Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

region between the Euphrates river and the Mediterranean Sea
joined with the Ammonites to crush Israel.
The Hebrews did not wait for the invasion. Under Joab they
advanced toward the Ammonite capital. The united forces of the
enemy were overcome in the first battle, but the next year they
renewed the war. David, knowing how much depended upon the
result of this conflict, went onto the battlefield himself, and by the
blessing of God inflicted a defeat so disastrous that the Syrians,
from Lebanon to the Euphrates, not only gave up the war--they also
became subject to Israel.
The dangers that threatened the nation with destruction proved
to be the means by which it rose to greatness. Commemorating his
deliverance, David sang:
Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. It
is God who avenges me, And subdues the peoples under me; He
delivers me from my enemies. Psalm 18:46-48
Throughout the songs of David, the thought was impressed on
his people that Jehovah was their strength and deliverer:
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; But we will
remember the name of the Lord our God. Psalm 20:7
The kingdom of Israel had now reached the full extent of what
God had promised to Abraham: "To your descendants I have given
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