2 Samuel 23:18-23 - Developing a great attitude

In our previous discussion, we saw how three of David’s thirty broke through the enemy line just to fetch the water from the well of Bethlehem. They brought water from that well to David at great peril to their lives. Theirs was a sacrifice so great that the king felt that he did not deserve such honor, so he refused to drink it. Verses 18-23 revealed two of their names. They were Abishai and Benaiah.

What is so special about the two men? Abishai as we know was the brother of Joab. Unlike his brother, he was more controlled and measured. He rescued David who was old and was almost killed by the giant Ishi-benob. From that point on he advised David not to go out with them for war. He was said to have killed three hundred in a battle with just a spear in his hand. The second person was Benaiah, who had done several deeds of great courage in the face of dangers. His outstanding deeds were: (1) he smote and got rid of two of Moab’s best men; (2) he faced and killed a lion in the pit on a snowy day; and (3) armed with a club, he overcame a remarkable Egyptian and killed him with his own spear. As a reward for his great deeds, David made him the captain of his bodyguards.         

Though the name of the third hero was not mentioned, Joab was possibly the man. On several occasions, he was known to have taken matters into his own hand to a point of being defiant toward David. David kept him so long also because he possessed the secret of Uriah’s death. For he was the one who executed David’s order to place Uriah at the battlefront to have him killed by the enemy. Joab was a ruthless man who had treacherously killed Abner and Amasa, two commanders whom David was counting on to help him establish his kingdom. But their lives were cut short by Joab ruthlessly. Joab was also responsible for the death of Absalom despite David’s plea with him to deal kindly with him. All of these acts made David wary of him.

 

One phrase that occurred twice tells us something about Abishai and Benaiah. In verse 19 and verse 23, it was said that they both were honored among the thirty, but did not attain to the three. In other words, they did not attain the status of the first three described earlier, namely Josheb-basshebeth, Eleazar the Ahohite, and Shammah. Though they were not put among the first three, they did not complain or lament that they were not honored as them. And unlike Joab who schemed to make something for himself, these two chose to remain serving David faithfully. They were men who were not driven by position but were contented with their place and position. They were simply glad to have a place to serve. Like them, are we contented to serve God where we are? Emulating them we must refuse to be envious with what others may be given. We must remain faithful in exercising the gift we are endowed with by serving God faithfully and diligently. What an excellent attitude to emulate!

2 Samuel 23:13-17 - Stewardship par excellence

The account we are reading in these verses describe another outstanding thing another three of David’s thirty men did for him. This took place when David and his men were encountering the Philistines. He was taking a temporary sanctuary in a cave in Adullam. Here he was thinking about the water from the well in Bethlehem that he was accustomed to when he was a youth. He thought aloud wishing for a drink from that well. For these three who overheard what he said, it was an opportunity to make his wish come through. So they broke through the camp of the Philistines which were occupying Bethlehem and managed to get the water from that well for their king. What loyalty! Every leader, we can be sure, would wish for men who are loyal and fearless. Men who would take great risks to accomplish a mission just to honor their leader.

However, when the three brought back the water for David, he refused to drink it. For how could he drink something that his men had put their lives at risk, just to secure the water for him? To David what truly matters was their well-being. He felt overwhelmed that they had put their lives in extreme danger just to satisfy his need. David was not rejecting the effort they had made. To him, this was a sacrifice made with a price too great, with a motive too high and a love so great that only God deserved. So he refused to drink the water but instead offered it to the Lord.

This is stewardship par excellence. And this is the kind of stewardship that God deserves and the kind that He expects of us. If David’s three would rise to that level to serve a human king, how much more should we rise to that level of stewardship as we serve the King of kings. Jesus our Lord deserves the equivalent of such acts and much more. It is needful that a steward is found faithful. And such stewards we must be. Christ Jesus offered His best to serve us and shouldn’t we give our best to serve Him in return? Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:15 reminds us that “He (Christ) died for all, so that (we) who live might no longer live for (ourselves) themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on (our) behalf.” The only kind of stewardship the Lord deserves should be nothing short of  100 percent of the very best that we can bring to Him. Amen!

