2 Sam. 23: “David’s Last Song / David’s Mighty Men”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1. INTRO:

1.1. In our last study, we looked at chapter 22 which was a song of praise written by David.

1.1.1. We saw that David wrote this song at the end of his life and after all that he had been through.

1.1.2. In the song David recalled all of the great ways in which the Lord had worked in his life.

1.2. In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 23.

1.2.1. In this chapter we will first of all read what is called “the last song of David,” which is believed to have been written at the end of his life.

1.2.2. Then, we will read the stories about David’s mighty men, and we will see that there are some interesting principles that we can glean from these men.

2. VS 23:1-2 - “¹ Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, ² “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.” - The last words of David are recorded for us

2.1. One of the difficulties with this passage is the fact that it claims that it is the last words of David, and yet when we get to the first chapter of 1 Kings we read some further words spoken by David, after which he immediately dies. Which then are truly the last words of David?

2.1.1. It has been suggested that to explain this difficulty you simply recognize that this passage actually refers to the last words spoken by David as a mouthpiece for the Lord, under the Lord’s anointing. David was called by God to be the “psalmist” of Israel, writing Psalms to sing for worship or read for meditation, all under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This explanation may very well explain the difficulty.

2.2. A person’s last words are always very important to him and thus we should consider carefully this chapter 23 of 2 Samuel.

2.3. As king over Israel, David speaks of himself as ‘the anointed of God.’ Many years earlier when he was but a lad David had been anointed as king by Samuel at the Lord’s direction.

2.4. This passage gives us insight into how it was that our scripture came to be inspired by God, for David writes that the Spirit spoke through him :

2.4.1. In Peter 1:20-21 we read about how that what we know of as scripture came to be inspired by the Lord, “²⁰ But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹ for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”

2.4.2. There are a few different views men have had about how scripture ( the Bible ) came to be inspired :

2.4.2.1. Those in the camp for the liberal interpretation of scripture have said that scripture is inspired “in the same kind of sense that a great painting might have been inspired.” However, they believe that the scriptures are really the word of man, not the word of God. They do not believe in the inerrancy or sufficiency of scripture.

2.4.2.2. There are others who believe that God inspired scripture, however they believe that it came to men in the form of a “mechanical dictation.” The Lord moved the hands of the writers and they wrote messages which they did not truly understand for the most part.

2.4.2.3. The view that I and many other conservative interpreters of scripture adhere to is the “plenary verbal” interpretation. This view is that the writers of the scriptures had the Lord open their understanding and thoughts to the things which they wrote. However, this view also includes the notion that the very words that the writers used were likewise inspired by the Lord. Divine inspiration of course refers to the original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts that were written by the Biblical authors, not to any subsequent translations of that scripture that have come about.

2.4.2.3.1. Knowing that the very thoughts and words of every writer of the scripture, and every scripture written, came about from the Lord, this gives us as Christians great hope and confidence in our Bibles. We can have our hope in Christ as that “anchor of the soul” that is mentioned in Hebrews. The scriptures then contain absolutes and we are not left in a sea of moral relativity, for our Bible is inerrant and reliable.

2.5. In this passage we see that the inspiration mentioned was that of the Lord “speaking” through David’s lips, not actually his writing down of the words that he spoke when under the inspiration of God. Our Bible, you see, is not the actual revelation that God has made to man, rather it is the written record of that revelation. The accurate and thorough writing down of that revelation also came by inspiration of the Lord.

2.6. So, we see here how that the Lord inspired David as the Psalmist. God worked in his thoughts and placed the very words upon his tongue that he spoke. It was “plenary verbal” inspiration of scripture when David wrote his Psalms.

2.7. I have had Christian friends who wrote songs or poetry that I believe was inspired by the Lord, not on the level of scripture however. But, they have told me of the process that occurred many times when they would create. One friend wrote incredible poetry and he would sit at a typewriter and type a continual flow of consciousness (of his thoughts) and the result would be incredibly beautiful and edifying. Other friends have told me about how they just sat down at their guitar or piano and suddenly words and music just flowed and the end result was a beautiful and inspirational song of worship and praise to the Lord. This appears to be how that the Psalms were written by David.

