Stupid Suspicion

1 Chronicles 19-21; Psalm 11; Proverbs 19:10-12

 

Sometimes it’s hard to trust people. We’re afraid of getting hurt, and not everyone is trustworthy. So we don’t always take offers of friendship at face value. We fret and worry that someone is about to take advantage of us. And if we grow too worried, our suspicion leads us straight into the path of stupidity. And we really mess things up when they would have been fine if we had just been willing to trust people a bit.

 

Have you ever heard of Hanun? After his father Nahash died, Hanun became the king of the Ammonites. King David sent men to offer his condolences, because he and Nahash had been friends. But Hanun’s own suspicion, and that of his advisers, got in the way. Look what happened:

 

So Hanun seized David's men, shaved them, cut off their garments in the middle at the buttocks, and sent them away. – 1 Chronicles 19:4

 

David sent men in peace, and Hanun humiliated them because he was afraid of what they might be up to! What started off as an act of peace turned into a grounds for war! Hanun gathered up thousands of chariots and charioteers from nearby countries, and together they went to war against Israel.

 

The chances didn’t look good for Israel’s army, caught between Hanun’s troops and the other armies that had come to help him. But Joab, the army commander, and his brother Abishai went bravely into battle, saying:

 

If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to rescue me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will rescue you. Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight. – 1 Chronicles 19:12-13

 

And the LORD routed the other armies. The end result for King Hanun and his Ammonite compatriots?

 

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem. Joab attacked Rabbah and left it in ruins. David took the crown from the head of their king--its weight was found to be a talent of gold, and it was set with precious stones--and it was placed on David's head. He took a great quantity of plunder from the city and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then David and his entire army returned to Jerusalem. – 1 Chronicles 20:1-3

 

Suspicion triumphed over trust. And in the end, suspicion destroyed Hanun and his country. They could have had peace with King David, the LORD’s anointed, and with the LORD. But they feared them too much, and rather than choosing to trust them and rest in the comfort of having such powerful allies, Hanun and his advisors did the most foolish thing they could have done to such a powerful king and God – they insulted and humiliated King David’s men.

 

Father, please keep me from allowing suspicion to lead me into stupidity. May I not be foolish in the degree to which I trust people, but at the same time may I accept other people’s friendship and extend all the trust I can. May I not allow suspicion to make me harm any of my friendships, even if I’m not certain how solid they really are. May I show others that I am friendly. May I extend a hand of peace. If suspicion leads me to do anything, may it only remind me to be wise and cautious in my friendships – never insulting or offensive. May I seek peace and avoid destruction, guarded safely in Your hands.