11/10/2010 8:50:58 AM
SPIRITUAL DIARY
My
Worship Time Focus: Two special “mighty men”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: 2Sam.23:18-23; 1Chron. 11:20-25
Message of the verses: “18
Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah was chief of the Three. He
raised his spear against three hundred men, whom he killed, and so he became as
famous as the Three. 19 Was he not held
in greater honor than the Three? He became their commander, even though he was
not included among them. 20 Benaiah son
of Jehoiada was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, who performed great exploits.
He struck down two of Moab’s best men. He also went down into a pit on a snowy
day and killed a lion. 21 And he struck
down a huge Egyptian. Although the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, Benaiah
went against him with a club. He snatched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand
and killed him with his own spear. 22
Such were the exploits of Benaiah son of Jehoiada; he too was as famous
as the three mighty men. 23 He was held
in greater honor than any of the Thirty, but he was not included among the
Three. And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.”
“20 As for Abshai the brother of Joab, he was
chief of the thirty, and he swung his spear against three hundred and killed
them; and he had a name as well as the thirty. 21 Of the three in the second rank he was the
most honored and became their commander; however, he did not attain to the
first three. 22 Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck down the
two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion inside a pit on
a snowy day. 23 He killed an Egyptian, a
man of great stature five cubits tall. Now in the Egyptian’s hand was a spear
like a weaver’s beam, but he went down to him with a club and snatched the
spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with his own spear. 24 These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did,
and had a name as well as the three mighty men. 25 Behold, he was honored among the thirty, but
he did not attain to the three; and David appointed him over his guard.”
There
are some good things here reported about Abishai as to how many men he killed
and that he was as famous as the three mighty men even though he was not one of
them, and in other parts of the Scripture Abishai is seen as kind of a
hotheaded man who wanted to kill Saul but was stopped by David. He killed Abner which made David very upset,
and there are some other things that he did that were not the best. Abishai was the nephew of David and the
brother of Joab and all in all was loyal to David.
Benaiah
was a priest who became a soldier, and he is the only priest to become a
soldier mentioned in the Bible. He did a
difficult thing in killing a lion that was in a pit on a snowy day and all of
these things made it difficult for him and yet he did it anyway. He was loyal to the house of David and
supported Solomon when Joab supported Adonijah and actually wanted to make him
king instead of Solomon. Benaiah ended
up killing Joab fulfilling the wishes of David, for David knew that Joab would
not be good for his young son Solomon.
Solomon made Benaiah the head of his army and his son Jehoiada became a
counselor for King Solomon replacing Ahithophel.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I think that one of the main differences
between Benaiah and either Joab or Abishai was that they did not follow their
leader wholeheartedly as Benaiah did.
There are times when the one who is my leader seems like he is making a
mistake and then it is up to me to suggest a different plan, but if he rejects
it then it is up to me to support him in what he wants to do to the glory of
God.
My
Steps of Faith for Today:
1. Trust
the Lord to direct my path today.
2. Trust
the Lord to give me the grace to follow the leaders he has put over me.
3. Put
on my spiritual armor to the glory of God.
4. Give
myself to the Lord for worship and service.
11/10/2010 9:40:50 AM
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