2.8. The fact that David refers to himself as the ‘sweet psalmist of Israel’ is evidence that David wrote these words at the end of his life rather than early on. He was not recognized by Israel for at least 10 years after his initial anointing to be king by Samuel, and even then he might not have thought of his writings as being spoken directly from the Lord. This recognition of David’s Psalm writing gift by Israel probably only occurred many years into his reign over Judah and Israel.

2.9. In the Psalms we see David writing during all kinds of periods of turmoil and conflict, and many of his own personal fears, thoughts, and feelings are honestly expressed by him, yet these Psalms came also by inspiration of the Holy Spirit and thus are to be used for our edification as members of the body of Christ. The Psalms give us tremendous encouragement in the midst of our sufferings and trials.

3. VS 23:3-4 - “³ “The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God, ⁴ Is as the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, When the tender grass springs out of the earth, Through sunshine after rain.’” - David tells us that the Lord told him that the man who rules over men righteously is like ‘the light of the morning when the sun rises’ and like the ‘tender grass’ when it ‘springs out of the earth’ after a rain storm

3.1. Here David is looking back over his reign as king and remembering this incident when the Lord told him what it is like for men to be ruled over by a righteous king. This was spoken to David by the Lord probably early in his reign as king.

3.2. David was greatly blessed when the Lord revealed to him what a righteous ruler is like and he desired to be such a king as this :

3.2.1. As wonderful as when the sun rises on a clear day after the dark night.

3.2.1.1. After a dark and depressing night the light of morning it is such a welcome sight, especially on a clear day, to see the first light of the morning. In like manner is the one who rules over men righteously as God’s representative.

3.2.2. As welcoming as when grass seeds sprout up out of the earth after a rainstorm.

3.2.2.1. The nitrogen found in rain water helps grass and other green items of the garden to begin to grow in a very healthy way. In the same way a righteous ruler over God’s people provides a good environment for the healthy growth and development of God’s people in the grace of God.

3.2.2.1.1. There are many churches where the leadership of the church have created an environment where the growth of God’s people is stunted. Legalistic churches have this effect as do churches where the leadership do not teach good and sound doctrine or where they are not giving a good example in their life for the people to follow.

3.2.2.1.2. In a lot of churches there is no provision for failure and when people fall into sin or some sort of disgrace they forever fall out of standing with the church, but this isn’t a healthy environment for God’s sheep to be in. The One has said that many times, “The church is the only army that shoots its own wounded.” However, the church needs to be a restorer of people and a hospital for the wounded in the battles of this life.

3.2.2.1.3. In a lot of churches, when you join up you are immediately asked or assigned a ministry or responsibility. We don’t do this in the Calvarys, instead we don’t expect anything from people coming in and just encourage them to sit in the back if they like and just soak up as much of the love and grace of God as they can. Then, when God has done a work within them and they come to the leadership and desire to get more involved we will work with them to understand what their gifts and service in the church might be.

3.3. Prov. 4:18 tells us what it will be like for all who walk in righteousness, “¹⁸ But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day.”

3.4. David reveals an interesting Name for the Lord here, ‘The Rock of Israel.’ A rock is a thing of security and immovability, and this is what the Lord is to His people in every age.

4. VS 23:5-7 - “⁵ “Truly is not my house so with God? For He has made an everlasting covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and secured; For all my salvation and all my desire, Will He not indeed make it grow? ⁶ “But the worthless, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns, Because they cannot be taken in hand; ⁷ But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they will be completely burned with fire in their place.”” - David speaks of the ‘everlasting covenant’ that the Lord had made with him

4.1. The ‘everlasting covenant’ that David refers to here that the Lord made to him was what we previously studied in 2 Sam. 7:11b-16 and called the Davidic Covenant, “…The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. ¹² “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴ “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, ¹⁵ but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. ¹⁶ “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”’”

4.1.1. When we studied this passage from 2 Samuel chapter 7 we saw that it was actually perhaps the most important chapter thus far in our scriptures because up the chapter our entire prophetic Messianic theology is built.

4.1.2. Lets review this Davidic Covenant :

4.1.2.1. David had wanted to build a house for the Lord to dwell in but the Lord told him that He would build a house for David instead.

