The Folly of Cynics
Introduction: Two Worldviews in Collision
In every interaction between men and between nations, there is a collision of worldviews. There are no neutral encounters. Every handshake, every diplomatic envoy, every word spoken across a border is laden with foundational assumptions about the world. Is the world a place of covenant, where kindness can be genuine and promises can be trusted? Or is it a pit of vipers, where every overture of friendship is a disguised threat and every kind word is a lie? How you answer that question determines everything.
In our text today, we see these two worldviews collide with disastrous consequences. On the one hand, we have David, the king of Israel, the anointed of God. He operates from a worldview shaped by grace, by covenant faithfulness, by what the Scriptures call hesed. He seeks to show kindness for the sake of kindness, to honor a past relationship, to build a bridge. On the other hand, we have the court of the Ammonites, a nest of cynics. Their worldview is rotted through with paranoia. They cannot conceive of genuine kindness because their own hearts are factories of deceit. They project their own malice onto David, and in so doing, they invite the very destruction they think they are avoiding.
This is not just an ancient political blunder. This is a perpetual spiritual reality. The cynical mind thinks it is savvy, that it is worldly-wise. It prides itself on not being duped. But in reality, cynicism is a profound form of spiritual blindness. It is a self-imposed darkness that cannot see the light of grace when it shines. And as we will see, when a king’s kindness is met with this kind of contemptuous suspicion, the result is not just a diplomatic incident. The result is judgment. The world still operates this way. It hears the gospel, the ultimate expression of God’s hesed, and its first reaction is suspicion. "What's the catch?" This story is a sober warning to all who would interpret the kindness of God through the dark lens of their own corrupt hearts.
The Text
Now it happened afterwards, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. So David said, “I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed lovingkindness to me.” So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the sons of Ammon to Hanun to comfort him. But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, “In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?” So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. Then certain persons went and told David about the men. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly dishonored. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”
(1 Chronicles 19:1-5 LSB)
The King's Covenant Kindness (v. 1-2)
The story begins with an act of royal grace.
"Now it happened afterwards, that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon died, and his son became king in his place. So David said, 'I will show lovingkindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, because his father showed lovingkindness to me.' So David sent messengers to comfort him concerning his father." (1 Chronicles 19:1-2)
David, now established as king, remembers a kindness shown to him by Nahash the Ammonite. We are not told the specifics of this kindness, but it likely occurred during David's years as a fugitive from Saul. In that desperate time, a foreign king showed him some favor. Now, years later, David has the opportunity to reciprocate. The word he uses is crucial: "lovingkindness." This is the Hebrew word hesed. It is a covenant word. It means loyal love, steadfast faithfulness, mercy that is rooted in a promise or a relationship. This is the word that describes God's fundamental disposition toward His people. David, as God's anointed, is acting like his God. He is demonstrating the character of the kingdom he represents.
This is not a political calculation. It is a personal, covenantal act. David is not trying to annex Ammon; he is sending a condolence card. He sends official messengers to comfort Hanun, the new king, in his grief. This is how secure, righteous kingdoms operate. They are not driven by paranoia and grasping ambition, but by honor and faithfulness. David is extending the peace of his kingdom, a peace rooted in the grace of God, to a pagan neighbor. He is being a good neighbor, a good king, and a reflection of the God who shows kindness to the just and the unjust.
The Counsel of Cynics (v. 3)
But this pure motive runs headlong into a brick wall of suspicion.
"But the princes of the sons of Ammon said to Hanun, 'In your eyes, is David honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? Have not his servants come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?'" (1 Chronicles 19:3)
Here we see the poison of the cynical worldview. Hanun is surrounded by foolish counselors. Their first instinct is to deconstruct David's motives. They cannot imagine that an act of kindness could be just that: an act of kindness. Because their own hearts are full of intrigue and treachery, they assume David's must be as well. They project their own wickedness onto him. They ask, "In your eyes, is David honoring your father?" This is the language of suspicion. It means, "Are you really so naive? Do you really believe this is about honor? It's a trick. It's a Trojan horse."
