went. If the Lord said stay, he stayed. He knew that the battle belonged to the Lord and he gave the glory to the Lord. But here, he failed to listen to the Lord and did his own thing. He wanted to know how much military strength he had.

Two things changed here. In II Samuel, we find that the baby born out of the adultery died. But more than that, In Chronicles we find that because of the census, God spoke through the prophet Gad and gave David 3 choices: 3 years of famine, three months of destruction by the sword, or 3 days of severe plague. The famine would affect everyone and was a longer period of time. The destruction by the sword would be humiliating for him as king and he would be at the mercy of others. So David chose the 3 days of severe plague saying he would rather fall into the hands of a merciful God. At the end of those 3 days, David and the leaders of Israel put on burlap and fell face down. They humbled themselves before the Lord. David confessed his own wrongdoing and plead for the people who were “innocent as sheep” and had not done anything to deserve what was happening to them. He finally took responsibility for what he had done and for taking care of the people the Lord had given him to lead. 

So what did David teach us about leadership? Leadership is not about power and entitlement. Leadership is a responsibility to take care of others. When leaders taste power and authority over others, the human tendency is to feel like they are more special than others and entitled to privileges and even more power. But God puts leaders in place to take care of others. When leaders lose that perspective, they quit serving God’s purposes and begin serving their own purposes. Leaders don’t get consumed with themselves over night. Rather, it is a slippery slope. One decision at a time. It is a gradual mental change from serving others to receiving honor and having power over others. It is a change in focus from “God is leading the way and put me here to serve” to “I’m pretty smart and look what I have accomplished!”

“God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that He should make Jesus, through His suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.” Hebrews 2:10 NLT Like Jesus, if we are called to lead, we need to put away our own desires and agenda and keep the Lord and His agenda foremost in our hearts and minds. A leader is a servant, not a god! 

Lord, help me to keep my eyes fixed on You! When I am tempted to serve and honor myself, remind me who I have been asked to care for. Thank You for Your mercy that is new every morning and for Your presence that I so desperately need every day. I praise Your name and give You all the honor and glory. Amen.