4.1.2.2. This covenant involved :

4.1.2.2.1. A descendant that would one day build the temple for the Lord ( this would be his son Solomon )

4.1.2.2.2. Having a son upon the throne forever ( a continual dynasty ).

4.1.2.2.3. The Messiah ( THE descendant ) would come through David’s descendants.

4.2. David was blown away by the grace of God that he, with his humble background (what he calls here his ‘house’) would have been given this incredible everlasting covenant we today refer to as the David Covenant. See 2 Sam. 7:18 for David’s initial reacting to having received this incredible covenant from the Lord.

4.3. By the way, has not the Lord given to us today an everlasting covenant, just read John 3:16, “¹⁶ “For God so loved the world , that He gave His only begotten Son , that whoever believes in Him shall not perish , but have eternal life.”

4.4. This ‘everlasting covenant’ that had been made with David revealed something about the nature and character of the Lord revealed in this covenant as being, ‘Ordered in all things, and secured.’ This was David’s way of expressing the omnipotence and omniscience of the Lord who is perfect in all of His ways. The Lord had a perfect plan for mankind (as well as all creation) which He was sovereignly going to carry out through this covenant with David.

4.5. David speaks here of the eternal damnation that will await those who rebel against and disobey the Lord saying that they will be ‘thrust away like thorns’ and ‘completely burned with fire in their place.’

4.5.1. Jesus may have been thinking about this verse when He told His disciples the following in John 15:1-6, “¹ “ I am the true vine , and My Father is the vinedresser . ² “ Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit , He takes away ; and every branch that bears fruit , He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit . ³ “ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ⁴ “ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine , so neither can you unless you abide in Me. ⁵ “I am the vine , you are the branches ; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit , for apart from Me you can do nothing . ⁶ “ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.”

5. VS 23:8 - “⁸ These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time;” - David begins to tell us about his mighty men, beginning with ‘Josheb-basshebeth’ one of the special three

5.1. David now begins to tell the stories about the accomplishments and courage of each of his mighty men, and in doing so he memorializes and commends these faithful men.

5.2. Many Bible commentators skip over this part of the chapter believing that there is no real relevance to them, however I would disagree with this approach for several reasons:

5.2.1. There are New Testament verses that tell us that “all” of the things that were written in the Old Testament were written for our instruction, including :

5.2.1.1. Romans 15:4, “⁴ For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”

5.2.1.2. 1 Corinthians 10:9-11, “⁹ Nor let us try the Lord, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the serpents. ¹⁰ Nor grumble, as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer. ¹¹ Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”

5.2.2. As we saw during the period of David’s wanderings, these mighty men began to seek him out when they had gotten into trouble, debt, or disfavor with Saul and his regime. They supported David while for 10 years King Saul was constantly hunting him to kill him and even later during his rule when all Israel had abandoned David (such as happened when David’s son Absalom had tried to usurp the kingdom from his father, or during the revolt of Sheba). These mighty men are examples of loyalty and faithfulness to us, even as we live in a day when there are few people who value loyalty as most are self-seeking.

5.2.3. We saw while studying 1 Samuel how that these mighty men of David’s served as a type of the church for we who are saved have come to our Lord Jesus (David’s anti-type) as troubled sinners who are deserving of death because of our sins.

5.2.4. David felt it was important enough to include these stories of his mighty men. He owed his life and success to these men who came to him and supported him in both the good and the bad times.

5.2.4.1. Church planters, pastors, and Christian leaders in general cannot complete their calling by the Lord without the help of other Christians who like these mighty men are willing to join with them in their cause and calling before the Lord.

5.2.4.2. As I have mentioned before in my studies, those who come beside pastors and church planters shall receive the reward of a pastor and a church planter, such is the importance of their role in God’s work.

5.2.5. These men are examples to us of how the Lord can take our lives and by His Spirit empower and use us mightily as His witnesses and servants.

5.3. This Hebrew word “ghib-bore” translated as ‘mighty men’ can mean “strong or valiant fighting men.”

5.4. Eaton’s Bible Dictionary has the following entry for this man: “Jashobeam — dweller among the people; or to whom the people turn, the Hachmonite ( 1 Chr. 11:11 ), one of David’s chief heroes who joined him at Ziklag ( 12:6 ). He was the first of the three who broke through the host of the Philistines to fetch water to David from the well of Bethlehem ( 2 Sam. 23:13–17 ). He is also called Adino the Eznite ( 8 ).”

