Giants and Friends

 June 3rd in the One Year Bible caught my attention when describing David in what appears to be the end of his career as a warrior. 2 Samuel 21:15 confirms this by saying, "David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint."  Whether it was the end or not, he grew faint and this is when the giant appears in the story.

David was known for killing a giant in his youth, but now we see more giants...actually these are the sons of the giant. I think the implication here is these were sons of Goliath or at least his relatives. And now they are after David for revenge.  The first giant, Ishi-Benob, had a bronze spear weighing 300 shekels and  bearing a new sword was after David, confident he could kill him.  He probably could since David had grown faint. However, this is where friends come in.  Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and struck the Philistine and killed him.  His friends then sent David home from the battlefield for his protection. In today's language its was something like, "go home bro, we got this ".  

Three of David's loyal friends and equipped warriors defeated the last of the giants that were after David. These were the final giants remaining after the death of Goliath. One friend killed Sath, the son of the giant, and one killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.  The last battle arose allowing David's brother to slay the six fingered man (on both hands and six toes on each foot) who was also born to the giant. 

Why is this story important? Two things come to my mind. One, just because you slay one giant in your life doesn't mean it won't come back to haunt you again. It may be in a different form, but the same giant. If it is addiction, and you beat it once, great! But be on guard, it can come back in a familial form. Maybe not drugs or alcohol but maybe something else that is consuming and unhealthy. Maybe it's been since your youth that you've had to battle a giant and you slayed it by the power of God's word and in his name! But now, maybe there are three more after you and you may be older and growing faint, still wanting to fight the fight but feeling overwhelmed and somewhat powerless. Not understanding why.

This leads to the second point. Perhaps you are too faint to fight right now. Perhaps you need your closest friends to send you home for protection while they take up the battle for you. Perhaps you need to trust the body to be there for you and not try to be the hero of the day. I say this because I have had to surrender to trusting the body of Christ to hold me up lately when I have grown faint. I could not and cannot make it through the challenges I face in this season without my most beloved and trusted friends in the body of Christ. People I know will pray for me and who I know I can confide in and will take those confessions and run to the throne room for me. I am ever so grateful for that community of believers.

If you do not have such a community, I pray you begin to reach out and build one. None of us, not even King David can fight alone forever. We need each other. We are meant to be in community together. It looks different for everyone, so make it your own. But have one. Have a community of people who will pray for you, who will fight for you. There are people out there who will...I promise. Sometimes you just have to take the first step and show you are fainthearted.



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