First Chronicles 18, David's piety, his fear of God, was described in the former chapters. Now it is followed up, as one would expect, by his prosperity in this and the succeeding chapters. Matthew Henry comments, here follows immediately that which one might reasonably expect, an account of his prosperity. For those that seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, as David did, shall have other things added to them, as far as God sees good for them. Hear now the word of Almighty God, inspired by his Spirit, profitable for us. 1 Chronicles 18, verse 1. Now after this it came to pass that David smote the Philistines. and subdued them, and took Gath and her towns out of the hand of the Philistines. And he smote Moab, and the Moabites became David's servants and brought gifts. And David smote Hadarezer, king of Zobah, unto Hamath, as he went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates. And David took from him a thousand chariots, and 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 footmen. David also hoffed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them 100 chariots. And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadarizer, king of Zobah, David slew of the Syrians 2,000 and 20,000 men. Then David put garrisons in Syria, Damascus, And the Syrians became David's servants and brought gifts. Thus the Lord preserved David whithersoever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadarizer and brought them to Jerusalem. Likewise, from Tibhath and from Chun, cities of Hadarizer, brought David very much brass, wherewith Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars and the vessels of brass. Now, when King Tau, when Tau, King of Hamath, heard how David had smitten all the hosts of Hadorezer, King of Zoba, he sent Hadoram, his son to King David, to inquire of his welfare and to congratulate him because he had fought against Hadorezer and smitten him. For Hadorezer had war with Tau, and with him all manner of vessels of gold and silver and brass. Them also King David dedicated unto the Lord with the silver and the gold that he brought from all these nations, from Edom and from Moab and from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines and from Amalek. Moreover, Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in the valley of salt 18,000, And he put garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David's servants. Thus the Lord preserved David, whithersoever he went. So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people. And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud recorder, and Zadok the son of Ahitub And Abimelech, the son of Abiathar, were the priests. And Shavsha was scribe. And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And the sons of David were chief about the king. Thus far the reading of God's inspired word from the book of First Chronicles chapter 18. May the Lord bless us in the reading and hearing of it. And now in consideration of its teachings. This is a parallel passage, we've considered it previously, 2 Samuel chapter 8. In particular the first 13 verses concerning David's dominion and conquest over the Gentiles is paralleled in 2 Samuel 8 verses 1 through 14. A few differences we will note here in the record of God's inspired word. As I mentioned on former occasions, the books of Chronicles gather up fragments. Sometimes they make things a little briefer. They tell you a summary of things that happened before. Sometimes they expand on those things and tell you things that you did not realize or know based off of the former accounts. Here notice verse one, David smote the Philistines and subdued them and took Gath. If you'll recall from 2 Samuel 8 verse 1, we read that David smote the Philistines and subdued them and took Methag Gamah. Metheg Gamah. Metheg is a bridle and Gamah is the people. So the Metheg Gamah is the bridle of the people. A bridle is what you use to rule and to reign. Gath being the principality or the principal city of the Philistines, it was the bridle of the people. Here it's explicitly named as Gath. Verse 2 abbreviates 2 Samuel 8 to, if you'll recall, David set up a line for the destruction of the adversaries, the Ammonites, the Moabites, but here it just tells us of his victory, it doesn't give us those details. In verse 3, the king is called Hadarizer, king of Zobah. He is called Hadadizer in 2 Samuel 8 verse 3. Just as Nebuchadnezzar is also called Nebuchadrezzar, they have two names for one person, slight differences between the two, it's the same man. Notice verse 3, it tells us that David went to establish his dominion by the river Euphrates. Now, if you recall, 2 Samuel 8 verse 3, it said that David went to recover or to establish his border, not his dominion, but his border. So these are two different terms used in the word of God, meaning the same thing. And this is very important. When the word of God uses parallel terms, we must understand they're defining each other. So then what is the dominion of David? It is the same as his border. Those then who oppose borders, what do they oppose? The powers that be. They oppose dominion. When you oppose borders, you oppose dominion. This is what the communists do. They believe in the international brotherhood of the workers. What does that mean? No borders. They believe in globalism. What is that? No borders. You see, they oppose lawful dominion. David establishing borders is also establishing dominion. Where do I rule? Well, borders tell you that. That's where the laws apply. That's where the government of that particular person or nation applies. Borders represent dominion. Opposition to borders. represents opposition to lawful dominion. Now, God had promised the people of God all the