X.
Chapter s 10-12 give a detailed account of David’s war with the Ammonites and their allies the Syrians, and of David’s great sin, for which this war gave the occasion. The same war has already been briefly mentioned in 2 Samuel 8:3-8; 2 Samuel 8:13-14, in the general summary of David’s reign, but is here given with more detail in connection with his sin. The same account may be found in 1 Chronicles 19:1 to 1 Chronicles 20:3, but with no mention of the sin in regard to Bath-sheba and Uriah. Up to this point the reign has been one of exemplary piety and great prosperity; henceforward it is overclouded by sin and its consequent punishment. This turning point may be nearly fixed as about the middle of David’s reign. It could not have been much later, since Solomon was born about two years after David’s adultery, and had a son a year old when he came to the throne (1 Kings 11:43, with 1 Kings 14:21); nor could it have been much earlier, since the whole narrative represents David’s chief wars and conquests as already accomplished.
This war was altogether the greatest and most critical of David’s reign, and it is not surprising that it should have been marked in song by the royal Psalmist. Psalms 60 is definitely assigned to this time by its title, which is fully confirmed by internal evidence. Psalms 44 is also supposed by some writers to have been written during this period, but 2 Samuel 10:9-16 speak of great calamities, of which we have no record at this time. Psalms 68 is also assigned by many to this period.