All seems infected that th’ infected spy, As all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye. —Alexander Pope
David was able to make alliances with the surrounding nations and, for a change, peace settled over the Middle East. But not for long! Our chapter begins, “It happened after this…” (1 Chron 19:1). One of the kings that had made such a peace pact, Nahash king of the Ammonites, died. The Ammonite capital of Rabbah, present-day Amman, now capital of the country of Jordan, is just about 60 mi (100 km) due east of Jerusalem. David, thinking to continue the amenable relationship with Hanun, the deceased king’s son, sent a delegation “to comfort him concerning his father” (v 2). Jaundice is a condition where the whites of the eyes turn yellow because of a high level of bilirubin, a yellow-orange bile pigment. Have you heard the term, “a jaundiced eye”? It pictures someone with a cynical outlook. That was the case here. Hanun’s consultants asked, “Do you think that David really honors your father because he has sent comforters to you? Did his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” (v 3). These advisors don’t actually state any facts. They simply raise doubts in the new king’s mind. And it worked. Hanun (whose name ironically means “gracious”) acted very ungraciously. “Hanun took David’s servants, shaved them, and cut off their garments in the middle…and sent them away” (v 4). This affront caused David to respond by marshalling his army and sending them to teach the Ammonites a thing. When they saw they’d stirred up a hornet’s nest, instead of suing for peace, they hired 32,000 mercenaries to aid them in the inevitable coming battle. The Lord Jesus reminds us to make peace with our adversaries quickly; otherwise it will only go from bad to worse (Mt 5:25).