II Samuel 21:15-22 – Weary of War
The Living Word With Chuck Davis
II Samuel 21:15-22 – Weary of War
Welcome to "The Living Word" with Chuck Davis. 2 Samuel 21, 15 to 22, weary of war. There was war again between the Philistines in Israel, and David went down together with his servants and they fought against the Philistines, and David grew weary. Inishby Benab, one of the descendants of the giants whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. But Abishai, the son of Zerai, came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. David's men swore to him, "You shall no longer go out with us to battle lest you quench the lamp of Israel." After this, there was again war with the Philistines at Gabb, then Sivakai, the Hushothite, struck down Saf, who was one of the descendants of the giants, and there was again war with the Philistines at Gabb, and El Hanan, the son of Jare Orijim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath, the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. And when he taught at Israel, Jonathan, the son of Shymi, David's brother, struck him down. These four were descended from the giants of Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants. David is weary and more. I can imagine that it's as much of an emotional weariness as a physical weariness, and he's vulnerable in this weariness, but David has friends. He has loyal soldiers. The loyalty that he has shown others has created a support network around him. Eugene Peterson says in his commentary on this passage, "For David for all of his charisma was not self-sufficient. He learned to trust those around him. The men do not want him to go out to war anymore. They use this phrase, "We do not want to quench the lamp of Israel." Remember, the king was the embodiment of Israel's glory. As it went well with the king, it was a sign that it went well with the king of heaven, Yahweh himself. And in this battle, they come across four great foes, four giants from the tradition of Goliath from Gath. And four strong foes come up against four giant killers, two are David's nephews, and trouble is averted. But just the way this is described, the slowing down of the text and the declaration that David is weary, we start to realize that we're coming to the end of the story. So what of this is a reminder that our heroes have vulnerabilities and limits? That's true, then we have our vulnerabilities and limits. It's good to know our own. One of the dangers in life is to put leaders and who have done well on pedestals. Yes, we want to imitate their good qualities. Paul will say to his followers, "imitate me as I've imitated Christ." But it's really dangerous to put them on a pedestal because they're going to fall off the pedestal at some time and then we're going to be greatly disappointed. We need to have a realistic view of ourselves, which comes with a realistic view of our leaders. We want to honor them, we want to obey them, scripture reminds us if we do, it will go well for us. We want to support them and encourage them, but they know they're, hopefully, they know that they're held to a higher standard. And we'll walk with a greater lever of integrity, but we need to have a realistic perspective out so that when disappointment comes, it doesn't rock our faith, better to fix our eyes on Jesus than those who are trying to help us become more like Jesus. So Lord, we give ourselves to you this day. We thank you for leaders of integrity who have modeled well. We pray you will bless leaders that we know who have fallen and stumbled, that they would experience your grace and mercy and be restored in relationship, even if not in leadership position. And Lord, pour your bounty into us that we would imitate well the ways of Jesus. We pray this in His name, Amen.