9. Moab is my washpot. This nation had shown no
friendly spirit to the Israelites, but had continually viewed them as a
detested rival; therefore they were to be subdued and made subject to David’s
throne. He claims by faith the victory, and regards his powerful enemy with
contempt. Nor was he disappointed, for “the Moabites became David’s servants and brought him gifts” (2 Samuel 8:2). As people wash their feet after a long journey, and so
are revived, so vanquished difficulties serve to refresh us: we use Moab for a
washpot. Over Edom will I cast out my shoe. It will be as the floor upon
which the bather throws his sandals; it will lie beneath his foot, subject to
his will and altogether his own. Edom was proud, but David throws his slipper
at it; its capital was high, but he casts his sandal over it; it was strong,
but he hurls his shoe at it as a pledge of battle. He had not entered yet into
its rock-built fortresses, but since the Lord was with him he felt sure that he
would do so. Under the leadership of the Almighty, he felt so secure of
conquering even fierce Edom itself that he looks upon it as a mere slave, over
which he could exult with impunity. We ought never to fear those who are
defending the wrong side, for since God is not with them their wisdom is folly,
their strength is weakness, and their glory is their shame. We think too much
of God’s foes and talk of them with too much respect. Over Phillistia will I triumph. David had done so in his youth, and he is all the more sure of
doing it again. We read that “David
smote the Philistines and subdued them” (2 Samuel 8:1), just as he had smitten Edom and filled it with his
garrison. The enemies with whom we battled in our youth are yet alive, and we
shall have more brushes with them before we die, but, blessed be God, we are by
no means dismayed at the prospect, for we expect to triumph over them even more
easily than aforetime.
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