So David grew greater and greater: for the LORD of hosts was with him.
All Commentaries on 1 Chronicles 11:9 Go To 1 Chronicles 11
Augustine of Hippo
AD 430
There is no doubt that human wills cannot resist the will of God, “who has done whatsoever he pleased in heaven and on earth” and who has even “done the things that are to come.” Nor can the human will prevent him from doing what he wills, seeing that even with human wills he does what he wills, when he wills to do it.… There is the case of David, whom God with happier outcome set up over the kingdom. We read of him: “And David went on growing and increasing, and the Lord of hosts was with him.” Then, shortly thereafter, it is said, “But the spirit came on Amasai, the chief among thirty, and he said, We are yours, O David, and for you, O son of Isay; peace, peace be to you, and peace to your helpers; for your God helped you.” Could Amasai have opposed the will of God, instead of doing his will, since God, through his spirit, with which Amasai was clothed, wrought in his heart that he should so will and speak and act? In like fashion, a little later on, Scripture says, “And all these men of war, well appointed to fight, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel.” Obviously, it was of their own will that these men made David king; the fact is clear and undeniable. Nevertheless, it was God, who effects in human hearts whatsoever he wills, who wrought this will in them. This is why Scripture first says, “And David went on growing and increasing, and the Lord of hosts was with him.” The Lord God, therefore, who was with David, brought these men to make him king. And how did he bring them to this? Surely it was not by binding them with any material chains. Rather, he worked within them; he seized their hearts; he drew them on by means of their own wills, which he had himself created within them. When, therefore, God wills to set up kings on earth, he holds the wills of people more in his own power than they are in the power of people themselves. And if this is so, it is surely he, and no other, who makes admonitions salutary and effects amendment in the heart of one who is admonished, with the result that he is established in the heavenly kingdom.
