1 Then David mustered the men who were with him and set over them commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. 2 And David sent out the army, one third under the command of Joab, one third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, Joab’s brother, and one third under the command of Ittai the Gittite. And the king said to the men, “I myself will also go out with you.” 3 But the men said, “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city.” 4 The king said to them, “Whatever seems best to you I will do.” So the king stood at the side of the gate, while all the army marched out by hundreds and by thousands. 5 And the king ordered Joab and Abishai and Ittai, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.” And all the people heard when the king gave orders to all the commanders about Absalom.
6 So the army went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 7 And the men of Israel were defeated there by the servants of David, and the loss there was great on that day, twenty thousand men. 8 The battle spread over the face of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than the sword.
Comment: David, the experienced warrior arranges his forces for battle. David stood taking the royal salute as the army marched out. Does ‘on that day’ mean that the 20,000 died that day? It was certainly a bloody affair with a lot at stake. I wonder what people thought when they heard David say ‘Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom.’? They were putting their lives at risk because of that man!
Prayer: Your Word reminds us that life is a battle. Help me to understand what that means and to be thoroughly involved!
As I read it! 
In some ways war seems to me that people think life is “cheap “. Yet God cares for even ‘a sparrow’. I’m glad that the God of justice is also a loving God but I still don’t understand.
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If God is truly GOD then He is in charge of wars in an overall sense. But I think men and women start disputes and wars. I don’t think that wars on earth were His plan before the fall of Adam and Eve. Maybe this is an assumption, but I think that the heavenly wars as described resulting from Lucifer’s rebellion were not God instigated. Selfishness and rebellion have terrible results. Like you seem to hate war so do I. Terrible acts have terrible consequences!
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