David’s Mighty Men

Transcript

Okay, so if you don't mind a pun to start off the class tonight, I decided that since I was on to lead the class on March 4th that it would be appropriate to do a Bible study on soldiers who marched forth into battle. So hence we'll be talking about David's mighty men tonight. About 10 years ago, I think, I did an adult Sunday school study in Meriden on David's mighty men. It probably spanned about five or six weeks, and so it was a pretty extensive study. Looked at David's mighty men really from soup to nuts. Okay, so the goal of tonight's study is to look at the account of David's mighty men, which we find in two different places. We find it in 2 Samuel, and we also find it in 1 Chronicles, and I'd like to look for lessons of discipleship for ourselves out of the experiences that we see in David's mighty men. We're going to look at the relationship of these brave warriors with their leader, David, who would soon become their king, and we're also going to look and see that there are types of the relationship of the 12 disciples with their leader, Jesus Christ. And finally, we're going to look to see that there are also types of our relationship with our leader, Jesus Christ, who will soon become king. So we're going to kind of just look at that aspect of David's mighty men tonight, the relationship that David had with these men, and how that relationship kind of mirrors what's going to happen later, a thousand years later, with the 12 disciples and their relationship with their leader, Christ. And so also then we're going to try to pull out some lessons for ourselves from these men. So first thing is that David's mighty men, I think we all know, are the men who joined up with him before he came to the throne as king of Israel. You know, they were with him during basically his whole life after that, but they came, they joined up with him before he became king. And if we know that if we look in 2 Samuel 23, verses 8 to 39, and we look in 1 Chronicles chapter 11, verses 10 to 47, we'll see the names of these men and some of the amazing feats that they accomplished. And it's interesting that 1 and 2 Samuel give us the account of really David's whole life. David appears first, I think it's in 1 Samuel chapter 16, and then he's really the main character in the rest of 1 Samuel and all through 2 Samuel. And then the list of his mighty men is included at the very end of 2 Samuel in chapter 23. And it's almost like an appendix. Sometimes I read a lot of novels and sometimes an author will write a novel and there'll be a lot of research and things like that, that he uses history, that he uses to write his novel. And at the end of the novel, he'll have like an acknowledgement section and he'll say, this is where I got this information from, or this person I relied on, you know, to provide background information and gives thanks to people and this kind of thing. And this is kind of like how this list of David's mighty men appears at the end of 2 Samuel 23. All the exploits of David have been outlined through 1 and 2 Samuel. And finally, at the end, oh, and by the way, here's a list of the men that were really key to David in all of his exploits in the history of those two books in 1 and 2 Samuel. And so it's provided to us, you know, kind of as an almost an afterthought, but it really tells us who he'd been working with behind the scenes in all his exploits in that history. So we know that David was anointed king by Samuel. And this is really the first that we hear about David in 1 Samuel 1613. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Rama. So notice the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David. That that that phrase almost reminds me of like the day of Pentecost, you know, from from Acts, the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. And so David used the spirit of the Lord almost immediately because in the very next chapter, in chapter 17 of 1 Samuel, you know, we have the record of David in his conquest over Goliath. And then we also then we know that, you know, from from history and from from the well-known account of David in 1 Samuel, we know that he falls out of favor with Saul. And so we read from 1 Samuel, chapter 22, David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adalim. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him and everyone who was in distress and everyone who was in debt and everyone who was bitter and Saul gathered to him and he became commander over them. And they were with him about 400 men. So so David, you know, at this point, he's on the run. He's in he's in the wilderness. He's he's hiding in a cave. And at this point, many people join him and become his army of loyal supporters. And at first instance, you would you would you would wonder why this happened, you know, at that point, at first glance, it's kind of curious why it happens. But when you look into it, it's not curious at all. So the first thing we notice is that the description of the men that were drawn to David were those in distress, those in debt, those bitter in soul or discontented. And really, the description of men describes mankind in general, you know, looking for someone or something to improve their lot in life. I mean, look at, you know, look at the the United States and the the political situation, what's going on in the United States right now. Every everyone on both sides of the, you know, in either party, they're all discontented. They're all looking for something to improve their lot in life. You know, a president gets elected and he's all