History of the Old Testament Volume 5, Part 10
Hanun and Dauids Ambaſſadours.
IT is not the meaning of religion, to make men vnciuill; If the King of Ammon were heatheniſh, yet his kindnes may be acknowledged, may bee returned by the King of Iſrael. I ſay not, but that perhaps Dauid, might maintaine too ſtrayt a league with that forbidden nation; A little frendſhip is enough to an Idolater; but euen the ſauage Cannibals may receiue an anſwer of outward courteſie: If a very dog fawne vponupon vsus, wee ſtroke him on the head, and clap him on the ſide; much leſſe is the common band of humanity vntyed by Grace: Diſparity in ſpirituall profeſſions, is no warrant for ingratitude: Hee therfore, whoſe good nature proclaimed to ſhew mercy to any branch of Sauls houſe, for Ionathans ſake, will now alſo ſhew kindneſſe to Hanun, for the ſake of Nahaſh his father.
It was the ſame Nahaſh, that offered the cruell condition to the men of Iabeſh Gilead, of thruſting out their right eyes for the admiſſion into his couenant. He that was thus bloudy in his deſignes againſt Iſrael, yet was kinde to Dauid; perhaps for no cauſe ſo much, as Sauls oppoſition; And yet euen this fauour is held worthy both of memory; & retribution: where we hauehave the acts of courteſie, it is not neceſſary wee ſhould enter into a ſtrict examination of the grounds of it; whiles the benefit is ours, let the intention be their owne; What euer the hearts of men are, we muſt look at their hands, and repay, not what they meant, but what they did;
Nahaſh is dead, Dauid ſends Ambaſſadours to condole his loſſe, and to comfort his ſonne Hanun. No Ammonite, but is ſadly affected with the death of a father, though it gaine him a Kingdome: Euen Eſau could ſay, the dayes of mourning for my father will come; No earthly aduantage can fill vp the gap of nature: Thoſe children are worſe then Ammonites, that can thinke either gaine, or liberty, worthy to counteruaile a parents loſſe.
Carnall men are wont to meaſure anothers foot, by their owne laſt; their owne falſhood makes them vniuſtly ſuſpitious of others. The Princes of Ammon, becauſe they are guilty to their owne hollowneſſe, and doubleneſſe of heart, are ready ſo to iudge of Dauid and his meſſengers (Thinkeſt thou that Dauid doth honour thy father, that hee hath ſent comforters vntounto thee. Hath not Dauid rather ſent his owne ſeruants to thee, to ſearch the City, and to ſpye it out, to ouerthrow it;) It is hard for a wicked heart to think well of any other; becauſe it can thinke none better then it ſelfe, and knowes it ſelfe euill: The freer a man is from vice himſelfe, the more charitable he vſes to be vntounto others.
Whatſoeuer Dauid was particularly in his owne perſon, it was ground enough of preiudice, that he was an Iſraelite; It was an hereditary and deep ſetled hatred, that the Ammonites had conceiued againſt their brethren of Iſrael: neither can they forget that ſhamefull and fearefull foyle, which they receiued from the reſcuers of Iabeſh-Gilead; and now ſtill doe they ſtomach at the name of Iſrael; Malice once conciued in worldly hearts, is not eaſily extinguiſhed, but vponupon all occaſions, is ready to break forth into a flame of reuengefull actions.
Nothing can be more dangerous, then for young Princes, to meet with ill counſell in the entrance of their gouernment; for both then are they moſt prone to take it, and moſt difficultly recouered from it; If we be ſet out of our way in the beginning of our journey, wee wander all the day; How happy is that ſtate, where both the Counſellors are faithfull, to giuegive only good aduice; and the King wiſe to diſcerne good aduice from euill: The young King of Ammon is eaſily drawne to beleeue his Peeres, and to miſtruſt the meſſengers; and hauing now in his conceit turned them into Spies, entertaines them with a ſcornefull diſgrace; hee ſhaues off, one halfe of their beards, & cuts off one halfe of their garments; expoſing them to the deriſion of all beholders. The Iſraelites were forbidden either a ſhauen beard, or a ſhort garment; in deſpight, perhaps, of their Law, theſe Ambaſſadours are ſent away with both: Certainly in a deſpight of their Maſter, and a ſcorne of their perſons.
