Thursday, May 8, 2014

The First "Three Mighty Men of David." (2 Samuel 23:8-12)


11/8/2010 8:28:52 AM

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                                        Focus:  The first “three mighty men”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                          Reference:  2Sam. 23:8-12; 1Chron. 11:10-14

 

            Message of the verses:    8 ¶  These are the names of David’s mighty men: Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter. 9  Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, 10  but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. 11  Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel’s troops fled from them. 12  But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory.”

 

            “10 ¶  Now these are the heads of the mighty men whom David had, who gave him strong support in his kingdom, together with all Israel, to make him king, according to the word of the LORD concerning Israel. 11  These constitute the list of the mighty men whom David had: Jashobeam, the son of a Hachmonite, the chief of the thirty; he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time. 12  After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighty men. 13  He was with David at Pasdammim when the Philistines were gathered together there to battle, and there was a plot of ground full of barley; and the people fled before the Philistines. 14  They took their stand in the midst of the plot and defended it, and struck down the Philistines; and the LORD saved them by a great victory.”

 

            This SD begins the second main division in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentary, and he has entitled this second main division “David the gifted leader.

            As I read the accounts of these first three mighty men that are recorded in both 2Samuel and also in 1 Chronicles I wonder how and why these men did the things that they did.  Dr. Wiersbe does give some insights into this as he writes that these men were doing this from the glory of the Lord, for the Lord had given the nation of Israel this land and they were stewards over this land and wanted to take care of it and so they wanted to fight against these enemies of Israel who were also enemies of God.  I think that another reason they fought so hard was because of the leadership that David gave as they were inspired by this leadership of David.  They knew that the Lord had covenanted with David to be king and therefore they knew that David was gifted to lead the nation of Israel and they wanted to serve him in this way.

            There are some slight differences in numbers between these accounts given in 2Samuel and 1Chronicles, but these were probably made by those who copied the manuscripts.  I don’t understand how one man killed so many men at one time, and yet times were surely different and the only way this could have happened was through the power of the Lord given to these men to do these gargantuan things for the Lord. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must admit that there are times when I struggle to write in my Spiritual Diary every day, and this is one of those times.  There are many things going on in my life at this time as we are still in Ohio waiting for that word to leave for Kauai, which was suppose to happen over a month ago.  I am having trouble dealing with the mood swings of Sandy and I am also having some physical issues that seem to come up in the fall and in the spring.

            I must say that the time of worship at First Baptist was nothing short of wonderful and the whole morning service was dedicated to the Lord’s Table and it was a great time of worshiping the Lord, remembering what He did for me to take away my sins, remembering His broken body, and the blood He shed to accomplish salvation for me and for all He has called to salvation.  Remembering that I am supposed to remember this and tell others about until He comes to take me home to ever be with Him.

            Obedience to the leaders that God has given me is something that I am reminded of from this section.  Sandy and I do not have a church home as of yet as we are waiting on the Lord to lead us in that direction.  We would probably join 1st Baptist of Elyria if we were not planning to move to Kauai, but we are still waiting on the Lord for this move.  At any rate we have the Holy Spirit living within us and the Word of God to guide us and therefore we will follow His leadership.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:

 

1.     Put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit.

2.    Trust the Lord to lead us and to guide us this day to accomplish His will for His glory and for our good.

3.    I trust the Lord to work out the details of this trip so that we will leave when and if He chooses for us to go.

4.    I trust the Lord to move deeply in the heart of Andrew Lech so that he would return the money that he owes everyone to the glory of God and to the good of all the believers.

 

11/8/2010 9:13:05 AM

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