2 Samuel 8:9

 2 Samuel 8:9 says, When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had smitten all the host of Hadadezer,  Verse ten adds, Then Toi sent Joram his son unto king David, to salute him, and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer, and smitten him: for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. And Joram brought with him vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and vessels of brass:  After Toi, king if Hamath, heard about David defeating all the army of Hadadezer, he sent his son Joram to David with gifts of vessels of silver, gold and brass,  This was in part because Hadadezer had been at war with Toi.  Since God through Jesus's sacrifice of Himself on the cross for our sins has defeated all our enemies as long as we accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord and live by faith in Him, we should give to God all that we have.  Verse eleven continues, Which also king David did dedicate unto the LORD, with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued;  David dedicated all these gifts to God, since God was really the One responsible for David’s victory.  I believe that since God is responsible for all our victories as Christians that we should dedicate everything that we have to Him.  Verse twelve concludes,  Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.  David had always dedicated the spoils gained by victory over his enemies to God, and so must we.  I don't believe that there should ever come a time when we think that what God blesses us with is ours to do with as we please.  Everything that we are and have should be dedicated to God.  Verse thirteen states, And David gat him a name when he returned from smiting of the Syrians in the valley of salt, being eighteen thousand men.  David became famous we would say for defeating the Syrians, who had numbered about eighteen thousand men.  We may never become famous for defeating our spiritual enemies today, but we shouldn't be doing it for our glory anyway.  We should always give God the glory for any success we have if we are living by faith in Him.  Verse fourteen adds, And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom put he garrisons, and all they of Edom became David’s servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.  David established garrisons throughout Edom, and the people of Edom became his servants.  When we defeat sin in our life today, we should establish strongholds through the power of the Holy Spirit to make sure that it never again has any power over us.  Verse fifteen continues, And David reigned over all Israel; and David executed judgment and justice unto all his people.  David now ruled over all of Israel, and he executed judgment and justice over the people of Israel under God's guidance.  We need to pray that the rulers over us today execute judgment and justice over us by God's guidance, even if we don't see it happening.  Verse sixteen says, And Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the host; and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder;  We are told that Joab was over the host, or army, and that Jehoshaphat was the recorder.  David organized his people to help the kingdom run smoothly, and we should be organized as God's people today so that we all work together to accomplish God's work.  Verse seventeen adds, And Zadok the son of Ahitub, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests; and Seraiah was the scribe;  Next, we are told who the priests and scribe were.  We may not have much control over the civil authorities today, but we certainly should appoint leaders of the church under God's guidance.  Verse eighteen continues, And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over both the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief rulers.  Matthew Henry says these were either what he called city train-bands, who were the archers and those who used slings, or they were lifeguards, a standing force to protect David himself.  Though we are told Benaiah was appointed as their leader, we are also told that David’s sons were the chief rulers of them.  Matthew Henry says this kept David’s sons close to him so he could keep an eye on them.  As Christians, we should always be close to God as He keeps His eye on us.