King Dauid is not a little ſenſible of the abuſe of his Meſſengers, and of himſelfe in them; firſt therefore, he deſires to hide their ſhame, then to reuenge it. Man hath but a double ornament of body, the one of nature, the other of Art; The naturall ornament is the haire, the artificiall is apparrell; Dauids Meſſengers are deformed in both; The one is eaſily ſupplyed by a new ſuit, the other can onelyonly bee ſupplyed out of the ward-robe of Time; Tarry at Iericho till your beards be growne. How eaſily had this deformity beene remooued, if as Hanun had ſhauen one ſide of their faces, ſo they had ſhauen the other; what had this beene but to reſemble their younger age, or that other ſex, in neither of which, doe wee vſe to place any imagination of vnbeſeeming; neither did their want ſome of their neighbour Nations, whoſe faces age it ſelfe had not wont to couer with this ſhade of haire: But ſo reſpectiue is good Dauid, and his wiſe Senators, of their country-formes; that they ſhall by appoyntment rather tarry abroad, till time hauehave wrought their conformity, then vary from the receiued faſhions of their owne people. Alas, into what a licentious variety of ſtrange diſguiſes are wee falne? the glory of attire is ſought in nouelty, in miſhapenneſſe, in monſtrouſneſſe: There is much latitude, much liberty in the vſe of theſe indifferent things; but becauſe wee are free, wee may not run wilde; and neuer thinke wee hauehave ſcope enough, vnleſſe wee out-run modeſty.
It is lawfull for publique perſons, to feele their owne indignities, and to endeauour their reuenge. Now Dauid ſends all the hoſt of the mighty men to puniſh Ammon, for ſo foule an abuſe; Thoſe that receiued the Meſſengers of his louelove, with ſcorne and inſolency, ſhall now bee ſeuerely ſaluted with the Meſſengers of his wrath. It is juſt both with God and men, that they, who know not how to take fauours aright, ſhould ſmart with judgements. Kindneſſe repulſed, breakes forth into indignation, how much more when it is repayd with an iniurious affront?
Dauid cannot but feele his owne cheekes ſhauen, and his owne cotes cut in his Ambaſſadors; They did but carry his perſon to Hanun; neither can hee therfore but appropriate to himſelfe the kindneſſe, or iniury offered vntounto them; He that did ſo take to heart the cutting off, but the lap of King Sauls garment, when it was layd aſide from him, how muſt hee needes bee affected with this diſdainefull haluing of his haire and robes, in the perſon of his Deputies. The name of Ambaſſadours hath beene euer ſacred, and by the vniuerſall Law of Nations, hath carried in it ſufficient protection, from all publique wrongs, nether hath it euer beene violated, without a reuenge. Oh God, what ſhall wee ſay to thoſe notorious contempts which are dayly caſt vponupon thy ſpirituall meſſengers? Is it poſſible thou ſhouldſt not feele them, thou ſhouldſt not auenge them? Wee are made a gazing ſtocke to the world, to Angels and to men, wee are deſpiſed and trodden downe in the duſt; Who hath beleeued our report, and to whom is the arme of the Lord reuealed?
How obſtinate are wicked men in their peruerſe reſolutions. Theſe fooliſh Ammonites had rather hyre Syrians to maintaine a warre againſt Iſrael in ſo foule a quarrell, beſides the hazard of their owne liues, then confeſſe the error of their iealous miſ-conſtruction.
It is one of the madde principles of wickedneſſe, that it is a weakeneſſe to relent, and rather to Dye then yeild; Euen ill cauſes once vndertaken, muſt bee vpheld although with bloud; whereas the gracious hart finding his owne mis-taking, doth not only remit of an vngrounded diſpleaſure, but ſtudies to bee reuenged of it ſelfe; and to giuegive ſatisfaction to the offended.