This is the essence of paranoia. It cannot receive a gift as a gift. It must always look for the angle, the hidden agenda, the conspiracy. These Ammonite princes think they are being clever and discerning, but they are being fools of the highest order. Their presupposition is that the world is a closed system of power plays, and so they interpret every action through that grid. They are blind to the possibility of grace. This is precisely how the unregenerate mind works. It cannot comprehend the gospel of free grace. It hears "repent and believe" and thinks there must be a catch. It hears "God so loved the world" and suspects a divine scam. The foolishness of these princes is the same foolishness that looks at the cross and sees only weakness and failure.
Calculated Contempt (v. 4)
Tragically, the weak king Hanun listens to his wicked counselors. The result is an act of calculated, outrageous contempt.
"So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved them and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away." (1 Chronicles 19:4)
We must not read this as a silly prank. This was a profound and deliberate act of national insult, designed to inflict the maximum possible shame. In the ancient world, a man's beard was his glory, a sign of his masculinity, his maturity, and his honor. To have it forcibly shaved was a mark of utter humiliation, treating a free man like a slave or a child. But they didn't stop there. They cut their garments off at the hips, exposing their nakedness. These men were ambassadors, the personal representatives of King David. To dishonor them in this way was to declare utter contempt for David himself, for his kingdom, and for his God.
This was not just an insult; it was a non-verbal declaration of war. It was spitting in the king's face. The Ammonites, in their paranoid folly, have taken an offer of peace and twisted it into a cause for their own destruction. This is what sin does. It takes the good gifts of God and profanes them. It takes the honorable and treats it with contempt. Our modern world is engaged in a similar project, seeking to shave the glory of manhood, to blur the distinctions of creation, and to mock the honor due to God's established order. The spirit of the Ammonites is alive and well, and it always leads to shame and ruin.
A King Who Covers Shame (v. 5)
The shamed messengers make their way back, and the news reaches David. His response is telling.
"Then certain persons went and told David about the men. And he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly dishonored. And the king said, 'Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.'" (1 Chronicles 19:5)
Notice David's heart here. He doesn't rebuke his men for failing in their mission. He doesn't minimize their humiliation. He feels their shame with them: "the men were greatly dishonored." As their king, their head, the insult to them was an insult to him. Their shame was his shame. And so he acts with pastoral wisdom and kingly care.
He tells them to wait at Jericho. Jericho was the first city conquered when Israel entered the land; it was a border town. He is telling them to stay on the outskirts, away from the capital city of Jerusalem, until their beards, the sign of their honor, had grown back. He did not want them to endure the further shame of walking through the capital in their disgrace. He provided a place of refuge for them to heal and recover their dignity. He covered their shame.
This is a beautiful picture of our King, the Lord Jesus. We are His messengers, sent into a hostile world with the good news of His kingdom. And the world often responds with contempt. It mocks us, shames us, and seeks to strip us of our dignity. We are made a spectacle. But our King is not ashamed to call us brethren. He meets us in our humiliation. He takes our shame upon Himself. He provides a place of refuge for us, in His church, at His table, where our honor can be restored. He doesn't expose us; He covers us with His own righteousness. While the world heaps shame upon us, our King bestows honor.
Conclusion: Rejecting the King's Kindness
This incident in the life of David is a microcosm of a much larger story. God the Father, the great King, sent messengers to His people for centuries. He sent the prophets, bearing the covenant offer of His hesed. And how did the world respond? They beat some, they stoned others, and they killed still more. They treated the King's messengers with contempt.
Finally, as Jesus tells the parable, the owner of the vineyard said, "They will respect my son." So God sent His only Son, the ultimate ambassador of His lovingkindness. And what did the world do? They took Him, stripped Him, mocked Him, shaved Him with a crown of thorns, and hung Him up in ultimate public shame to die. They rejected the King's kindness in the most absolute way possible.
The Ammonites' foolish paranoia led them to war and eventual defeat. The world's rejection of Christ leads to a far greater judgment. To receive the King's messengers with suspicion is folly. To reject them with contempt is suicide. For the King whose kindness is spurned is also a mighty warrior. David went to war with Ammon and subdued them. And the Lord Jesus, who endured the shame for us, has been raised in glory and will return to judge all those who rejected His grace.
The offer of hesed still stands. God sends us, His church, as His messengers, proclaiming the good news that through the shame of the cross, there is honor, and through the death of the Son, there is life. The wise will receive this kindness with gratitude. The cynical and the foolish will mock it, to their everlasting ruin. The question for every person is simple. When the King sends His messengers to you with an offer of peace, will you be a son of David, or a son of Ammon?