Only by your power can we push back our enemies; only in your name can we trample our foes. I do not trust in my bow; I do not count on my sword to save me. You are the one who gives us victory over our enemies; you disgrace those who hate us. O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.[Psalm 44:5-8 (NLT)]
Some of the lesser-known heroes of the Bible are found in the lists of David’s mightiest men. Among his warriors, David’s mighty Three had the most authority, influence, and leadership. Their leader was Jashobeam, a man who once used his spear to kill 800 warriors in a single battle. Next in rank was Eleazar who remained with David in battle when the rest of the troops fled. He killed Philistines until he no longer could lift his sword. The third of the Three was Shammah. After being attacked in a field by the Philistines, the troops fled. Shammah alone remained to defend it and bring victory to Israel. These three were so devoted to David that, when he expressed a desire for fresh water from Bethlehem, they risked their lives to break through enemy lines to get some for him. David’s Three were among the best of the best when it came to valor, courage, and allegiance.
David also had an elite group of about thirty warriors. The mighty men of the Thirty helped David establish his kingdom and served as commanders for the rest of his troops. As famous as the Three was Abishai. Leader of the Thirty, he once killed 300 of the enemy in a single battle!
Described by Samuel as being more honored than any of the Thirty was Benaiah (son of Jehoiada). Among his feats was the killing of two ariels from Moab. The meaning of ariels is unclear and, while it could mean two lion-like oversize warriors like Goliath, it also could be a description of the lion-like ferociousness and strength of his opponents. In either case, alone and outnumbered two to one, the odds were against Benaiah, but he bravely defied the odds, and killed those lion-like warriors. Another time, upon encountering a lion, Benaiah accessed the situation and spotted a pit. Instead of turning tail and fleeing, the warrior turned toward the lion, chased it down into the pit, and killed it. Later, armed only with a club, he killed an impressive-looking Egyptian warrior bearing a spear. At a disadvantage since his clumsy club was useful only in close-up battle and the Egyptian’s spear was long, Benaiah ran toward his enemy, wrenched the spear from his hands, and killed him with his own weapon (much as David did with Goliath)!
Although we’re not likely to face great warriors or lions, we often encounter a number of what often seem to be unbeatable odds or invincible adversaries. Our first reaction to overwhelming challenges easily can be to abandon the cause and accept defeat without even trying. That’s what the troops did when they left David, Eleazar, and Shammah to fight the Philistines alone!
Warriors like David, Jashobeam, Eleazar, Shammah, Abishai, and Benaiah knew how to face both danger and adversaries. Instead of being paralyzed by fear or fleeing, these men faced each challenge head-on. What made these warriors so mighty? It wasn’t their bravery, strength, and prowess on the battlefield that made them that way; their might came from their knowledge of and faith in the Lord! They had courage, power, and steadfastness because they knew they weren’t fighting their battles alone; God was with them!
Could we be missing God-ordained opportunities because we only see insurmountable obstacles, invincible opponents, or fierce lions? It’s easy to let fear discourage and even paralyze us. Doing nothing, however, gets us nowhere. When the odds are against us, let’s think of these mighty men, trust in God, and give chase to the lions in our life!
Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have. [Norman Vincent Peale]
When writing about forgiveness these last few days, I wondered why we find it so difficult to forgive. Perhaps it’s because, in our troubled hearts, we want to even the score before doing so. Wanting to retaliate in some way, bitterness and resentment grow and eat at us until we can extract our pound of flesh.
When Moravian missionaries first arrived in the Arctic, they found no single word in the Inuktitut language for forgiveness. That doesn’t mean the Inuit people didn’t let go of past wrongs, just that they didn’t have a single world for doing so. Since forgiveness is an essential concept in Christianity, the missionaries wanted a single word that captured the kind of forgiveness found in Psalm 103. Using Inuktitut words, they came up issumagijoujungnainermik meaning “not-being-able-to-think-about-it-anymore.” This 24-letter multi-syllable word beautifully describes the God who will “cast all our sins into the depths of the sea” [Micah 7:19], who vows to “forgive their iniquity, and…remember their sin no more,” [Jeremiah 31:34], and who promises to blot out our transgressions and not remember our sins.[Isaiah 43:25]
Built by her husband’s grandfather in the 1920s, my friend’s house was filled with much of the original furniture. Many pieces (like the restored grand piano) were valuable antiques but decades of use had taken their toll on others. Although the beautiful little mahogany side chair looked solid, a note saying “Broken—do not use” rested on it. Pretty as it was, the chair was useless and an invitation to disaster. Should the warning go unnoticed, some unknowing person could end up sprawled on the floor surrounded by splintered wood.
Thousands of years ago, God told Noah to build a boat the height of a four-story house, the length of one-and-a-half football fields, and with the storage capacity of about 450 semi-trailers. Without benefit of Home Depot or power tools, he managed to do it. What would happen if God gave Noah those same instructions today?
In my last post, I pondered why Jesus chose the men he did as his apostles. As we enter Holy Week and the events leading to the Lord’s arrest and crucifixion, I wonder specifically about Judas Iscariot. We don’t know what Jesus saw in Judas when he was chosen as one of the twelve or even what was in Judas’ heart in the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. We only know that discontent, ambition, and greed had entered his treacherous heart by the end.
Devotions of the Heart 