2 Samuel 23:8-12 – Courage, tenacity and steadfastness

David had a group of mighty men who had fought with him and helped him to gain the throne and captured Zion. They are listed here in 2 Samuel 23:8-39. These men were known as David’s mighty men and had commonly been called David’s thirty chiefs or simply the thirty. Verses 8-12 list for us three prominent ones. They were known as “The Three”. They deserved a special mention because of the extra-ordinary feats they had accomplished.

The first, to be mentioned here was Josheb-basshebeth who was also known as Adino the Eznite. He was a man of great capacity. In one of his encounters with the enemies, he was purported to have killed 800 men with a spear in his hand. It’s hard to imagine how one person could fight and overcome 800 but he did. He was truly a person of great capacity.   

The second to be mentioned was Eleazar the Ahohite. He was a man of great tenacity. In one battle he simply refused to retreat but fought so hard that it was said that his sword literary clung to his weary hand. The other men only appeared after the danger was over to strip the enemy corpses of their spoils.  

The third was Shammah the Hararite. Verses 11-12 tell us that in one battle with the Philistines in “a plot of ground full of lentils”, when all the men of Israel had retreated, he stood and fought the enemies alone.

‘The Three’ speaks of unique courage and tenacity. And they were also bold and steadfast. These are the essential qualities of people whom God had endowed with a singleness of purpose. One thing that must be said is that these were only the vessels whom God used to help David. But the reason they were successful was because of God. According to verse 12, “the Lord brought about a great victory.”

Yes, we need courage, tenacity, and steadfastness in our spiritual battles,  but we must never forget that the greatest source for victory is to have the Lord fighting for and with us. Let us be sure to remain steadfast, immovable and abound in God’s Work, and experience the victory that He will bring. All glory to God!

 

 

2 Samuel 23:1-7 - Grace and glory

The opening verse of this song says that it contains David’s last words. But we know that these were not the last words of David. For 1 Kings 2:1-9 tell us that in his dying moment he gave clear instructions to Solomon on what he wanted him to do when he was gone. So how could 2 Samuel 23:1-7 be the last words of David? These verses were probably the last prophetic words that David had spoken concerning the future, which were inspired by God.

 David began by talking about himself and his humble beginning. He was the son of Jesse, the shepherd boy whom God had taken, from looking after sheep to shepherd His people. He saw himself as the anointed of God. David was also a Psalmist who had written some seventy over psalms. Each of David’s psalm was written under divine influence. Here in verse 2 he particularly asserted that “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue.” In other words, what he had spoken was God’s words.

The words were prophetic in that they alluded to Jesus Christ the Messiah. He foretold of the Messianic King who would rule men in righteousness and would rule with the fear of the Lord. He spoke of the coming of the Messiah as the coming of “the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth through sunshine after rain”. The Messiah would bring salvation, deliverance, a new and refreshed era of growth, and ultimate stability. As God had promised him so David confidently declared that the Messiah would come through his line. The last two verses of this song show the contrast to worthless men who would be sent into judgment. Like thorns, they would be removed and fed to the judgment of fire.

Our lessons from these verses can be summed up in two words: grace and glory. David was raised from a humble status by the grace of God. He was only a shepherd boy, but the difference was when God chose him and made something beautiful out of his life. All these happen through the gracious act of God. Like him, we once were lost but God’s grace found us. The status we have in God now and the person we will potentially become, happen when we depend on His grace. None of us has anything to commend ourselves to Him. It has always been His grace, a grace that looked beyond our faults and saw our needs. And because of the grace showered on us, like David, we can now anticipate a glorious future – a life walking in the fullness of His plan. Praise the Lord!

 

 

2 Samuel 22:36-52 – Working in synchronization with God

In 2 Samuel 22, we see how David started by praising and adoring God, then continued to assert that God fought with and for him because he chose to walk uprightly. In this final segment from verses 36-52, we cannot but see David’s emphasis that it was God who had enabled him to secure all his victories.

Here he re-counted how everything worked out for him. He was empowered to gain victory in all his battles. That was God’s part, but there was also David’s part. He collaborated and acted in sync with God.  Every victory that David had gained was God working through him.

As we reflect on these seventeen verses, we will realize that what happened to David can also be true of us. If we are to be victorious in life, we need to work in partnership with God. As we team up with God, stay confident in Him. We can gain victory in all battles in life.  

In the last six verses of 2 Samuel 22, David ended with where he began. He raised his praise to God again. He affirmed that the victories he had experienced came because God had been the Rock of His life. Like David let us work in sync with God. As we obey His word and keep in step with Him, victory shall be sure!

