He who is to become King of Israel must be a just man, who rules in deep respect of the Lord. He is to be like a light in the darkness, for the people to look to for guidance. Those of my household do not have the same respect for God that I have had, but God has made a promise to me, that my posterity should be blessed, and this promise will be kept. Those of my family who are bad will be dealt with in time, but the men who are the tools for such punishment must be punished.
David had some mighty men under him during his time of reign:
Adino, who killed 800 men at once.
Eleazer, killed as many Philistines as he could until he was exhausted, but when he was finished, all that was left was to gather the spoil.
Shammah, who stood alone when everyone else ran away and single-handedly defeated the Philistines.
Three men broke through a Philistine barricade at the well of Bethlehem in Rephaim to get David a drink of water, just because he said he was thirsty. They defeated the Philistines and brought a bowl filled with water to David. David refused to drink it because he was so humbled that these men would risk their lives just to get him a drink of water. It was something he never would have asked them to do.
Abishai, chief among the three, single-handedly killed three-hundred Philistines.
Benaiah killed two cunning men of Moab; then he slew a lion that was trapped in a pit when it snowed; then a well-built Egyptian came at him with a spear, which he took from the Egyptian and killed him with it.
Of all the mighty men David had, there were 37 in all. These were just the most notable ones.
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What I have learned:
As David neared the end of his life, he began to reflect on his life: Was it worth it? Did I do all right? What could I, should I, or would I have done differently? He thought of his children, those he would leave behind.
I know how David felt. I, too, look back on my life and I think about my children today. I realize that everything my children are and will become is a result of what I taught them, how I treated them, what decisions I made concerning them, and how they felt about all of it. I know there are times that I maybe should have done differently; and no matter how hard I tried not to have regrets as I made those decisions, the regrets are there in some ways. Even though I know that things couldn’t have been much different, given the choices I had, I wonder if I did all I could.
The decisions I had to make determined how they react to their future events as adults. Did I help them, or did I put them in danger, mentally, emotionally, spiritually? Did I do enough or not enough? I know I should have done more. I know I could have done less.
It is only when I realize that things would not have turned out much different from the way they did if I had done different, given the choices I had to work with, that I begin to finally forgive myself. I know that all I can do is pray that God will show Himself to them the way He showed Himself to me, so they will have Him as their rock to lean on the way I do. He is the one who is in control. He knows their hearts, their minds, their choices. He is the one who will open their doors and put obstacles in front of them that need to be there for His will to come to pass.
I pray that He has mercy on them the way He has shown mercy to me. Most of all, I pray that He opens their hearts and their ears to understand Him when He speaks to them, and that they act in integrity when they hear His voice. It is up to them to carry the torch when my life is over.
The only thing I can do at this point in my life is what David did: think about those who stood beside me, those who gave me a hand up, those who made a difference in my life and the lives around me – my “mighty men”. I can give them credit for being to me the people they were, the ones who were instrumental in making me who I am, and I can praise God for bringing them into my life.
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