David’s mighty men: The challenge of the years of plenty
2 Sam 23:8-39
A Hungarian pastor I know, who (like many) was blacklisted during the Communist years and was banned from preaching in Budapest, pastored a small church in the countryside. He was a charismatic leader and preacher and responded to those challenging days with faith and trust in the Lord. When the restrictions on him fell away with the end of Communism, he became the pastor of a big, thriving church. As he rose in the ranks of his denomination, he increasingly insisted on people addressing him with the appropriate title he acquired, and he gradually forced out or got rid of those who disagreed with him or had a more independent streak that did not sycophantically align with his position. Even people who admired his gifted preaching, acknowledged privately that he was a proud man and an autocratic one. It was sad to see a great Christian leader lose his way when he moved from the lean years to the plentiful ones.
Victory from the Lord
As Samuel’s conclusion summarises David’s reign, we move from the centre of these reflections (the two songs: 2 Sam 22:1-51 and 2 Sam 23:1-7) to the bracket about mighty men (matched by 2 Sam 21:15-22). The earlier list focused on David’s weakness and his need of others, our reading emphasises the impressive strength of David’s elite troops.[1] Despite the men who showed exceptional endurance and strength, the recurring comment is that the Lord brought about the victory (2 Sam 23:10, 12). It is easier to acknowledge our need of God when we are weak, but we may be tempted to rely on ourselves when we are strong, gifted and capable. In fact, Asahel, Joab’s brother, who heads the last list (2 Sam 23:24), died precisely because he was over-confident that he could tackle the older and more experienced Abner, Saul’s commander (2 Sam 2:18-23).
Power: self-seeking or God-honouring
In the central incident around David, we reflect further on power. David had the power to inspire his men to exceptional loyalty, even to undertake a foolhardy mission facing an entire Philistine garrison to get him what he wanted (2 Sam 23:12-16). When the men returned with the precious water, David was stricken by the danger they put themselves into to satisfy his wish (2 Sam 23:17), uttered perhaps unthinkingly without any expectation of fulfilment. David recognises that power used to meet our self-seeking desires at the cost of others’ wellbeing is wrong. Pouring the gift on the ground may seem like a waste of the men’s efforts, but it actually values their courage and loyalty by offering the fruit of their effort back to God (v.16), the true object of honour and worship. For most of his life, David understood that his power was ‘on loan’ from the Lord and he had to exercise it in a way that brought honour to Him. The deliberate reference to Uriah (2 Sam 23:39) at the very end of this section, however, reminds us of David’s abuse of power and silently warns that even the best of us has feet of clay.
Acknowledging God in all our circumstances
In life, we go through phases of lean years and plentiful ones, times when our weakness and lack is obvious and when things are going our way. Admitting that the fruit of our efforts comes from God when we worked hard for it, can be challenging. It is easy to claim that the promotion we wanted, the house we bought, the money we accumulated are all due to foresight, good management, or great skills. We do not have to negate, of course, what we have and pretend that it made no difference, just as the warriors’ courage, strength and endurance are recognised in our passage. Nevertheless, it is the Lord who has given us skills, abilities, endurance, health, and the kind of circumstances that allowed us to take hold of opportunities. Thus, our victories and success are only possible because of Him. Further, like David, we all hold power to some extent, whether it is the way we influence our children, manage a team at work, or make a difference in the life of our friends and colleagues. That power can be used selfishly to advance our cause and satisfy our wishes. Alternatively, we may recognise that such power we have is ‘on loan’ from God and it is meant to be used for the good of others.
[1] This list is confusing in places because the Hebrew is not always clear whether it is talking about the three or the thirty. For instance, Abishai is called chief of the three (2 Sam 23:18; NASB corrects this to ‘thirty’), but in the next verse he is called commander of the thirty, who has not attained to the level of the three (2 Sam 23:19). It also mentions three of the thirty (who bring David water from Bethlehem; 2 Sam 23:13) and these are different from the three mighty men mentioned at the beginning (2 Sam 23:9). Finally, the list concludes that there were 37 among the thirty (2 Sam 23:39) but only names thirty-one (plus the sons of Jashen who are not named; 2 Sam 23:32). One theory is that the Three and the Thirty may have been elite military units, where the name does not reflect the exact number of people in it. Alternatively, it is suggested that these terms could refer to special honours given for exceptional service and acts of bravery and at any given time only three or thirty could hold such honours. In this case, the last list of the thirty is a rolling one, where new people were added as earlier ones died.
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