5.5. ‘Josheb-basshebeth’ here was the chief of David’s mighty men, and one of the three, for on one occasion he alone had slain 800 of the enemy. In 1 Chron. 11:11 it says that this man killed three hundred at one time and some have attempted to explain the difference between the two passages by saying that there was a copyist error here in this account in 2 Samuel 23, and that it actually states that it was 300 men who were slain.

5.5.1. Much as how the Spirit came upon Samson in the book of Judges enabling him to have super-human strength, this man was empowered mightily to slay 800 of the Lord’s enemies in one battle. What an incredible work of God’s power occurred in this man’s life.

5.6. Because of his having killed 800 men in one battle, this man was given the name, ‘Adino the Eznite.’ ‘Adino’ is a Hebrew word that means, “his ornament.”

6. VS 23:9-10 - “⁹ and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn. ¹⁰ He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.” - The next one of David’s mighty men was named ‘Eleazar’

6.1. Again one of the three among David’s mighty men, this man had once fought so fiercely in battle that his hand though weary could not let go of his sword. He killed many of the Philistines in battle on this day.

6.2. Again, this man is an example to us in the church of how the Lord can empower us mightily in His use and the spiritual battles that we wage for the souls of men.

7. VS 23:11-12 - “¹¹ Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. ¹² But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.” - The next one of David’s mighty men was named ‘Shammah’

7.1. The final one of the three among David’s mighty men, this man had accomplished a very unusual feat, he had defended a ‘plot of ground full of lentils.’ At first consideration fighting over a crop of beans may not seem to be a great feat, but lets consider this story at a deeper level. Ever since the time of the judges, each year at harvest time the Philistines would come and rob the fields of Israel taking away their year’s hard work and earnings. Israel was then left humbled and almost destitute. ‘Shammah’ took a stand one day in a plot of land full of lentils and refused to allow the raiding hoard of Philistines to rob Israel of their crop of lentils.

7.2. In the parallel account of this story in 1 Chron. 11:12-14 we see that Eleazer stayed there and fought beside David (his leader) for this field after all of the other men had left David and fled from the Philistines, “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.”

7.3. We see here that the Lord ‘brought about a great victory’ on this day through this courageous man who took a stand (literally) for the Lord and for His people.

7.3.1. This man is also an example to us Christians today of how the Lord can empower us mightily when we take a stand against the enemy and refuse to give up ground to him.

7.3.2. This man, as well as each of David’s mighty men, remind me of the apostle Paul who wrote in Acts 20:24 about how that he constantly laid down his life for the Lord and fulfilling the calling that the Lord had for him, “²⁴ “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”

8. VS 23:13-17 - “¹³ Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the valley of Rephaim. ¹⁴ David was then in the stronghold, while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. ¹⁵ David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!” ¹⁶ So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; ¹⁷ and he said, “Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did.” - David tells the story of how that “the three” of his mighty men broke behind the enemy lines and got David a drink of water

8.1. This is an incredible story told of “the three” of David’s might fighting men. The story reveals the depth of loyalty in serving that they had to their leader, David. David had grown up in Bethlehem and as a young lad had enjoyed the wonderful tasting well water his family possessed. One day as David and his men camped in the wilderness and the Philistines had the city of Bethlehem as their garrison, David simply made mention to some of his men of how he longed for that great tasting well water he enjoyed in the city of Bethlehem. David didn’t ask his men to go and get some of this water for him, never-the-less they risked their lives by going and breaking through the Philistine garrison in Bethlehem to get David a drink of Bethlehem well water.

8.2. David was so impressed by the selfless and courageous action of these three loyal men, that he could not drink any of that water for he considered it “blood water” since these men had risked their lives to obtain it. Feeling unworthy of what his men had done for David he poured this Bethlehem well water out before the Lord as a drink offering because it was too precious and valuable for him to drink.

8.3. We see from this story (as well as the rest of the stories about David’s fighting men) that David included these stories of his mighty fighting men which revealed their courageous and selfless acts in order to be able to honor and commend them before the Lord for eternity.

8.4. We Christians need to realize that even though our courageous and selfless deeds done for the sake of the Lord are not rewarded or commended in this life that Jesus Christ (again David’s anti-type) will reward us greatly in eternity with crowns for our service here for Him.