popular and all of a sudden, you know, his approval rating, you know, is is in the toilet like, you know, Donald Trump right now. It's all so, you know, mankind in general is always discontent. Because they don't they don't have the only thing they have a hope in, you know, is their leaders and their leaders let them down. And so they have nothing to look forward to, like, you know, like we do with the truth. So so the men are the men come to David because he's the best option at that point. They're in distress, they're in debt, they're bitter, you know, they're they're just they're malcontents. And so they come to they come to David. And it's likely that these feelings at that point in time, you know, came about as a result of the nation's overall loss of respect and confidence in their King Saul, especially after the battle with Goliath. You know, Saul was Saul was the leader and and suddenly, you know, he was he was shown to be, you know, a false leader, you know, not, you know, not somebody who they could bank on, who they can count on. And so, you know, the well-known verse, the women sang to one another as they celebrated Saul has struck down his thousands and David is ten thousands. So you can see that that's why they they started flocking to David. Because David was at that point and all of a sudden jumped in and was in much higher, held in much higher esteem than Saul. But as great as David was as a leader, he didn't stand alone because surrounding him were a band of mighty men who have accomplished great feats of valor. And these mighty men were committed to David and they were committed to his cause and they were committed to his kingdom after he took the throne. And and so that the characteristics of these mighty men were similar, I believe, to those of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ. They were really a foreshadowing of the followers of the greater David to come. So when you think about we all think about types of Christ in the Old Testament and, you know, many, many brethren have given studies on different characters in the Old Testament that there are types of Christ and the some that are very, you know, very easy to recognize immediately. You know, Abraham offering Isaac, you know, his only son offering him up, you know, obviously a type of Christ, you know, and God offering up his only son. But I think if you look at if you look at all the Old Testament characters that are considered to be types of Christ, probably the one that stands out, you know, at the top of the list would be David, because David, David, you know, he was Jesus is called the son of David. So, you know, so David is is the the I guess the. Capitalized type of Christ in the in the Old Testament, because think about it, David, both David and Jesus were born in Bethlehem. David was a shepherd. Jesus was the good shepherd. David was anointed to be king. Jesus is the Messiah. David defeated the Philistines. Jesus defeated sin and death. David was a man after God's own heart. Jesus was the perfect man. David's name means beloved. Jesus was God's beloved son. And then we also see the fulfillment of the second Samuel seven prophecy in Christ. But if and if you and if you asked any, you know, brother or sister to list, you know, come off the top of the head, you know how David was a type of Christ, you'll get that that list that I gave and probably many more examples of that from from his from his life. But I think a characteristic of David not normally recognized as a type of Christ is how his mighty men are a type of the 12 disciples. To come and we're going to look at that in a little detail here. So we've got David's mighty men. And then we've got Christ's disciples. So first point, David's mighty men were attracted to David as a person. Christ's disciples were attacked, were attracted to Jesus as a person. So if we look at First Chronicles 12 verse 22, we read this for from day to day, men came to David to help him until it was a great army like an army of God. So when I when I read that, I have to think to myself that it wasn't just that they they seen, you know, him kill Goliath. He had to the had to have been something about his character that drew men to him, you know, he was a natural leader. But the must have just been something that that they saw they saw this man, David, and they said, I want to, you know, be, you know, a part of his of his mission, so to speak. And then you look at John chapter one. And when I read John chapter one, apart from, you know, all the, you know, the controversial things early in, you know, the first 10 or 20 verses of John chapter one, the second the second half of John chapter one, I always think that's one of my favorite parts of the Gospels to read, because you see how. How Jesus, his whole ministry started, and you see these men just get attracted to him and just come to him. And so John one verse 36 says, and he John looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, Behold the name of God, the two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. There was something they saw in, you know, John the Baptist was telling them that this, you know, who Jesus was, but there was something about Jesus that they just attracted these fishermen to drop everything they were doing and follow him and to tell everybody else, come follow him. It was just something that something charismatic about him that that attracted his disciples to him. So the next thing is that David's mighty men were committed to his cause and Christ's disciples also were committed to his cause. So if we look at