1 Chronicles 11:9

1Ch 11:9 So David waxed greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts [was] with him.

Ver. 9. See on 2Sa 5:10.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ch_11:9

So David waxed greater and greater; for the Lord of hosts was with him

Davids prosperity

I.

God is the true source of prosperity.

II. God determines the real nature of prosperity.

III. God fixes the exact time of prosperity. (J. Wolfendale.)

Gods favour helpful to prosperity

When I resided in a wooded part of Scotland, I used to notice that the trees nearest the light at the edge of a dense forest had larger branches than those in the interior, and that the same tree would throw out a long branch towards the light and a short one towards the dark recess of the forest. (J. Thain Davidson, D. D.)

Gods blessing is necessary to prosperity

If we turn to Him, and become recipients of His grace, then will our talents and faculties develop, and be used in the right direction.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(9) This verse corresponds word for word with Samuel, only omitting “God” after “Lord.” Literally, and David walked on, a walking and growing great—a common Hebrew metaphor of gradual and progressive increase or decrease. (Comp. Gen_8:5, and the use of the term andante, “walking,” in music.)

Lord of hosts was with him.—The Lord of Hosts is doubtless a contracted form of the fuller expression, Lord God of Hosts, as it appears in Samuel. The Lord (or God) of Hosts is a title derived from God’s supremacy over the host of heaven, i.e., the stars, worshipped as deities by the races environing Israel, insomuch that the very word for God in the old Babylonian is represented by a star (*); and in the later Assyrian character star was represented by the symbol for God thrice repeated. Assur, the supreme deity of the Assyrian Pantheon, is called in the inscriptions “king of the legions of heaven and earth,” or “of the great gods.” Similar titles were given to the Babylonian Nebo and Merodach. The Hebrew phrase is therefore, in one sense, equivalent to a concise assertion of the statement, “Jehovah your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords” (Deu_10:17 : comp. also Psa_95:3; Psa_97:7). That the hosts in question are the stars appears from Psa_33:6; Isa_40:26; Jdg_5:20.

Very anciently the stars were conceived of as the army of heaven, marshalled in orderly array. (Comp. Isa_40:26; Isa_24:21; Isa_14:12-13.) The Lord of the hosts of heaven is à fortiori Lord of all earthly hosts; hence the fitness of the phrase in passages like the present. Lastly, we may observe that it is a grand idea of revealed religion that He who guides the stars in their courses guides also the destinies of individual men, elevating one and abasing another, according to the eternal principles of goodness and truth (Isa_57:15).

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Lord. 2 Kings adds God, more properly, as it seems always to have been inserted, thoug it is now wanting in two hundred places. (Kennicott, Dis. i. p. 62 and 525.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

David"s greatness.

From the time that the king began to reign over all the tribes of Israel his fortunes began to improve. Dark days had he gone through before; now the sun of prosperity blazed upon his path.

I THE ELEMENTS OF DAVID"S GREATNESS. It consisted:

1. In warlike achievements. He was a man of war from his youth, and his manhood was occupied with the defence of his kingdom and the defeat of his foes.

2. In the valour of his captains. "Mighty men of valour" gathered around him, and contributed to his power and his fame.

3. In the prosperity of his people. That David"s reign was an era of material prosperity is evident enough. If nothing else proved it, it would be established by the munificent offerings which the princes and the people presented at the close of David"s reign towards the temple fund.

4. In the prevalence of religion. This appears from the establishment upon a grander scale of the Levitical and priestly orders, with the services, sacrifices, and festivals connected with the house of God. David"s own psalms, sung as they were by the Levitical choirs, at once evidenced and furthered the prosperity of true religion.

II THE GROWTH OF DAVID"S GREATNESS. He "waxed greater and greater." His career was one of continually advancing prosperity. As with most men favourably circumstanced, so in his case, success and prosperity were the cause of their own increase. "He went growing and growing.

III THE EXPLANATION OF DAVID"S GREATNESS. "The Lord of hosts was with him." Cui adhoeres, praeest! the Lord God may better say than any earthly prince, He to whom I attach myself, he shall prosper. "The Lord of hosts was with David:

1. To give him regal qualities.

2. To surround him with prudent counsellors, devoted friends, and faithful servants.

3. To give him favour with the people.

4. To reveal himself to his heart, as the Subject of praise, the Law ofrighteousness, the Lord of life.

LESSONS.

1. It is within the power of all Christians, by the use of the means of grace,to grow constantly in true excellence.

2. Only by the presence and aid of the Most High can we be justified inlooking for progress and true prosperity. T.

God"s enlarging presence.

If God is with us in the sense in which he was "with" David, we also shall "wax greater and greater.

I HOW GOD"S PRESENCE PROVED AN ENLARGEMENT TO THE KING. It resulted in:

1. An increase in his territory. God prospered him in war; his enemies werebeaten; his dominion was enlarged, so much so that the prophecy of Gen_15:18-21 was fulfilled.

