Strengthen me Lord! I can't bear the weight of any more disappointment, and the enemies are grotesquely frightening.

A Heavy Crown Taken, Giants Slain

(1 Chronicles 20, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, February 11, 2018)

[1] In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, Joab led out the army and ravaged the country of the Ammonites and came and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. And Joab struck down Rabbah and overthrew it. [2] And David took the crown of their king from his head. He found that it weighed a talent of gold, and in it was a precious stone. And it was placed on David's head. And he brought out the spoil of the city, a very great amount. [3] And he brought out the people who were in it and set them to labor with saws and iron picks and axes. And thus David did to all the cities of the Ammonites. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.

[4] And after this there arose war with the Philistines at Gezer. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Sippai, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and the Philistines were subdued. [5] And there was again war with the Philistines, and Elhanan the son of Jair struck down Lahmi the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. [6] And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. [7] And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down. [8] These were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.

A Heavy Crown Taken

Joab “led out the army” to defeat a foreign power who were the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot. “David remained at Jerusalem.” The fuller story of David's absence from the battlefield is told in another place. The Chronicler is interested in teaching us about the greatness of David. What that means in this account of the military exploits of Joab is that these were not seen as belonging to Joab but to Joab's king. The crown goes to David, as it should. He is the Lord's anointed.

About that crown: First, it was weighty—about 75 pounds. Second, it was glorious as people count glory—gold with “a precious stone.” Third, gaining it was the fruit of spiritual battle. This particular crown may have been for the head of an idolatrous statue of the God of the Ammonites rather than for the regular use of the Ammonite king. The linguistic difficulty here is that the name of their God is closely connected to the word king. Either way, the war for the crown was a battle between gods.

In any case, David, as the anointed of Yahweh, had the kingdom, the power, and the glory not only in Israel but even over another people group. The citizens of that land were subdued into service at pain of death, and the wealth of their nation, “a very great amount” was now the property of the king of Israel.

Giants Slain

A similar account of three battles with the Philistines to the west comes at the conclusion of 1 Chronicles 20. As with the Ammonites to the east, victories won by Sibbecai, Elhanan, and David's nephew Jonathan were rightly counted as David's triumph. It was not the job of the loyal warrior to seek his own glory, but to find his pleasure in bringing joy to the Lord's anointed.

The gigantic stature and fearsome appearance of the Philistine foes is noted. What had caused fear among the soldiers of the Lord in previous days was now trampled under the feet of men who were willing to be strong in David and David's Lord. Yes they were “descendants of the giants” and associated with the name “Goliath.” Nonetheless, the man who was now the king of Israel had defeated the original taunting Philistine (1 Samuel 17:10, 45-47), and now great conquests were being achieved by “the hand of his servants.”

“One Little Word”

While the Chronicler sought to build up the courage of the people of God in his own day by having them look back to David, his ultimate goal is to have them live in the present with an eye to the future. The Lord's promise of a future eternal king from his descendants looms large in our interpretation of this chapter. We must look beyond David to Jesus and His army of servants who will one day cast their crowns before Him acknowledging that all our victories rightly belong to Him.

Think about the rich use of crown imagery in the New Testament:

Crown of thorns (Matthew 27:29)

Church as crown of Jesus (Philippians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:19)

Crown of righteousness for faithful service (2 Timothy 4:8)

Crown of life for those who love Him (James 1:12, Revelation 2:10)

Crown of glory from the Good Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4)

Casting our crowns before the Son of God (Revelation 4:10-11, 5:9-10)

Think also about New Testament teaching regarding victory over frightening enemies:

Powers and principalities (Ephesians 6:10-13)

Jesus won the battle against them with perfect sacrificial love (Colossians 2:13-15)

Regarding our King, Jesus has won unfathomable battles against enemies that were far too strong for us. Most obviously, His death on the cross when considered together with His resurrection has accomplished what no one else could do. He won the victor's crown over the grotesque giants of despair, sin, and death. Only He could bear the weight of the sins of His people and rise again.

Yet even before that ultimate battle, we see the Jesus of the gospels victorious over a withered hand and over people with withered hearts. (Matthew 12:9-14, Acts 2:36-41)

Concerning the church, our God who is at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than we ask or imagine. The Lord can move mountains, and He invites us to believe His Word and to obey His commands. (Ephesians 1:15-23)

Remember the power of Jesus working through His people. Yes, the church faces substantial opposition, but we have a mighty fortress in God, and “one little Word shall fell them.” That Word is the Word made flesh, the living Word, and the Word of God.

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 44 – You Are My King, O God!

Gospel Reading—Matthew 12:9-14

[9] He went on from there and entered their synagogue. [10] And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse him. [11] He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? [12] Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” [13] Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. [14] But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.