1 Chronicles 12:17
And David went out to meet them, saying, "If you have come to me in peace to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if you have come to betray me to my enemies when my hands are free of violence, may the God of our fathers see it and judge you."
Sermons
David's Mighty Men: the Gadites, Benjamites, and JudahF. Whitfield 1 Chronicles 12:1-22
The Service of the Supreme KingW. Clarkson 1 Chronicles 12:1-15, 19-22
David and His HelpersR. Maguire, M. A.1 Chronicles 12:16-18
Fitness for the Service of the Great KingJ. Wolfendale.1 Chronicles 12:16-18
Friends in AdversityR. Tuck 1 Chronicles 12:16-18
Recruits for King JesusSpurgeon, Charles Haddon1 Chronicles 12:16-18
The Offer of the Upright, EtcW. Clarkson 1 Chronicles 12:16-18














These verses suggest -

I. THE OFFER OF THE UPRIGHT. (Ver. 17.) David made this offer to the men of Benjamin and Judah in good faith. He did not mean one thing in the moment of danger, and another in the hour of security. He fully intended the thing he said; he was prepared, in the event of this band of men coming over to his side, to regard them with perfect favour and to give them a good place in his ranks. The maintenance of all our social activities depends on trustworthiness between man and man; therefore on honesty of thought arid integrity of word and deed in ordinary as well as extraordinary occasions. When uprightness is gone and confidence undermined, all security has vanished and everything is in confusion. The engagements of daily life, of trade and commerce, of all human industry, rest on morality and ultimately on religion.

II. THE RESOURCE OF THE DEVOUT. (Ver. 17.) When David "went out to meet" those men, he placed himself (as I read the story) in their power. He made them an offer which they might accept or not. Accepting it, they would reinforce his army and strengthen his position; refusing it, they might avail themselves of his venture and get him into their power. This latter alternative he vigorously deprecates; but if they should abuse his confidence he has one resource - the appeal to God. "If ye be come to betray me to mine enemies... the God of our fathers... rebuke it." In the last extremity the devout man can fall back on Divine interposition: "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us... and he will deliver us" (Daniel 3:17). Things can never be so bad with the servants of righteousness but they have one valuable resource - the appeal to God, his rebuke of the guilty, his succour of the upright. But it is only those who can say, "Seeing there is no wrong in mine hands," who have a consciousness of rectitude and reconciliation, that have this refuge in the hour of need.

III. THE DECISION, INVOCATION, AND ACQUISITION OF THE WISE. (Ver. 18.)

1. The decision of the wise. Those who know what it is best to do will join themselves, not to the cause of the man who has forsaken God and whom he has forsaken - the party of Saul, but to the side of him who serves God and whom he helps - the party of David. He whom "his God helpeth" is the champion to whom we should attach ourselves and our interests.

2. The invocation of the wise. "Peace, peace be unto thee and... unto thine helpers." The thoughtless and "shallow-hearted' may wish for their friends the cup of pleasure, or a sceptre of power, or a wreath of glory; the wiser heart desires peace. There is no blessing so true, profound, abiding, as peace of mind, rest of heart, stillness of soul in God. 3 And this is the acquisition of the wise. "Peace be unto thee,... for thy God helpeth thee." If God be the Helper of our soul, as he is ready to be, as he will be to those who earnestly and perseveringly seek his aid; if he grant the helpful influence of his illumining, renewing, sanctifying, comforting Spirit, there will be peace, "great peace " - the "peace which passeth understanding," the peace of Christ himself (John 14:27). - C.

And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David.
I want to run a parallel between the case of David and that of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I. HERE IS A VERY COMMENDABLE EXAMPLE. Many of these men of Judah and Benjamin went to join themselves to David.

1. Because they bad heard that he was the Lord's anointed If Jesus be God's anointed, let Him be your beloved.

2. Because of his personal excellences.

3. Because he was so misrepresented and abused by his enemies.

4. Because they believed that he had a great future before him.

II. A. CAUTIOUS INQUIRY. See what David said to them.

1. He set before them the right way; He said, "If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you." Here are three questions —(1) Do you come to Christ and accept Him?(2) Do you come with a desire to maintain peace among your Christian brethren?(3) Do you come with the intent of helping the Lord Jesus Christ to spread abroad His truth?

