What made Davids mighty men stand out from the rest of his army and how can we become like them?

1Chronicles 12 ”1 Now these were the men who came to David at Ziklag while he was still a fugitive from Saul the son of Kish; and they were among the mighty men, helpers in the war,2 armed with bows, using both the right hand and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows with the bow. They were of Benjamin, Sauls brethren.3 The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; Jeziel and Pelet the sons of Azmaveth; Berachah, and Jehu the Anathothite;4 Ishmaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among the thirty, and over the thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, and Jozabad the Gederathite;5 Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, and Shephatiah the Haruphite;6 Elkanah, Jisshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites;7 and Joelah and Zebadiah the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.8 Some Gadites joined David at the stronghold in the wilderness, mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains:9 Ezer the first, Obadiah the second, Eliab the third,10 Mishmannah the fourth, Jeremiah the fifth,11 Attai the sixth, Eliel the seventh,12 Johanan the eighth, Elzabad the ninth,13 Jeremiah the tenth, and Machbanai the eleventh.14 These were from the sons of Gad, captains of the army; the least was over a hundred, and the greatest was over a thousand.15 These are the ones who crossed the Jordan in the first month, when it had overflowed all its banks; and they put to flight all those in the valleys, to the east and to the west.16 Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold.17 And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to them, If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said: We are yours, O David; We are on your side, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to your helpers! For your God helps you. So David received them, and made them captains of the troop.”

Men of passion - Davids men were passionate about following him

We as men need to recapture the passion and love and sense of excitement in what it is to be saved, to be passionate about our calling in Him. We need men who are passionate about following Jesus just as He is passionate about us and we need men who also who can express that in their family settings.

The leader of the mighty men was not slow to express his passion to follow David.

“17 … my heart will be united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment.18 Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said: We are yours, O David; We are on your side, O son of Jesse! Peace, peace to you, And peace to your helpers! For your God helps you..

Joshua 14

“10 And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, as He said, these forty-five years, ever since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, here I am this day, eighty-five years old.11 As yet I am as strong this day as on the day that Moses sent me; just as my strength was then, so now is my strength for war, both for going out and for coming in.12 Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the Lord said.13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as an inheritance.14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholly followed the Lord God of Israel.”

We need men who,like Amasai and Caleb, are passionate about following Gods plan for their lives.

Men of practice - Davids men were disciplined

We need men to live out their allegiance to the King in their day to day practice. For many people Christianity is a theory. Like soldiers who have learned how to shoot a gun…but have never been to war. These men were men who had proven themselves in the heat of battle. They lived their calling. They were genuine hard cases. They had disciplined themselves to train daily. They had to train day after day because they knew the day was surely coming when their discipline and training would be rewarded or else their lack of discipline would be sadly exposed. They were like the men of Zebulun.

“From Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all the weapons of war, fifty thousand who could keep rank. They were not of a double heart.” (1Chronicles 12:33)

We need to see mighty men who are LIVING and PRACTICING their faith.

Men of power - Davids mighty men heard God.

The Bible says the Spirit of God “came upon Amasai chief of the captains”. It was by the Spirit they knew who was before them, they knew that David was Gods anointed and they were are going to follow him. It is the spirit that tells us how to know Jesus but if we never take the time to develop a cultured ear to hear how will we ever know the voice and power of the Spirit.

1Samuel 9:15  ”Now the Lord had told Samuel in his ear the day before Saul came, saying,16 Tomorrow about this time I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me.”

Samuel expected Saul because the Spirit had spoken “in his ear” the previous day. Even when Samuel was a boy serving in the temple only he heard the voice that Eli couldn’t hear (1Sam 3). After Saul was anointed as king, a large number of people rejected the idea until the Spirit came on him and saved the nation from the Ammonites.

We need mighty men in the church who have developed an ear to hear God.

Men of principal - Davids men held their ground.

2Sam 23:8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-Basshebeth the Tachmonite, chief among the captains. He was called Adino the Eznite, because he had killed eight hundred men at one time.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 for battle, and the men of Israel had retreated.10 He arose and attacked the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand stuck to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to plunder.11 And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines.12 But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.

Shammah was a man of principal, he found himself stationed in a field of lentils – This was his post and when everyone else fled when attacked by the Philistines, he wasn’t distracted from his calling by what others did.

If everyone else’s behaviour is slack so is it ok for mine to be?

Mighty men don’t waver in the face of difficulty but stay at their post.

Men of position

Because all of these qualities were found in David’s men they became men of position

1 Chronicles 12:18 “…So David received them, and made them captains of the troop.”

When the King puts you into a ministry its because he knows you and knows that you can be trusted to hold the position, you have PROVEN yourself faithful in little things (Luke 16:10) and he knows like the men of Zebulun that you can hold rank for you have not a DOUBLE heart (1Chr 12:33)

Men of POSITION are positioned by the King for He knows they take their position seriously.

Tags: Christian living, Man stuff