One of the most fascinating passages of scripture to me is 2 Samuel 23. If you have not read it, or its been a while take a moment to give it a good read. In this chapter, we see that David is on his death bed, and he is surrounded by some men who have taken an important role in his life. What strikes me about this is that David was a warrior, and not just a warrior but one of the fiercest warriors around. Remember when Saul was jealous of David? He was jealous because the people of Israel sang: Saul has killed his thousands, David tens of thousands (1 Samuel 18:7). You know you are the best warrior around when your praises are higher than that of the king.
So in this passage, we see that David had men around him who were just as fierce of warriors as he was-if not more fierce. I was listening to a pastor speak recently (Jeff Pries), and he compared like this: once when he was playing semi-pro baseball, they had Mike Tyson come and throw out the first pitch. After he did his thing, Mike stayed in the dugout for a few minutes to hang out with the team. Jeff noticed a guy hanging out with Mike that no one else seemed to know. It turns out that this guy is Mike Tyson’s body guard. How tough do you have to be to be Mike Tyson’s bodyguard? Mike Tyson is a boxer, his job is to beat people up and get beaten up for a living, and he needs a body guard…
So David has the best men-even more fierce men than he is around him. The Bible goes on to tell of some of the greatest exploits of the some of these men’s lives. My favorite story here is the story of Shammah. This guy gets a total of 2 verses in the whole Bible, but when I get to heaven, I am going to find him and have a long talk with him. This is Shammah’s story: Every year the Philistines would come out to a field of lentils (beans) at the harvest time, and steal the whole crop from the Israelites. One year, Shammah had enough of it. I imagine that he tried to rally the army to fight the Philistines, and save the year’s crop of beans. The army gets together, and stands in the middle of the field. The Philistines come, and they look bigger and badder than anyone remembers. Before the battle even begins, the whole Israelite army takes off-except for Shammah. The Bible does not say that he was all alone, but to me it implies that he was. That was no matter for Shammah, he has had enough of rolling over for the Philistines, and he is going to fight, no matter who is or is not with him. The Bible says that Shammah stood his ground, defended the field, and struck down the Philistine army.
Shammah had something worth fighting for. For him, it was a hill of beans. He fought hard, and did not give up until he had what he wanted. I wonder, what do you have that is worth fighting for? For me, I fight for kids and not just for kids, but for the future. When I look at kids, I don’t see a bunch of rowdy 8 year old boys, or talkative 9 year old girls. I see the future, and chance to shape and mold it. I see political leaders, who will lead with integrity, the way God wants them to. I see attorneys who fight for what is right in our courts. I see a future worth fighting for.
I believe that we all fight for things-whether we realize it or not. What are you fighting for? Are you fighting for your family? Your kids? Are you fighting injustice, poverty and the lack of education in 3rd world countries? Do you fight for something that is worth your time, energy, and passion? Whatever your passion is, fight for it, even if you are all alone, and no one is fighting with you. Shammah understood a great truth on that day in the battle field. You + God = The majority. If God is with you, and He has given you a passion worth fighting for, there is nothing that can stand in your way (Romans 8:31).
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