This chapter follows 2 Samuel 10-12 fairly closely, but omits David's sin with Bathsheeba.
David sought friendly relationships with Hanun, the Ammorite king, but his overtures were rejected. The Israelites who had returned had not sought to cause trouble to anyone yet were encountering much opposition. Similarly, there are times when we as individuals and as churches seek to be helpful to others or to society but just get accused of all sorts of scurrilous motives. This is normal!
The Ammonites realised that they were now considered the enemy by David and bought help from Aram to attack Israel. David's army, under Joab, went out to meet the enemy and adopted reasonable military tactics. Joab won the battle. When the Lord is with us sometimes there will be miraculous intervention, at other times normal or natural means will be used to give us victory.
The Ammonites sought to counter attack. This time David was involved in the battle and won the victory. The Arameans learnt their lesson and would not help the Ammonites again.
The key lesson to be learnt from all this is that opposition and unreasonable behaviour is a normal part of life. When we encounter it we need to engage in battle instead of becoming discouraged, and God will give us the victory. Although not a point from this chapter, we also need to ensure that we ourselves continue to act in an upright and reasonable manner.
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