IN TOUCH DEVOTIONAL 7 APRIL 2024 BY DR. CHARLES STANLEY, SUNDAY MESSAGE
In Touch Devotional 7 April 2024 TOPIC: How to Respond Well
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: 2 Samuel 10:1-8
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1 In the course of time, the king of the Ammonites died, and his son Hanun succeeded him as king.
2 David thought, “I will show kindness to Hanun son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent a delegation to express his sympathy to Hanun concerning his father. When David’s men came to the land of the Ammonites,
3 the Ammonite commanders said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think David is honoring your father by sending envoys to you to express sympathy? Hasn’t David sent them to you only to explore the city and spy it out and overthrow it?”
4 So Hanun seized David’s envoys, shaved off half of each man’s beard, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.
5 When David was told about this, he sent messengers to meet the men, for they were greatly humiliated. The king said, “Stay at Jericho till your beards have grown, and then come back.”
6 When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob.
7 On hearing this, David sent Joab out with the entire army of fighting men.
8 The Ammonites came out and drew up in battle formation at the entrance of their city gate, while the Arameans of Zobah and Rehob and the men of Tob and Maakah were by themselves in the open country.
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Hanun, the king of the Ammonites, reacted to misinformation. His father had just died, so King David sent some servants to offer condolences. But Hanun’s commanders convinced him that the visitors were spies coming to scope out his land. Without checking whether the accusation was true, he abused and mocked David’s servants, which led to a war.
We’ve likely done something similar (though, thankfully, it didn’t lead to battle). Maybe we reacted to a rumor before confirming the information. Or perhaps we failed to ask clarifying questions. And at one point or another, most of us have responded too quickly to a situation—striking back, like a frightened animal, before taking time to consider the godly response. And our reaction probably caused hurt feelings or embarrassment.
Yet wisdom instructs us to respond differently. There are countless passages of Scripture discussing the value of wisdom and how to acquire it from God. Spend some time this week looking up a few. Take notes on the ones that resonate most and see if you can find any common themes. Then ask God to teach you how to respond to others more slowly, with grace and wisdom (James 1:19-20).
Bible in One Year: 2 Samuel 10-12
Thought for Today: Wise people take the time to verify information before choosing a course of action.
Dr. Charles Stanley was the founder of In Touch Ministries and a New York Times best-selling author. Throughout his ministry, he demonstrated a keen awareness of people’s needs and provided Christ-centered biblically based principles for everyday life.