2 Samuel 22:21-35 – The Lord blesses the upright

In the first 20 verses of 2 Samuel 22, David first praised the Lord and saw Him as his mighty defender and shield. God’s protection was upon him as he encountered his enemies. David narrated how he came face to face with death and yet came out unscathed. Because his voice went up to the Lord who then delivered him from what seemed like certain death. In verses 1-20, we saw how God in all His sovereign power was waiting to come to the rescue of His own. Like David let us be reminded that God is just one prayer away. Remember, a simple call for help from the Almighty will trigger His assistance. Our prolonged distress is often due to our failure to call upon Him.

In the next segment of 2 Samuel 22, starting from verses 21-35, David felt that God came to his help because he had acted righteously and asserted that God rewards righteousness. This, of course, was shown in how he dealt with King Saul. Though he had several opportunities where he could finish him off, yet he refused to touch the Lord’s anointed. Hence, he was sure that his victory was secured because had acted rightly and was in right standing with God. He did not do anything that would prevent God from intervening on his behalf. As he remained in right standing with God, he found out that God turned what seemed like darkness into light. This set for us an example that we should actively pursue the path of righteousness too so that we will inherit God’s blessings. Isn’t this what Jesus our Lord also calls us to do? He said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.” It behooves us therefore to seek His reign over our lives, and also to go after His righteous standard in our living. 

In verses 22–35, David shows us the need to live uprightly. God sees everything concerning us. Nothing we do will ever escape His sight. His eyes, according to Psalm 34:15, are “toward the righteous and His ears are open to their cry”. David shows us plainly the necessity to live rightly by acting rightly. We must learn to rely on God and continue to live uprightly no matter how people may treat us. God will never allow us to be pressed beyond what we can bear. He will come to our rescue. He is a faithful God and we can trust Him!

2 Samuel 22:1-20 – Building a deep relationship with God

What we read in 2 Samuel 22 is almost the same as Psalm 18 with very few variations between the two. Both the beginning verses in 2 Samuel 22 and the title of Psalm 18 tell us why David praised the LORD so spontaneously. God not only rescued him from the hand of Saul but also from the hand of all his enemies. Having experienced the abundant deliverance of God, David could not cease praising the Almighty.

Terms such as rock, fortress, deliverer, refuge, shield, horn, stronghold, and savior, bring to our mind a sense of reliability. God is reliable. Like David, we must have Him as the foundation in our lives to be able to stand unmovable in the day of adversity. With Him in one’s life, one will be indestructible, no matter how tough the circumstances one may encounter in life. The many times the personal pronoun “my” is used, speak of the personal and intimate relationship David had with God. And if we are to experience the same level of security David had in life, we also need to cultivate such a personal and intimate relationship with God. Such a relationship will enable us to stay strong and praise the LORD regardless of the magnitude of the storm in life we may encounter. 

In verses 5-6, David described the extent of his troubles. He was surrounded by the ungodly and came face to face with death. The grave seemed imminent. Emotionally he was at his lowest ebb. He felt drained and was filled with sorrow and fear. Many of us probably had all been to that place before. Some of us may be at this place now. Here we can learn from David what to do. In his distress, he lifted his prayer to God and was heard by the Almighty. So like him, we too can lift our cry to the Almighty and know that He will come to our rescue.   

 In highly dramatized language, verses 8-20 David narrated how God had heard his prayer and came to his rescue. God’s fierce anger was seen in the earthquake and the storm. And in a very graphic way, David used the forces of nature to describe the wrath of God shown against his enemies. In narrating how God came to his rescue, David had become God’s instrument to tell us that God will also move heaven and earth to answer the cry of help we will make to Him. Like David, if we are to experience God’s deliverance and to be able to stand openly to praise Him, we must love Him, and totally trust and rely on Him.

Like David, God must be our constant stay, so that in whatever trial we may currently be battling, we know we have a reliable God to lean on. He wants to deliver us so that we can stand firm and praise His name openly. How solidly we can stand in the face of the fierce trials of life will be determined by how we build our relationship with Him. The deeper our root in Him is, the more stable will life be. We can be like a tree planted by the streams of water, whose leaves will not wither and will yield its fruit in its season. Do we really know this Mighty God so intimately?!