2. He set before them the wrong way: "But if ye be come to betray me to my enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it."Some betray the Lord Christ to His enemies —

1. By giving up the doctrines of the gospel.

2. By their inconsistent lives.

3. By apostasy.

III. A CORDIAL ENLISTMENT. "Thine are we, David, and on thy side," etc.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

Man is not an independent being. He is dependent for his life, his thought, his feeling — dependent upon God his Creator and his Preserver. He is dependent for the comforts and conveniences of life — dependent upon his fellow-men. And he that seems perhaps to be the most independent amongst us, is after all the most dependent upon his fellows. Man was never made to be independent here. He was never made to be alone. Some such circumstances as these gave rise to the peculiar position of the son of Jesse, as we read of him in the text. David was then combating against a twofold enemy — Saul, the king, his predecessor in office, and the Philistines, the hereditary foes of Israel. Let us mark the concurrent circumstances of these times. David's cause was not the winning side when these secessions broke off from the strength of Saul and attached themselves to the cause of the son of Jesse. He was as yet in point of numbers and of strength in a very small minority. He was not in power; and, so far as human appearances went, he was very far from power. Every appearance was against him. He himself, though the captain of a band, was a fugitive. And Saul was in power, for Saul was king. David is possessed of but scanty resources, but Saul can command the ways and the means and the supplies of a kingdom. And yet these men come, and they volunteer their services to the son of Jesse. They came not to the throne of one that rules, but they came to the cave of one that hides himself. No marvel that David should have suspected their proper aim, and should have inquired, inquisitively, as to the motive of their coming, as to the object of their visit in this the day of his distress and of his darkness. And this accounts for his inquiry in the verse preceding my text. We would learn from this text the value and the estimate to be set upon Christian co-operation. The downcast and the down-trodden may be rallied by a sympathising word, and may be aroused; and thus arise to his work and to his labour from the very consciousness that he is not altogether alone. Christian co-operation was given to Elijah. The assurance that God one day gave the Tishbite, that there were still seven thousand men who had not bowed the knee to Baal, mightily reassured the prophet. And when we come to inquire into the circumstances of this case a little further, respecting David, we are enabled to find out what was the kind of help, the quality of the help that he obtained. This may be judged of by considering the time in which the help was vouchsafed. As I have said, it was not in the time of his prosperity, but it was some time anterior to that, and in the time of his greatest adversity. Now, it is a law, or axiom, a practical law, that those men are most to be trusted in prosperity that have stood the firmest in the day of adversity. And verily, in practice, these men receive the reward of their fidelity. These men came and chose not the winning side; but there was a mark about even that declining interest — "Thy God helpeth thee." That decided the question. If God be for David, what can Saul do against him? "If God be for us, who can be against us?" God is not forgetful of your work and labour of love which you have showed toward His name. Mark, for instance, His twelve — His chosen ones. They had attached themselves to the person of the lowly Jesus, when there was no mark of distinction, of royalty, of kingly power: at His call they obeyed. Never were there purer days in the Christian faith than when the Christian faith was persecuted. Thus was it with David's auxiliaries: they looked not to the present adversity, but to the future glory. "Thy God helpeth thee," was sufficient as an indication of what would be. These were powerful men. Their faces were like the faces of lions; bold as a lion; "and they were as swift as the roes upon the mountains." They were able to ford the depths of Jordan at its full, and in its overflowing, and to rout their enemies to the east and to the west. Truly, with such auxiliaries, David might well thank God, and take courage. But this was not all. His hopes begin to brighten, his prospects begin to look up. Day after day added its gradual increase to his army, until by and by it became a mighty host like unto "the host of God." That is what the Scripture says. Each tribe sent its proportion. Thousands, tens of thousands, flocked to the standard of David, and enlisted in defence of the cause of the son of Jesse, until well-nigh half a million of men may be counted, from the enumeration of our context, as having resorted to his cause. This, from beginnings small, but good; this, from incipient stages scanty, yet hopeful. And all these men are well spoken of. They were "mighty men of valour"; they were "ready armed"; they were "famous throughout the house of their fathers"; they were no anonymous helpers, but it is said they were "expressed by name to come and make David king." And the value of that help was great because it was a right hearty help — such a help as we need, such a help as is indispensable if we are to be helped at all. We want no halfhearted men, but we want men of God — they are the best, they are the surest, they are the safest, they are the most and the longest to be depended upon. Our experience of human helpers has been a chequered experience. Some that began with us have not continued; some from whom we expected much, perhaps, have broken down midway, departed from us, and went not with us to the work; some that promised nothing, and from whom we expected nothing, have been the most ready, and have been the foremost to come and say, "Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers."

(R. Maguire, M. A.)

I.INTELLIGENCE is required.

II.COURAGE is required.

III.UNITY is required.

IV.ENTHUSIASM is required.

(J. Wolfendale.)

People
Aaron, Aaronites, Adnah, Ahiezer, Amasai, Asher, Attai, Azareel, Azmaveth, Bealiah, Benjamin, Benjaminites, Berachah, Danites, David, Eliab, Eliel, Elihu, Elkanah, Eluzai, Elzabad, Ezer, Gad, Gadites, Gedor, Gibeon, Ishmaiah, Ismaiah, Israelites, Issachar, Isshiah, Jahaziel, Jashobeam, Jediael, Jehoiada, Jehu, Jeremiah, Jerimoth, Jeroham, Jesiah, Jesse, Jeziel, Joash, Joelah, Joezer, Johanan, Josabad, Jozabad, Kish, Korahites, Korhites, Levi, Levites, Machbanai, Manasseh, Michael, Mishmannah, Naphtali, Obadiah, Pelet, Reuben, Reubenites, Saul, Shemaah, Shemariah, Shephatiah, Simeon, Simeonites, Zadok, Zebadiah, Zebulun, Zilthai
Places
Anathoth, Gederah, Gedor, Gibeah, Gibeon, Hebron, Jordan River, Ziklag
Topics
Adversaries, Betray, David, Enemies, Fathers, Free, Hands, Heart, Judge, Knit, Meet, Peace, Peaceably, Ready, Rebuke, Seeing, Thereon, Unite, Violence, Wrong
Outline
1. The companies that came to David at Ziklag
23. The armies that came to him at Hebron

Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Chronicles 12:17

     5798   betrayal

1 Chronicles 12:16-17

     5589   trap

1 Chronicles 12:16-18

     5087   David, reign of

Library
Drill and Enthusiasm
'[Men that] could keep rank, they were not of double heart.'--1 CHRON. xii. 33. These words come from the muster-roll of the hastily raised army that brought David up to Hebron and made him King. The catalogue abounds in brief characterisations of the qualities of each tribe's contingent. For example, Issachar had 'understanding of the times.' Our text is spoken of the warriors of Zebulon, who had left their hills and their flocks in the far north, and poured down from their seats by the blue waters
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Channel of Power.
A Word that Sticks and Stings. I suppose everyone here can think of three or four persons whom he loves or regards highly, who are not christians. Can you? Perhaps in your own home circle, or in the circle of your close friends. They may be nice people, cultured, lovable, delightful companions, fond of music and good books, and all that; but this is true of them, that they do not trust and confess Jesus as a personal Savior. Can you think of such persons in your own circle? I am going to wait a
S.D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on Power

God's Answers
GOD'S ANSWERS: A RECORD OF MISS ANNIE MACPHERSON'S WORK AT THE HOME OF INDUSTRY, SPITALFIELDS, LONDON, AND IN CANADA. CLARA M. S. LOWE "Peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee." --1 CHRON. xii. 18.
Clara M. S. Lowe—God's Answers

Beneath his Banner
"Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse."--1 Chron. xii. 18. Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 'Twixt God and thee but love shall be; 'Twixt earth and thee distrust and fear, 'Twixt sin and thee shall be hate and war; And hope shall be 'twixt Heaven and thee Till night is o'er.
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

Epistle xxxix. To Anastasius, Bishop .
To Anastasius, Bishop [1602] . Gregory to Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will (Luke ii. 14), because that great river which once had left the rocks of Antioch dry has returned at length to its proper channel, and waters the subject valleys that are near, so as also to bring forth fruit, some thirty-fold, some sixty-fold, and some an hundred-fold. For now there is no doubt that many flowers of souls are growing up in its valleys, and that
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The King.
We have now to turn and see the sudden change of fortune which lifted the exile to a throne. The heavy cloud which had brooded so long over the doomed king broke in lightning crash on the disastrous field of Gilboa. Where is there a sadder and more solemn story of the fate of a soul which makes shipwreck "of faith and of a good conscience," than that awful page which tells how, godless, wretched, mad with despair and measureless pride, he flung himself on his bloody sword, and died a suicide's death,
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

Watching the Horizon
"Thy Kingdom Come." "Thou art coming! We are waiting With a hope that cannot fail; Asking not the day or hour, Resting on Thy word of power, Anchored safe within the veil. Time appointed may be long, But the vision must be sure: Certainty shall make us strong, Joyful patience must endure. "O the joy to see Thee reigning, Thee, my own beloved Lord! Every tongue Thy name confessing, Worship, honour, glory, blessing, Brought to Thee with glad accord! Thee, my Master and my Friend, Vindicated and enthroned!
by S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks on the Crowned Christ of Revelation

'The Waters Saw Thee; they were Afraid'
'And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. 6. And Joshua spake unto the priests, saying, Take up the ark of the covenant, and pass over before the people. And they took up the ark of the covenant, and went before the people. 7. And the Lord said unto Joshua, This day will I begin to magnify thee in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. 8 And thou shalt command the priests that bear
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Section Chap. I. -iii.
The question which here above all engages our attention, and requires to be answered, is this: Whether that which is reported in these chapters did, or did not, actually and outwardly take place. The history of the inquiries connected with this question is found most fully in Marckius's "Diatribe de uxore fornicationum," Leyden, 1696, reprinted in the Commentary on the Minor Prophets by the same author. The various views may be divided into three classes. 1. It is maintained by very many interpreters,
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Chronicles
The comparative indifference with which Chronicles is regarded in modern times by all but professional scholars seems to have been shared by the ancient Jewish church. Though written by the same hand as wrote Ezra-Nehemiah, and forming, together with these books, a continuous history of Judah, it is placed after them in the Hebrew Bible, of which it forms the concluding book; and this no doubt points to the fact that it attained canonical distinction later than they. Nor is this unnatural. The book
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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