1 Kings 20:22-30

(22) В¶ And the prophet came to the king of Israel, and said unto him, Go, strengthen thyself, and mark, and see what thou doest: for at the return of the year the king of Syria will come up against thee. (23) And the servants of the king of Syria said unto him, Their gods are gods of the hills; therefore they were stronger than we; but let us fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. (24) And do this thing, Take the kings away, every man out of his place, and put captains in their rooms: (25) And number thee an army, like the army that thou hast lost, horse for horse, and chariot for chariot: and we will fight against them in the plain, and surely we shall be stronger than they. And he hearkened unto their voice, and did so. (26) And it came to pass at the return of the year, that Benhadad numbered the Syrians, and went up to Aphek, to fight against Israel. (27) And the children of Israel were numbered, and were all present, and went against them: and the children of Israel pitched before them like two little flocks of kids; but the Syrians filled the country. (28) And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD. (29) And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so it was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined: and the children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. (30) But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Benhadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber.

I pass over the mere history itself, to call the Reader to the spiritual lessons arising out of it. See, Reader! how confident the enemies of our God and of his Christ are: and see how the Lord, amidst all the undeservings of his people, is merciful. But, as in the case of Ahab's history, so in the history of the Lord's Israel, everything speaks the same language: Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake. Ezekiel 36:22. There is a similar gracious reason given in Moses' song. Deuteronomy 32:26.