David’s Army.

First Chronicles 11 and 12 records tales of King David’s greatest warriors. What trait do you think was the most prized among them? If you were building an army, what would you look for? Consider:

• Jashobeam wielded his spear against 300 men and killed them; Abishai later did the same.
• The “Three” broke through the Philistine lines to bring David water from Bethlehem.
• Benaiah went into a snowy pit and killed a lion, and killed an Egyptian who was 7.5 feet tall.
• A group of Saul’s relatives “were archers who could use either the right hand or the left hand, both to sling stones and to shoot arrows.”
• There were the Gadites, expert fighters “with faces like lions and swift as gazelles on the mountains… The least of them was a match for a hundred, the greatest of them for a thousand.”
• 200 chiefs from the Issarchites, who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.”

In all, 341,100 men left Saul to support David. That is just less than the US Army (471K). The tiny nation of Israel had a massive army.

So what was the key trait? If you were holding a military draft, what would you look for?

The Chronological Bible places Psalm 133 just after this roll call of heroes. Look what David values:

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! It is like fine oil on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, even onto his robes.” Psalm 133:1-2.

David prizes UNITY. The ability to work in harmony is an ANOINTING, like the anointing of Aaron. Are you a person of unity? Do you create unity, or do you spread dissension? Do you support the leadership, at your school, your church, or your job? Or do you doubt the leadership and create problems for your leaders? Are you a skeptic, mocking authority? (Why?)

Ask God to make you loyal, one who encourages others to be loyal. Train yourself to look for good in people and to be a peacemaker.

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