way to the river Euphrates. David is finally taking it. Abraham was told this in Genesis 15, 18. This promise was confirmed to Israel in the days of Moses, Deuteronomy 1, 7 and 8. And then a second time confirmed in the days of Joshua, chapter 1, verse 4. Now, 500 years after Joshua, Finally, they receive the borders, the dominion that God had promised to them. This is a rebuke to those who say, we must destroy all nations. Our borders mean nothing. We must allow in whomever would like to come. Just let them come in. No, that is to say, we have no dominion. We have no government. We have no laws. We have no right. verse 4 says that David took from him 7,000 horsemen. In 2 Samuel chapter 8 verse 4 the number is 700 horsemen, and very likely Samuel is recording the principle or the government over the horsemen, the 700 of those who governed, then the whole bulk of them is mentioned here, 7,000, the full number of them. Also notice in verse 4, it tells us that David hoffed all the chariot horses. Now the hoff is to cut the back of the leg, the ham, cut it. And when you cut the back of the leg, there are massive arteries, the animal will die, he will not survive. And think this through. In the ancient world, how would you have a successful army? Well, according to the wisdom of man, you needed horses. You needed chariots, didn't you? This is why it says, some trust in horses, some trust in chariots, but what? We will trust in the name of the Lord our God. David did not trust in horses. He did not trust in chariots. He hoffed their horses. He destroyed weapons of war that he could have said, I'm going to take these home with me. I'm going to build a massive offensive armory. But he did not. He did not trust in horses. He did not trust in chariots. Matthew Henry comments. A horse is a vain thing for safety, so David said, Psalm 33, 17. And it seems he believed what he said, for he huffed the chariot horses, being resolved not to trust to them, Psalm 20, verse 7. He would not use them. Let us trust in God and let us use worldly means soberly. That's what we see here. A lack of sobriety, David would have been inebriated. Oh, look at all these horses. No, he wasn't drunken with human means or animal means. He destroyed these horses. The cities of Tibhath and Chun are mentioned in verse 8, cities of Hadarezer, from whence David brought very much brass. They are called Betah and Beruthai in 2 Samuel 8 verse 8, if indeed it's naming the same cities, which it seems it is. And if you consider in David's time, they may have had one name, and by the time you get through all the kings of Judah, you get through the Assyrian captivity, you get through the Babylonian captivity, it's possible these cities had changed their names, and so they're recorded by Ezra under different names. Also, one fragment gathered up in verse eight, it tells us that this brass was that wherewith Solomon made the brazen sea and the pillars and the vessels of brass. 2 Samuel 8.8 does not mention this, although it is mentioned in 1 Kings 7.23. David here is a good example of self-denial, of living for God's glory and living for the kingdom of God and using his talents and treasure for that end. He could have taken all the gold, silver, and brass to himself, but he does not. Verse nine, Tau, king of Hamath, is called Toi in 2 Samuel 8.9. His son Hadoram in verse 10 is called Joram in 2 Samuel 8 verse 10. We're told that Hadoram came to inquire of his welfare or to salute him in 2 Samuel 8 verse 10. We're also told that Hadoram came to congratulate him, which is blessing in 2 Samuel 8 verse 10. Notice verse 12, Abishai the son of Zeruiah slew of the Edomites in the Valley of Salt 18,000. Now in 2 Samuel 8 verse 13, who do we find out slew them? David. And this is very common in the Bible. You will notice that those who command someone to do something are accounted to have done it themselves. We just read in verse 8, what did Solomon do? Well he took the brass and what did he do? He built pillars, he built the brazen sea. Do you think Solomon was out there working at the pillars and the brazen sea? No. In fact we know who the workman was. He told Hiram, you go and make those things. So he's accounted to have done it. So David in 2 Samuel 8 tells Abishai, go and do these exploits. Abishai does them. David is accounted as having done it. Abishai is explained in verse 12 of this chapter as the one by whom it was executed. The deeds imputed to a superior done at his command by an inferior. In fact, Herod says that he beheaded John. Do you remember this? Mark 6 verse 16. Did he behead him? No, it tells us he had a hangman come. He had the executioner come and take him away and chop his head off. Now concerning this number 18,000, we considered previously Joab smote 12,000 in the same valley, Psalm 60 verse 1, the title of it. It seems that Abishai is here credited with the victory. It also seems that the Edomites and the Syrians had joined forces together to fight against David. Each man had his own number. Very likely, if we can put the pieces of the puzzle together, you have Joab slaying 12,000. Then the full number of 18 is filled up by Abishai slaying 6,000 more. And in two separate passages, the attribution is given to either Abishai or to Joab and also to David as the commander of the army and thus the full 18,000. 12 slaughtered by Joab, six by Abishai, the total 18. Then verses 14 through 17, we have David's prosperity at home in his court and kingdom. We've considered verses 14 through 17 in 2 Samuel 8, verses 15 through 18. One slight note here, verse 16, Shavsha was scribe, he is named as Saraiah, in 2 Samuel 8, 17. He is also called Shishah in 1 Kings 4, 3. Three names, one man. And thus far the exposition of 1 Chronicles 18.