The mercenary Syrians are drawne to venture their liues for a fee; twenty thouſand of them are hyred into the field againſt Iſrael; Fond Pagans that know not the value of a man; their bloud coſt them nothing, and they care not to ſell it good cheape; How can wee thinke thoſe men hauehave Soules, that eſteeme a little white earth aboue themſelues? that neuer inquire into the iuſtice of the quarell, but the rate of the pay, that can rifle for drams of ſiluer, in the bowels of their owne fleſh, and either kill or die for a dayes wages?
Ioab the wiſe Generall of Iſrael ſoone findes, where the ſtrength of the battle lay, and ſo marſhalls his troupes, that the choyce of his men ſhall incounter the vantgard of the Syrians. His brother Abiſhai leads the reſt againſt the children of Ammon; with this couenant of mutuall aſſiſtance, (If the Syrians be too ſtrong for mee, then thou ſhalt helpe mee; but if the children of Ammon be too ſtrong for thee, then will I come and helpe thee;) It is an happy thing, when the captains of Gods people ioyne together as brethren, and lend their hand to the ayde of each other againſt the common aduerſary. Concord in defence, or aſſault is the way to victory; as contrarily, the deuiſion of the Leaders is the ouerthrow of the army.
Set aſide ſome particular actions, Ioab was a worthy Captaine, both for wiſdome and valour. Who could either exhort or reſolue better then he, (Be of good courage, and let vsus play the men, for our people, and for the cities of our God; and the Lord doe that which ſeemeth him good?) It is not either priuate glory or profit that whets his fortitude, but the reſpect to the cauſe of God, and his people; That Souldier can neuer anſwer it to God, that ſtrikes not more as a Iuſticer, then as an enemy; Neither doth hee content himſelfe with his owne courage, but he animates others. The tongue of a Commander fights more then his hand; it is enough for priuate men to exerciſe what life and limmes they hauehave, a good Leader muſt out of his owne abundance, put life and ſpirits into all others; If a Lyon lead ſheep into the field, there is hope of victory: Laſtly, when he hath done his beſt, he reſolues to depend vponupon God for the iſſue: not truſting to his ſword, or his bowe, but to the prouidence of the Almightie for ſucceſſe; as a man religiouſly awfull, and awfully confident, whiles there ſhould bee no want in their owne indeuours: he knew well that the race was not to the ſwift, nor the battle to the ſtrong, therefore hee lookes vp aboue the hills whence commeth his ſaluation; All valour is cowardiſe to that, which is built vponupon religion.
I maruel not to ſee Ioab victorious, whiles he is thus godly; The Syrians flee before him, like flocks of ſheepe; the Amonites follow them; The two Sons of Zeruiah hauehave nothing to doe, but to purſue and execute; The throates of the Amonites are cut, for cutting the beards and cotes of the Iſraelitiſh meſſengers; Neither doth this reuenge end in the field; Rabba the royall city of Ammon is ſtrongly beleguered by Ioab; the City of waters (after well-neare a yeares ſiege) yeildeth; the reſt can no longer hold out; now Ioab, as one that deſired more to approue himſelfe a loyall and carefull ſubiect, then a happy Generall, ſends to his maſter Dauid that he ſhould come perſonally, and encampe againſt the City and take it; Leaſt (ſaith he) I take it and it be called after my name. Oh noble and imitable fidelity of a dutifull ſeruant, that prefers his Lord to himſelfe, and is ſo farre from ſtealing honor from his maſters deſerts, that he willingly remits of his owne, to adde vntounto his. The warre was not his; he was only imployed by his Soueraigne; The ſame perſon that was wronged in the Ambaſſadors, reuengeth by his ſoldiers; the praiſe of the act ſhall (like fountaine water) returne to the ſea, whence it originally came: To ſeeke a mans owne glory is not glory. Alas, how many are there, who being ſent to ſue for God, wooe for themſelues. Oh God, it is a fearfull thing to robbe thee of that which is deareſt to thee, glory; which as thou wilt not giuegive to any creature, ſo much l…ſſe wilt thou indure that any creature ſhould filtch it from thee, and giuegive it to himſelfe. HaueHave thou the honor of all our actions, who giueſt a beeing to our actions and vsus, and in both haſt moſt iuſtly regarded thine owne praiſe.