first Chronicles 12 verse 18, you read this, Then the Spirit clothed Amosai, chief of the 30, and he said, We are yours, O David, and with you, O son of Jesse, peace, peace to you and peace to your helpers, for your God helps you. Then David received them and made them officers of his troops. So you look at that and you say, you know, when you when you see how he how he phrases, he said, We are yours, O David, and with you. It's like, you know, we're not just we're not just coming along for the ride. You know, we're committed to your cause. And so then David took him and says he made him officers of the troops. He made them, you know, part of his mighty men. And then we read similar thing in actually in John chapter six. I'm just going to go back a couple of verses in John chapter six and pick it up and pick it up in verse 56 and read it for you there. John six, verse 56 says this, Whosoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him as a living father sent me and I live because of the father. So whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, This is a hard saying. Who can listen to it? And so in verse 66 of John six, it says, After this, many of disciples turned away and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, Do you want to go away as well? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed and I've come to know you know that you are the holy one of God. So this was this was a real challenging time for the people who were listening to Jesus and the words he had to say and the words that he was speaking there. John chapter six were hard for for the common follower to grab hold of and yet see what what Peter says. He says, To whom shall we go? So basically the twelve, they were committed to his cause. They were they weren't going to be turned away because of these hard words that he had just spoken. So next, David's mighty man followed the rightful king of Israel, who was unrecognized and rejected by the nation as a whole. Similarly, Christ's disciples followed the rightful king of all nations, who was unrecognized and rejected by the world as a whole. So David's mighty men first Chronicles 11 verse 10. Now these are the chiefs of David's mighty men 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. So David's mighty men were the ones who stuck with him and helped to make him the king of all of Israel. Matthew 19, then Peter's then Peter said in reply, See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have? Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you in the new world when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So similar, similar instance here again, where David's mighty men gave him strong support. And Jesus said to his disciples when he's good, when he comes in his kingdom, they will sit on the glorious throne. Those who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. So just as David's mighty men stuck with him before he became king, after he became king, they become they became key people in his in his army. And we'll see that a little later in the class that became key people, you know, keeping the kingdom together after he had taken control as king. Next, David's mighty men were ordinary men who left their homes and ways of life to follow David. And similarly, Christ's disciples were ordinary men who left their homes and ways of life to follow Jesus. For Samuel 22, verse two, And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, everyone who was bitter and soul gathered to him, and he became commander over them. And there were with him about one hundred four hundred men. So, again, we already talked about how, you know, with the people in distress, but it wasn't, you know, it was it was not that the well known who who came to him. It was ordinary men who who came to him, who left their homes and came to him, gathered to him in the wilderness. And Christ's disciples, Matthew four, verse eighteen, While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew, his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishes of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him. So we don't we don't even know what the background was on on all twelve of the of the disciples. We know four of them were fishermen. You know, we know Matthew was a tax collector. I suspect, although I don't know, but I suspect that more than four of them were fishermen because, you know, the area around Galilee, that was that was one of the that was one of the main trades there. I remember when in 2003, Diane and I and our boys went up to to a Bible school in Newfoundland, and Newfoundland is a very remote place, very remote. The nickname of it is the Rock, because it's basically is a rock that big rocks sticking out of the ocean. And there's only really there were, you know, we said, well, you know, what what do people do up here for a living? There's only really two two things that they did up there. One of them was that they worked in the oil industry, you know, from offshore oil. And the second trade was they were fishermen. And in fact, one of the brothers that came to the Bible school right at the end of the week had come just to the end of the week as he'd been out fishing the whole week. And so that that's kind of how I see, you know, Jesus walking by the Sea of Galilee, that the main one of the main trades there was fishing. And so it's it's it's not surprising, you know, that that a good number of his of his ordinary men who became his disciples were fishermen. Next, David's mighty men were willing to share in David's unpopularity and rejection. Christ's disciples were willing to share in Jesus unpopularity and his rejection. First Chronicles 12, verse one. Now, these are the men who came to David at Ziklag while he could not move about freely because of Saul, the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. So you see, they came to him when he was kind of he was kind of bottled up by Saul. He couldn't move about freely. Yet these men came to him that they were willing to kind of go into this isolated state with him because they believed in his cause. And they they were willing to to put themselves out for this person who was being sought by Saul, who was trying to capture him and kill him. Matthew 10, 16. Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues. And you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to be a witness before them and the Gentiles. So this is when when Jesus is sending his his disciples out, you know, to to do his work. And he's not painting an easy picture for him, you know, but but they were willing to, you know, to go out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Though, you know, Jesus was warning them, you know, they were going to be, you know, they were going to be unpopular. They were going to be persecuted, dragged before governors. And yet they were willing to share in Jesus unpopularity and rejection. So next, David's mighty men were ordinary men who accomplished extraordinary feats under their leader. And Christ's disciples also were ordinary men who accomplished extraordinary feats under their leader. First Chronicles 11, verse 11, This is an account of David's mighty men. Joshua, being a hackmanite, was chief of the three. He wielded his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time. You know, when you you look at the numbers, you know, the extraordinary things that these mighty men accomplished and you just, you know, you just have to be amazed by the by the account. Wielded his spear against three hundred whom he killed at one time. We'll talk about that a little bit more in a few minutes. And Christ's disciples, same thing, Luke nine. And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons to cure diseases. And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. So, again, now you've got fishermen. You've got you've got ordinary men going out, curing, curing disease, healing, healing people. Because of the the power that was given to them, the power of the Holy Spirit given to them, ordinary men. And finally, David's mighty men were following the one who had been anointed to be king. And Christ's disciples were following the one who had been anointed to be king. So first, Samuel 16, verse 15, Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Rama. So he was anointed king to be king. And the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him. John 1, verse 40. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, We have found the Messiah, which means Christ, the anointed one. So right from the beginning, John chapter one, right from the beginning, they recognized that Jesus was the anointed one, anointed to be king. And right from the beginning, the spirit of the Lord had come upon David so that those who looked upon him could see that he was also the anointed one who would soon become king. So these men, both David's men and Christ's disciples, were mighty men because the Lord was with them. So there are there's other examples of this in scripture, all using the same Hebrew word gibor, which is translated mighty. So, for example, speaking of the restoration of Judah in Israel reads this for Zechariah 10, verse five reads this way. They shall be like mighty men in battle, trampling the foe in the mud of the streets. They shall fight because the Lord is with them, and they shall put to shame the riders on horses. So here's why you've got the connection. They're mighty men because the Lord is with them. They're not mighty men because, you know, they're 300 pound linebackers. They're mighty men because the Lord is with them. So think about it. Recall Joshua's instructions to the Israelites as they were about to enter the promised land. He said, Your wives, your little ones and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan. But all the mighty men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you. And they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. So again, it's talking about how how the Israelites, the mighty men in their army will with with God's help will help them to finally give them rest in the land. They'll take the land of the promised land. Again, mighty men connected with the Lord and his and his power on them. Is the call of Gideon. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor. So again, Gideon is called a mighty man, and the reason he's a mighty man is because the Lord is with him. So God's mighty men have one thing in common. And this I'd like you got everybody who's who's listening to open your Bibles up to the thirty third song. I'd like to make a point there that you need to be looking at it to see it. Psalm thirty three. So the Psalm thirty three verses sixteen to twenty reads this way. The king is not saved by his great army. A warrior or a mighty man, as the King James renders it, is not delivered by his great strength. Notice that a mighty man is not delivered by his great strength. The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive and famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. OK, so again, it's connecting a mighty man. To the Lord, to the to being being blessed by the Lord. Now, if you look at if you look at Psalm thirty three at the top of the sound, it's not that there's no title to this song. OK, the most many of the songs have have a title on the heading of it. So if we go back to the thirty second song, the thirty second song says a mask of David. So David wrote the thirty second song. Now, I would I would I'm going to put this up here that some thirty three is untitled, but it's likely a continuation of Psalm thirty two, a mask of David. And here's why I think that's the case. If you go to Psalm thirty two, verse eleven, here's how I'm going to read Psalm thirty two, verse eleven and then Psalm thirty three, verse one. I'll just read them together and just listen. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous and shout for joy. All you upright in heart, shout for joy in the Lord. Oh, you righteous praise befits the upright. Now, when I read that, I just I look at that and I say the thirty second song and the thirty third song are together. It's the same song. It's just an artificial break between the thirty second and thirty third. And yet the flow just continues right through it. And I think that's the case a lot of times in the Psalms where one is not there's no title on the top of it. It's because the song that preceded it is is the same song. And and here's so. So what I guess what I'm saying is I truly believe that the thirty third song is also a part of this mask of David. And why not? Because if you when you read Psalm thirty three, verses sixteen to twenty, who better to make that statement about a mighty man not delivered by his great strength? David wrote this song about his mighty men. He's recognizing that his mighty men, they were great warriors. The king is not the king. Oh, me, David, David, King David was not saved by his great army, was not saved by his mighty men, not delivered by the great strength of his mighty men. He was delivered by the Lord, who was his help and his shield. So I look at, you know, I just look at that and I say David had to have written those words because he it was his experience that he was writing about his mighty men in Psalm thirty three. OK, so now now we're going to shift gears a little bit and look at something else about David's mighty men, because there was a hierarchy in his in the mighty men. There was a first rank, the three chiefs, Jashebim, Eliezer and Shama were the names of these three men. Then there were three more who were next on the line, Abishai, Benaiah and Asahal. And then the third rank was three mighty men listed by name. If you look, if you look at the two accounts in Second Samuel 23 and First Chronicles 11, all the names aren't the same. Some and I don't really have an explanation for that, other than to say that some may have been killed in battle and replaced. Some are slightly different names. The translations are slightly different. Like, for example, Jashebim is is is is listed as with a slightly different name in the two accounts. But in any case, there was there's this kind of a hierarchy. So, but but the important thing to realize is that the fact that all these men, not just the top three or not just the top six, they were all listed by name. And it shows that God remembers what each of these brave men, these special warriors did for their king in battle and that we should, too. You know, we can't you know, you know, we can't discount the importance of these names. I mean, some some of the just like with with the disciples, some of the some of these mighty men. All you see their name just once in the list and then you don't find out anything else about them. Whereas other ones, you find out a whole bunch of things, you know, a lot of their accomplishments. So First Chronicles 12 verse one reads this way. Now, these are the men who came to David at Ziklag while he could not move about freely because of Saul, the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand. There were Benjaminites, Saul's kinsmen. So two things to notice about this verse. First, they were ambidextrous. OK, they could either right handed or left handed. But but more more telling, there were Benjaminites. There was Saul's kinsmen. And yet here they were fighting for David. As as as part of his mighty men fighting for David against Saul. Then we have from the Gaddites. They went over to David as the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty and experienced warriors, expert with shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions and were swift as gazelles upon the mountains. Think about that description. Fierce as lions, lions are the king of the jungle. Quick as a gazelle, gazelles are the fastest animal in the jungle. So these these, you know, these warriors were the best of the best, you know, that the fastest, the strongest, the scariest. And and they were David's mighty men. So similar to David's mighty men, there was apparently a hierarchy within the disciples of Christ. Because, you know, we all know that Peter, James and John appear to have been called, you know, separated and a higher seem to be a higher rank than the rest of the twelve. These three were generally present at times when when the showing was going to be their extraordinary divine power or intense private emotional moments in Jesus ministry. And I think that there's three instances where where this where this comes about that we I think we all are aware of. First is the instance of raising of Jairus's daughter. In Luke eight, verse forty nine, we read this while he was still speaking, someone from the ruler's house came and said, Your daughter is dead to not