9. VS 23:18-19 - “¹⁸ Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the thirty. And he swung his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name as well as the three. ¹⁹ He was most honored of the thirty, therefore he became their commander; however, he did not attain to the three.” - David tells us the story of the great deeds of ‘Abishai’ chief of the thirty of his mighty men

9.1. ‘Abishai’ did not distinguish himself over the three of David’s mighty fighting men, however he had his own great accomplishments for he had killed 300 of the enemy at one time.

9.2. ‘Abishai’ was made ‘commander’ over the thirty of David’s mighty fighting men. Just as the ‘three’ had obtained special status, so there was a secondary status of being part of this group of the ‘thirty.’ Because of his great feats on the battlefied ‘Abishai’ was honored highest of this group of the ‘thirty’ of David’s men (yet “the three” were honored more greatly than any others).

10. VS 23:20-23 - “²⁰ Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. ²¹ He killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, 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. ²² These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men. ²³ He was honored among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard.” - David tells us of the great deeds done by ‘Benaiah’ one of his mighty fighting men

10.1. This man ‘Benaiah’ had achieved great things for the Lord and David in his own right :

10.1.1. On one occasion he had killed two mighty warriors who were sons of ‘Ariel of Moab.’

10.1.2. On another occasion he had ‘killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.’

10.1.3. On yet another occasion he had killed a mighty Egyptian warrior by first taking the man’s spear away from him and killing him with it, and all he had in the first place when he fought him was a club. In the parallel passage in 1 Chron. 11:23 it tells us that this Egyptian was 5 cubits tall, or 7’ 6”.

10.2. Because of his bravery and accomplishments in battle ‘Benaiah’ was appointed over David’s personal guard of men.

11. VS 23:24-39 - “²⁴ Asahel the brother of Joab was among the thirty; Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, ²⁵ Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, ²⁶ Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, ²⁷ Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, ²⁸ Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, ²⁹ Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the sons of Benjamin, ³⁰ Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash, ³¹ Abi-albon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, ³² Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, ³³ Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, ³⁴ Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, ³⁵ Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, ³⁶ Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, ³⁷ Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor bearers of Joab the son of Zeruiah, ³⁸ Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, ³⁹ Uriah the Hittite; thirty-seven in all.” - The rest of David’s mighty men are named, for a total of 37

11.1. Notice that though called by name in these verses twice that Joab himself is not accounted as being one of David’s mighty fighting men. Two of Joab’s brothers are listed however, Asahel and Abishai. We have already mentioned that although Joab had for a long time been a great blessing to David, being the general over David’s army, that after awhile that Joab had gone out of control and was no longer really serving David but rather his own self-interests.

11.2. Notice also that these passages list ‘Uriah the Hittite’ as the last of David’s mighty fighting men. Though David had Uriah murdered, the man who was the husband of Bathsheba after David’s affair with Bathsheba (who conceived a child from the affair), Uriah’s wife, David had to honor this very loyal and courageous one of his fighting men. David includes Uriah’s name even though Uriah’s mention brought shame to David.

12. CONCLUSIONS:

12.1. As we consider the stories of these mighty fighting men of David’s, we ought to remember that there is a special blessing and reward to those who follow their example and are loyal and faithful to the Lord and His work among God’s people.

12.2. As these mighty fighting men came to David when he was in hiding out in obscurity and then stayed with him through thick and thin all the way until he was finally made king over all Israel, we need to also realize that there will be great blessings as well as rewards for those who will come alongside of a work of God when it is new and untested and be those persevering pioneers in God’s kingdom.

12.3. Just as David honored and memorialized his mighty fighting men I am so grateful to those of you who have stuck by us here in this small work of God and have been those mighty fighting men along with us.

12.4. Many people come to a new work of God and see that it is small and perhaps struggling and since so many in our culture have a consumer mentality their thinking is that they ought to go to a big church with a nice building and lots of programs, however this may not be the best place for you and your spiritual growth and service. It is often the case that just as the Lord was with this small band under David when it was in obscurity (and not with the masses of Israelites at that time) that the place of blessing for you and your family will be with a new and fresh work of God. And, if you are willing to stay with this new work then this will always result in others also coming and staying and the end result will be a mighty army for the Lord! And, in that case you too will one day receive the Lord’s commendation.

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