2. The growth of power and influence in his royal person. David becamemore and more established in the regard, the confidence, and the affection of Israel. The whole nation came to yield him a full and unhesitating allegiance.

3. The rise of national power and influence over neighbouring nations. The kingdom of Israel had been little or nothing to the surrounding peoples, Now, however, it acquired consideration. The potentates of the East were glad to make treaties, to be on amicable terms with 2:4. The enlargement of his spiritual nature. We cannot say that David"s spiritual course was "the path of the just, shining brighter and brighter unto the perfect day." It certainly suffered temporary eclipse, even if it did not, after a certain period, steadily decline. But we may indulge the belief that, for some time after his elevation to supreme power, it was not only in circumstance but in soul that he" waxed greater and greater.

II How GOD"S PRESENCE IS AN ENLARGEMENT TO OURSELVES. If God be with us, with his Divine favour, with his providing and protecting care, with his Spirit"s influence, it may be that he will give us enlargement in the shape of:

1. Temporal prosperity. He may "set ourfeet in a large room". (Psa_31:8) We may be made by him to "wax greater and greater". (see 1Ti_4:8) It is certain God will grant us increase in:

2. Our views. We shall see, know, understand, more and more of himself,of ourselves, of the meaning and the capacity of our human life, of his holy will as revealed in his Word.

3. Our affections. He will "enlarge our heart". (Psa_119:32) We shall embrace more in our kindly sympathies. Our purer, nobler, more generous feeling will flow forth to all those who are the most necessitous to the "little ones" of Christ, to "them that are a far off.

4. Our influence. We shall become more of a blessing to those with whomwe have to do. As God teaches us, disciplines us, ennobles us, we shall have a gathering and growing power over our kindred, our associates, our neighbours.

5. Our hopes. These will be gradually withdrawn from the small circle oftime, and reach forth into the vast amplitude of eternity; and they will become ever higher and nobler as immortal life presents itself to us less as a mere endless enjoyment and more as a ceaseless service. C.

Success is guaranteed if God be with us.

It is stated that David "waxed greater and greater," but we are not left in any uncertainty as to the real source of his prosperities. We are not permitted to limit our vision to merely favourable circumstances or unusual talents. The secret will go into a sentence: "The Lord of hosts was with him." The introduction may be an account of the importance to David of securing the naturally impregnable city of Jebus for his capital; and of the energy with which both he and Joab set about fortifying and building and firmly consolidating the kingdom. There was an abundance of human energy.

I THE OPEN AND APPARENT REASONS FOR HUMAN SUCCESS. We can so easily see or fancy that we see how they are due to human forces, such as exceptional talents; marvellous energy, such as that of the tradesman in Chicago, who raised a hut of the singed logs from his burnt warehouse, and put on it this sign, "All gone, save wife, children, and energy;" or a perseverance that will not yield to any hindrances or difficulties, that glories in triumphing over obstacles. Sometimes we say that success is due to a happy combination of circumstances, or good luck. And it does seem as if circumstances could favour individuals. Asaph, in the olden time, puzzled over the prosperity that seems to come so freely to bad men. And we may, with perfect propriety and full consistency with right religious feelings, recognize that human success is, as a rule, the appropriate reward of talent, and faculty, and perseverance, and good judgment. Success cannot be guaranteed as" the response to these; but it is their ordinary and natural result, the proper issue toward which they tend. And even from our Christian standpoint, we properly urge a careful attention to all those ordinary conditions on which the prosperity of life depends. It is quite true that "the blessing of the Lord maketh rich; but it is also true that the blessing comes as a gracious using and sanctifying of all right and worthy human endeavour. God will give his best to no man unless the man will do his best. God blesses no man"s idleness and no man"s thoughtlessness. We may lay on God"s altar for acceptance only our best possible.

II THE SECRET AND REAL REASONS FOR HUMAN SUCCESS.

1. Divine permission. God may withhold success. He may know that, in particular cases, it would not be the best thing; so "if the Lord will" must tone our very desire to win earthly prosperities.

2. Divine presence and blessing. "The Lord of hosts was with him," not only in the sense of giving his presence and gracious help, but in the further sense of approving his schemes and aiding in their accomplishment. Of the first kind of Divine presence we may be always assured. Of the second kind we can be assured only when we so fully hold ourselves open to the Divine love and lead that what we plan and purpose is only and exactly what the Lord would have us do. Still, we must realize that, for us, our true life-success may not be that which we fashion for ourselves; it can only be that which God fashions for us. We may be a long time finding out what God"s success for us is. And it is so often difficult for us to read it aright and understand it worthily, because it often has this subtlety in it God holds within it a design of personal culture, and that he counts to be the very highest form of life- success. The great thing to win is the "holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. R.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.