trouble the teacher anymore. But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, do not fear, only believe and she'll be well. And when he came to the house, he allowed no one to enter with him except Peter and John and James and the father and mother of the child. So these three, you know, we're we're we're allowed to come into that house with with Jesus. And the and the second the second instance is the the transfiguration. So I just want to go to Luke nine. I just want to read verse twenty seven of Luke nine. First, it's not up on the screen, but Luke nine, verse twenty seven reads this way. Says Jesus, Jesus is talking to to his disciples and he says, I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God. And then the next verse goes goes here, Luke nine, verse twenty eight, where where we read now about eight days after these sayings, he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. So it says, you know, it says in verse twenty seven, there are some standing here. Peter, James and John, who will not see death until they not taste death until they see the kingdom of God, because because what they were seeing in the transfiguration was. It was, you know, a figure, a foreshadowing of of the of the kingdom. You know, our our adult Sunday school class in Meriden right now, we're reading Stephen Whitehouse's book Handbook Handbook, My Kingdom Handbook, and we were discussing just this last past Sunday. Would we recognize people, you know, in the kingdom once, you know, once once we were raised and were accepted into the kingdom, would we recognize each other? Would we recognize other people? And I think, you know, Stephen's Stephen Whitehouse felt that we would. And we are discussion on Sunday. Also, I thought about the transfiguration and I was thinking. This was a taste of the kingdom for those three, Peter, James and John, how and but they knew who Moses and Elijah were. How did they know it was Moses and Elijah? You know, so this is this is a foreshadowing of the kingdom. We will recognize who Moses and Elijah are, and they were wrecked. They recognized who they were with Jesus. They didn't say to Jesus, who are these two, you know, people with you? They knew it was Moses and Elijah. So the third instance of Peter, James and John of Jesus praying in Gethsemane. It says they went to a place called Gethsemane and he said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. And he took with him Peter, James and John and began to be greatly distressed and troubled. And he said to them, My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch. And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. So. So the fact that that Peter, James and John were asked to accompany their Lord on these occasions showed the special place that Jesus had for them in his heart. But as with David's mighty men, the remaining disciples of Christ are also listed by name because what they did for Christ, And the fact that that all 12 of these men, not just the top three, are listed by name, shows that God remembers what each of these did for their king in its ministry and that we should too. One fell short, but all 12 were listed by name. And to be honest, there's a few of them we know nothing about other than their names, similar to what we know. To David's mighty men. So. Switching gears again a little bit. There are some lessons for us from the three mightiest of the mighty men, Jashebim, Eliezer and Shama. So these are the names of the mighty men whom David had. Jasheb, Jashebashabeth, which is also Jashebim. You can you can you can infer that it was the same person. That's a side study. A Taclemag. He was chief of the three. He wielded a spear against 800 whom he killed at one time. And then the parallel account in the first Chronicles 11. Now, these are the chiefs of David's mighty men 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. This is an account of David's mighty men. Jashebim and the Hackmanite was chief of the three. He wielded a spear against 300 whom he killed at one time. So. This is when you read about this. I think of one person when I read these, I think about Samson. This is Samson like, you know, he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey. He put out his hand and took it. And with it, he struck a thousand men. This is this is this is the kind of thing that Jashebim did. And he was with David right from the start. Because here's what we read in First Chronicles 12, verse one. Now, these are the men who came to David at Ziklag. This is this is day one. You know, when he was assembling his people, while he could not move about freely because of Saul, the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. And Jashebim is included in the list of men that follows and follows in First Chronicles 12, verse six. So he was one of he was one of the men who came to him immediately when he when he fled when he fled from Saul. He was the he was also the chief of all the commanders of David's army after he became king. So he was with David the entire time. You know, he was soup to nuts. He was with David from the beginning right through until he became king. So this is the number of the people of Israel, the heads of father's houses, the commanders of thousands and hundreds in their offices who served the king in all matters concerning the divisions that came and went month after month throughout the year, each division numbering twenty four thousand. Jashebim, the son of Zabdiel, was in charge of the first division in the first month in his division with twenty four thousand. He was the son of