So Hanun [the Ammonite] seized David’s envoys, shaved them, cut off their garments at the buttocks, and sent them away.
1 Chronicles 19:4 (NIV)

Yesterday, Wendy and I purchased tickets for our annual pilgrimage to the “mother ship,” U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, to cheer on the Minnesota Vikings. We kind of enjoy being fans, having a team to root for, and riding the ups and downs that come with it. Almost every team to whom we are loyal are “good” teams who rarely break through and win “the big one.” C’est la vie.

Every one of “our” teams has an archrival. It’s the nature of sports. When Wendy and I go to the lake in the heart of Cardinals country, we get a lot of ribbing for wearing our Cubs gear. Our neighbors used to fly their Cardinals’ flag just for us. One summer we happened to be at the lake when the Cubs beat the Cardinals, so I blasted the Cubs’ victory song Go Cubs Go at full volume on our deck knowing that the water of the cove would carry the sound a long way. Rivalry is part of the fun of being a fan.

I remember years ago hearing that as the annual game against the archrival approached, a team’s coach made the players sit and watch the previous match-up which was an agonizing, humiliating defeat. The coach made the players watch it in its entirety. It motivated them to step up and they turned the tables on their rivals that year.

In ancient times, kingdoms also had rivals, but with bloody, dangerous, and life-threatening consequences. When reading through the history of the ancient Hebrews and the wars they fought to survive, the same enemy names pop up over and over and over again: Philistines, Edomites, Arameans, and Ammonites to name a few.

The author of Chronicles is scratching out his version of that history with his stylus on papyrus around 400 B.C. His generation is desperately trying to restore and rebuild the city of Jerusalem, which has been lying in rubble for decades. Their people had been scattered and taken into exile in Babylon and Assyria. At the point in time he is writing, they are history’s version of what sports would call “cellar dwellers” or “bottom feeders.” The “glory days” are far behind them.

Guess who doesn’t want to see them successfully rebuild?

It’s their rivals. In Nehemiah’s account of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, he tells of the Ammonites being among those who antagonized the Hebews and their rebuilding of the walls.

In today’s chapter, King David sends a delegation to the newly crowned prince of the Ammonites with his condolences on the death of his father, the King. It was a gesture of goodwill. Instead of accepting it, the new King shaves the heads of the Hebrew delegation (to be shaved was culturally shaming at that time) and cut their garments so the men’s butts were publicly exposed (also extremely shaming and humiliating). David responds by attacking the Ammonites and their allies, successfully defeating them.

In the quiet this morning, I considered what it must have been like for the Chronicler and his readers to read these historical accounts of the Ammonites’ antagonism and dishonor of David, and David’s victorious response. I wondered if reading about this past humiliation inspired the Chronicler and his contemporaries to be diligent in their defense of Jerusalem and their stand against their antagonistic rivals.

We mostly talk about shame in negative terms these days, and for those like me who are susceptible to shame’s toxicity, it can have devastating, negative effects on one’s heart, mind, and life. But there is also such a thing as good shame when a humiliating defeat or failure inspires me to make a positive change to ensure I never experience that humiliation, failure, or defeat again. It’s possible for a healthy memory of failure’s sting to motivate thoughts and actions that will avoid any future recurrences.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.