God’s Word for You

1 Chronicles 18:12-13 and Psalm 60 Victory in the Valley

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, February 8, 2024

12 Abishai son of Zeruiah struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 13 He put garrisons in Edom; and all the Edomites became subject to David. And the LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

It isn’t easy for most people to remember who the men were who served under David; even the ones who were on the opposite side seem to fade into a mist of confusion as we read about them. Abishai was David’s nephew, the son of David’s sister Zeruiah. Abishai was one of the mighty men, and he was even the Chief of the Thirty mighty men (2 Samuel 23:18).

It is not at all strange that the parallel passage in 2 Samuel (8:13) does not mention Abishai by name. It isn’t even unusual that 2 Samuel 8 only calls David the supreme commander that won this victory. What is strange is that in David’s Psalm about this war, he recalls that it was Joab (Abishai’s brother) who “struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt” (Psalm 60, title). To better understand this war, let us also turn to Psalm 60 with some brief comments:

60 For the director of music.
To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.”
A miktam of David.
For teaching about when he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and when Joab turned back and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

David’s title to Psalm 60 shows that he was thinking of the way his armies were divided. He was fighting in the far north against Aram, but at least one of his generals (Joab) and the captain of his Mighty Men (Abishai) turned aside from the northern battles to meet the enemy in the south.

1 O God, you have rejected us.
You have broken through our defenses.
You have been angry—oh, restore us!
2 You have made the earth quake and torn it open.
Close up its fractures, for it is about to collapse.
3 You have let our people suffer hard times,
You have given us wine to drink that makes us stagger.

Was David afraid that he had overextended himself? He was up in the far north making war against Damascus within sight of snow-capped Mount Hermon, when the news came: The Judean militia was holding off an army from Edom in the far south! David was more than a hundred miles away, and Edom was just a few dozen miles from his hard-won Jerusalem.

4 You have set up a signal flag for those who fear you,
to be unfurled against the bow.  Selah

There is only one selah in Psalm 60, and it is here that David wants us to remember who is truly our leader in all things: We do everything under God’s banner. Treat this selah as a moment under which to pause all day today: “Who am I doing this for? What I do, I do for the Lord.”

5 Deliver us with your hand,
save us with your right hand,
that those you love may be delivered.
6 God has spoken in his holiness:
“In triumph I will distribute Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine.
Ephraim is my helmet. Judah is my scepter.
8 Moab is my washbasin. I toss my sandal upon Edom.
I shout in triumph over Philistia.

David’s prayer is simple and certain: God will help us, whatever disaster falls on us. In verses 6-8, David recalls words which to the Jews would resound with all the emotions of “Jamestown” in America today. Shechem and Succoth were the first places ever occupied by Jacob, before Israel went down to Egypt, eight hundred years before David’s time. The vast, productive farms of the north—Gilead and Manasseh—are the Lord’s. The dome of Ephraim is God’s helmet. And Judah, yes, is the scepter! David can’t help but be honored and humbled by the ancient prophecy about Judah in Genesis 49:10.

On top of all that, David pictures God coming home from work and tossing his car keys on Edom. Moab may have thought that their taller mountains would be God’s holy helm, but no! Moab is no helmet. It’s a flipped over helmet, used for a washbasin, or a potty for a child. So much for Moab’s boasting. And Edom is not even worthy to be called a footstool. It’s where God tosses his sandals before he relaxes his feet upon his footstool. The victory is God’s, whatever happens.

9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not you, O God?
You who have rejected us?
Is it not you, O God?
You who no longer go out with our armies?
11 Give us help against the enemy,
for help from man is worthless.
12 With God alone we will do mighty things.
He will trample our enemies.

The conclusion to the Psalm makes it sound as if David’s army had taken a beating. The Psalm’s heading and the passages about this war in 2 Samuel 8 and 1 Chronicles 18 describe the Edomite losses, but was it a Pyrrhic Victory, or a very costly one? David picks up the pieces and ends with a simple and confident prayer: Today, we’re down. But with God we will gain the victory, whatever victory God gives us.

Maybe for you, that will mean a more God-pleasing day at work. Or being a little gentler with your children. Or perhaps your victory might mean showing your faith a little more this weekend by spending some quality time in worship. Or even by opening your own Bible, with nobody watching, and meditating on a passage.

God’s holy word isn’t a mantra to be hummed. It isn’t a book of random sayings to be accessed by chance or luck for advice. It isn’t a deck of magic cards to be thumbed through for future events, nor is it a kind of mysterious book filled with secret and magical words to frighten and confuse the curious or the simple. God’s holy word tells us that the Almighty Creator of the Universe is also our Savior. His love covered over our sins on the cross of Calvary, and his forgiveness endures forever. “Our help is in the name of the LORD; the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8). “God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins” (Colossians 2:13).

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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