2 Samuel 8 is a summary of David’s achievements as king to this point. It reads a little bit like a CV, when we have to list our academic and work achievements in a summarised form so that many years of work and experience can be condensed into 1 or 2 sheets of A4 paper. When we first write a CV, it can be difficult to find accomplishments or achievements to include in it, for we may not have many qualifications or have much experience. As we get older, hopefully the list gets longer, and it can then be quite difficult to summarise effectively because there is so much to include!
Summaries can be difficult as we consider what to put in and what to omit; when I write a funding application, this is a real challenge, as there is often a word count (or even a character count, counting the letters rather than words!) It can be hard to summarise or précis years of work or overflowing ideas, a skill I first learned at 6th form and could never see the point of then but use every day now! We may find chapters like this one less interesting than the tales of battle or personal interactions, but this chapter contains a whistlestop tour through David’s battles and some of the things a king has to do, and as such it gives us a useful overview. There are principles to be learned here: doing what God has commanded, following through on His orders, the role of other people in helping us to achieve what God has planned for our lives. Don’t be daunted by the unfamiliar names, but realise that all Scripture is God-breathed and can shape us for effective service. (2 Tim 3:16-17)