And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead. Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And Davids servants came into the land of the children of Ammon. And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it? Wherefore Hanun took Davids servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away. When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return. [2 Samuel 10:1-5]

David resolved to reciprocate kindness unto Hanun, because when Nahash his father was alive, he showed kindness unto him. David therefore sent his trusted servants to comfort him on the death of his father. But Hanun dealt cruelly with the servants of David. He did two things to these servants, which is worth considering:

- The first one is – He shaved off one half of their beards,
- Secondly – He cut their garments to the buttocks, exposing their nakedness, and sent them away.

David, on hearing this, strangely, did not sympathize with his servants. Instead, he insisted they remain at Jericho "UNTIL their beards be grown". Only then could they return to appear in the presence of the king as at aforetime. The question is, "Why is the King so particular about the beards of his servants?"

Whatsoever is written in the Old Testament, is not just stories or history lessons, it is rather for our learning and admonition so that we can be encouraged, know the Lord, and love Him more through its instructions (Romans 15:4). Hence, there is instruction here for our spirits, our hearts and for our lives today.


…And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants…

David sent his servants and confidants who dwelt continually in his presence. These were men the king trusted. They were his ambassadors. They go on behalf of the King and represent him always. In the same vein, we Christians are the representatives of the King of kings. Whatever God wants to do, He beckons on us to go for Him since He can trust us. We dwell daily in His presence and attend to Him. We are His voice.

As Davids servants assignment was to go and comfort the bereaved, so also, our ministry is to comfort the brokenhearted, bring hope to a dying world, shine the light of Jesus in the midst of darkness, and draw men out of perdition into the grace of God.


Hanun...shaved off one half of their beards,...cut off their garments...in the middle, ...to their buttocks...

These servants of David were humiliated, their nakedness was exposed, their bears were shaved, and they were sent away shamefully. But the reaction of David here to the shaving of his servants beards speaks volumes about how God reacts when His trusted servants are shaved of their beards of grace…


David… sent to meet them, and …said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return…

The usual expectation is that David should send beautiful garments to cover his servants, and send the presidential jet to recover them. But instead, he seemed to say, "I have nothing to do with you anymore, because your beard is shaved. Your beard, the symbol of your connection with me, is shaved, hence, you cannot stand before me, regardless of your portfolio. Beardless men have no space in my court, they are naked. Unless your beard grows back, you will NOT see my face… Your beard is the symbol of authority, beauty, maturity, and sign of perpetual fellowship with me. It is the only thing that grants you access to the king, and YOU HAVE LOST IT…". No man can appear before the king with his beard shaved.

Two humiliating things were done to the servants of the king, but David was only concerned about one. Why? As far as the king is concerned, the garment that is cut to the buttocks can easily be replaced in no time and at little cost, but the beard, it takes GOD ALONE to grow it… The garment can easily be copied, but the beard is what shows who you really are. The garment can easily be sewn and compromised, but the beard cannot be faked, it is a true sign of maturity and manliness. The garment is external and anybody can buy it, but beard grows from within, even riches cannot buy it. Garment is easy to come by, but nobody can grow beard, expect he is first, A MAN, and he has GROWN…

Today, people are more concerned about the garment that is cut to the buttocks. We are quick to cover our exposed nakedness because to us, that is what men see, that is what shows that "I am naked". We feel that if people see my half-shaved beards, they can think it is a new style, since I am not the only culprit. That is the doom of today!!!. Men in ungodliness but relaxing because they have got company… Gods verdict today is, "Remain at Jericho until your beards be grown".

Beard in those days used to be elaborate. Men kept and nurtured them for years till it grew. It was easy to differentiate men from boys. You could tell who the DEVOTEES OF THE KING were from ordinary laymen by their beards. David expected his men to have protected their beards jealously from being shaved. He would have honoured them even if they fought to death just to protect their beards. It were better to die than to live a life of void of grace. It were better to die a martyr than compromise and lose Gods presence while still alive. As far as David was concerned, the only thing that qualified these men to stand in his presence, WAS THEIR BEARD. The beard was a sign of MANLINESS. It was a sign of commitment to the king, a seal of their loyalty and fellowship, a signet of authority and confidence to access the king. Without the beard, you could not meet him. It was the basis of fellowship with the king. No reason was justifiable for any of the servants of the King to allow his beards to be shaved, even on the face of death...

For a Christian who has been in Gods presence, loved God, walked with Him, and has grown his bears elaborately, if such person suddenly falls into sin and compromise and gets his bears shaved and garment torn to the buttocks, instead of him to find his way back to the cross by TARRYING in Gods presence UNTIL HIS BEARS GROW BACK, you suddenly find one who is more concerned about his garment than the bear. He is concerned about how men see him much more than what God sees. He begins to organize cover-ups to sew his garment of shame quickly caring less about the beards that cannot be put together easily. Many avoid sin, not because God hates it, but because their reputation and fame before men would be tarnished. They dread the shame before men rather than the value of their relationship with God.

Men love applause and admiration, hence, want to appear glorious and godly outside irrespective of what heaven sees of them in secret. Woe unto the man whom the world flatters, but heaven keeps afar off.

God is more interested, not just in your external displays - anybody can achieve that without stress - but in your beard. No man can grow his beards in few days, weeks or months. It takes time. It is not easy to grow the beard, but within seconds of carelessness and presumption, the bears you have grown for years could be gone, and it cannot be fixed back by human skills, new ones need to be grown again and that takes time.

Have you been in Gods presence for many days?, your inner man has waxed stronger, and you are becoming tender like Jesus, your beards are steadily growing, be careful of scissors of sin and compromise, they are very effective in shaving your beards and slashing your garments to the buttocks. Many are quicker in putting back their garments, than growing back their beards. They would quickly cover up their shame before men, and repent superficially. They would sew beautiful garments for their buttocks, and leave the most important beard - unattended to. They would not tarry before the Lord for complete restoration. For admission back into Gods presence, you need to tarry in tears at Jericho. The beard is the symbol of your depth of with God, not your garment. What men see outside is the garment but God is not looking at your garment, He is looking at the strength of your inner man.


Tarry at Jericho…

Friend, are you covering up your nakedness before man, without thinking about your true nakedness - your shaved beard and smooth chin. Are you covering up with some garments of religion, garments of churchianity, garments of church portfolio, church attendance, church activities, humanitarian services, philantropism, moral goodness, external sanctimony, good outward dressing… whereas, the beard of grace, holiness, joy of the Lord, sweet daily communion and fellowship with Jesus has been shaved? You cannot grow your beards with your own power, it is only grown by God in His presence. What God demands, is not what you can do by multiple efforts, ONLY God in his infinite mercy must grow in you needed beards of grace as far as you are able to tarry in dust and ashes in his presence.


THE WEIGHT OF YOUR LIFE WITH GOD IS NOT MEASURED BY THE SCALE OF MEN OR EXTERNAL DISPLAYS. IF THE BEARD OF GRACE HAS BEEN SHAVED OFF YOU DUE TO PRESUMPTION, GOD DEMANDS YOU TARRY AT JERICHO FOR RESTORATION AND FRESHNESS UNTIL GRACE RETURNS AND HEAVEN SMILES AT YOU.