Paris and was chief of all the commanders. He served for the first month. So that was him after after David became the king. So lessons for us from this man, Jashebim. So the Lord is looking for spiritual Jashebims today who will look to prevail against seemingly impossible odds. Jesus said, For truly I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Next to him, among the three mighty men, was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, son of Ahoy. He was with David when they when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle and the men of Israel withdrew. So notice I've underlined that phrase. He rose and struck down the Philistines till his hand was weary and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day. And the men returned after him only to strip the slain and the parallel account in First Chronicles. Next to him, among the three mighty men, was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the whole height. He was with David at past Damim when the Philistines were gathered there for battle. There was a plot of ground full of barley and the men fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and killed the Philistines. And the Lord saved him by a great victory. So this is this is this is Eliezer and this is talking about the specifics of when he came to David, when he became one of David's mighty men. So let's go back to Samuel 7, 1 Samuel 17, you know, the account of, you know, the account of Goliath. It says, Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Soko, which belongs to Judah, in a camp between Soko and Ezekiah in Ephes Damim. So, interestingly, the margin refers to Ephes Damim as the coast of Damim called past Damim. Look what it says about Eliezer. He Eliezer was with David at past Damim. So as well as the location being the same, other similarities indicate that the referenced exploits of Eliezer took place in the same battle where David killed Goliath and defeated the Philistines. Consider this. All the men of Israel, when they saw the man Goliath, fled from him and were much afraid. Here's how to talk the events of Eliezer exploits. The men of Israel withdrew. The men fled from the Philistines. Afterwards, Goliath was killed and the Philistines fled in panic. It says, And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. Listen to what the exploits of Eliezer said. The Lord brought about a great victory that day, and the men returned after him only to strip the slain. So if in fact this great feat took place in the battle when David killed Goliath, it becomes a lot easier to understand why Eliezer became one of David's mighty men. At the beginning of the day, he was a soldier in Saul's army. At the end of the day, he was a follower of David based on what he observed and experienced in that battle. What he saw as one of Saul's soldiers at the beginning of the battle was this. And the Philistines said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistines, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. Here's what he saw and heard when David arrived on the scene and then later in battle. Then David said to the Philistine, you come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. That's why he went from being a member of Saul's army to a follower of David. So lessons from Eliezer. The Lord is looking for spiritual Eliezers who hang tough. Don't give up, even when others around him have thrown in the towel. Think of the parable of the sower. As for what was sown in good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields in one case a hundredfold, another sixty, and then another thirty. And then the third of the mightiest of the mighty men. Next to him was Shama, the son of Aegis, the Harareite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi where there was a plot of ground full of lentils and the men fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines and the Lord worked a great victory. And his exploits are very similar to those of Eliezer. He took a stand in the field of lentils versus barley. He defended it and struck down the Philistines. Again, sounds like the same field, the same battle when Goliath was defeated. So there's also an interesting connection between Shama and Samson, as well as his feats being Samson-like. Second Samuel 23 verse 11, the ESV identifies the location of the field where Shama took his stand against the Philistines as Lehi. Judges 5 verse 9 and 14 identifies the location where Samson killed a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey as Lehi. And Lehi means jawbone. So it's just an interesting little side there. So lessons from Shama. The Lord is looking for spiritual Shamas today to take a stand and contend earnestly for the faith. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life for which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. And so in conclusion tonight, brothers and sisters, lessons for us to consider from David's mighty men. Are we attracted to Jesus Christ as a person? Are we committed to his cause? Are we following the rightful king of all nations who is unrecognized and rejected by the world as a whole? Are we ordinary people willing to leave our homes and ways of life to follow Jesus? Are we willing to share Jesus on popularity and rejection? Are we ordinary people trying to accomplish extraordinary things for Jesus? Are we striving to follow the one who has been anointed to be king? Are we looking to the examples of Jashebim, Eliezer and Shama to inspire us to bigger and better things in our service to our Lord? Thank you for your attention.