A common criticism of God is that He seems to love war. After all, He sent David out to kill and enslave those who worshipped other Gods. On the other hands, God didn’t want a house made with hands of blood. And so, God had Solomon build Him His house. Apparently, God finds war as distasteful as we, but knows when it is necessary.
1 Chronicles 14:15-16 says:
15 And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 16 And David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer.
When I read this, I notice something interesting. God went before David to defeat the philistines. Then, David’s armies go and defeats the philistines. These appear to be separate actions, yet the same action. They are separate because God has taken a action distinct from the army to defeat the philistines… but it is the same because it’s the same …