The Bible

 

2 Samuel 8

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1 And it cometh to pass afterwards that David smiteth the Philistines, and humbleth them, and David taketh the bridle of the metropolis out of the hand of the Philistines.

2 And he smiteth Moab, and measureth them with a line, causing them to lie down on the earth, and he measureth two lines to put to death, and the fulness of the line to keep alive, and the Moabites are to David for servants, bearers of a present.

3 And David smiteth Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, in his going to bring back his power by the River [Euphrates;]

4 and David captureth from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and David destroyeth utterly the whole of the charioteers, only he leaveth of them a hundred charioteers.

5 And Aram of Damascus cometh to give help to Hadadezer king of Zobah, and David smiteth of Aram twenty and two thousand men;

6 and David putteth garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and Aram is to David for a servant, bearing a present; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone;

7 and David taketh the shields of gold which were on the servants of Hadadezer, and bringeth them to Jerusalem;

8 and from Betah, and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, hath king David taken very much brass.

9 And Toi king of Hamath heareth that David hath smitten all the force of Hadadezer,

10 and Toi sendeth Joram his son unto king David to ask of him of welfare, and to bless him, (because that he hath fought against Hadadezer, and smiteth him, for a man of wars [with] Toi had Hadadezer been), and in his hand have been vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass,

11 also them did king David sanctify to Jehovah, with the silver and the gold which he sanctified of all the nations which he subdued:

12 of Aram, and of Moab, and of the Bene-Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob king of Zobah.

13 And David maketh a name in his turning back from his smiting Aram in the valley of Salt -- eighteen thousand;

14 and he putteth in Edom garrisons -- in all Edom he hath put garrisons, and all Edom are servants to David; and Jehovah saveth David whithersoever he hath gone.

15 And David reigneth over all Israel, and David is doing judgment and righteousness to all his people,

16 and Joab son of Zeruiah [is] over the host, and Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud [is] remembrancer,

17 and Zadok son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech son of Abiathar, [are] priests, and Seraiah [is] scribe,

18 and Benaiah son of Jehoiada [is over] both the Cherethite and the Pelethite, and the sons of David have been ministers.

   

Commentary

 

Mercy

  
‘Brother Juniper and the Beggar,’ by Spanish Baroque painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Juniper, one of the original followers of St. Francis of Assissi, was renowned for his generosity. When told he could no longer give away his clothes, he instead simply told the needy, like the beggar in the painting, that he couldn’t give them his clothes, but wouldn’t stop them from taking them.

In regular language, "mercy" means being caring and compassionate toward people in poor states. That's a position we are all in relative to the Lord, all the time. Without Him we would be unable to choose what is good; without Him we would be unable to formulate a reasonable thought. Without Him, in fact, we would instantly cease to exist; we have life only because He constantly gives us life. So we are, quite literally, at His mercy. Fortunately, the Lord is caring and compassionate to a degree we cannot fathom. He is the source of all caring and all compassion, and of love itself. His mercy toward us never lessens, never abates, never ends; His whole purpose is to bring each of us, individually, to heaven. The meaning of "mercy" in the Bible is closely tied to this idea: it represents love in a general sense, and the desire for good that comes from love. It can also represent the desire for good and the ideas that describe it when those thoughts and desires are inspired by love of the Lord.