There was a time in King David’s life when King Saul was intent on killing him. Saul knew that God was going to replace him as king and replace him with David. Saul was bitter and jealous, and his behaviour became more and more irrational. In 1 Samuel 21 there is an account of David having to escape the threats and attempts on his life. He escaped from Saul and made his way to seek refuge with King Achish of Gath. The King’s men were unhappy with David being there, and David hearing their comments pretended to be insane ‘scratching on doors and drooling down his beard’. David then fled to the cave of Adullum, weary, alone and no doubt fearful. Within a short time, his brothers and other relatives joined him there. Then others began coming, men who were in trouble, in debt or who were just discontented ‘until David was captain of about 400 hundred men’.
I wonder whether in those initial days of being in that cave David despaired of being in such company of needy people, all wanting and expecting something from him. Despite his own situation David somehow organized those men and they went from being rejects (from a world perspective) to becoming David’s mighty men. He gave them back their self-respect, purpose and a sense of belonging and family.
Community grew from there as wives and children were added. While in that cave he trained those men day after day after day and their exploits are recorded in the Bible for all of eternity.
In 2 Samuel 23 it gives an account of three men who were David’s mightiest warriors. An elite group, maybe today they would be the equivalent of being in the SAS. One of those men was Shammah, who was probably one of those in-distress or discontented men who came to David in the cave at Adullum. We are given this brief account of a time in his life.
“One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled, but Shammah held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So, the Lord brought about a great victory.” 2Sam 23:11 NLT
Shammah took the stand, but it was the Lord who gave him the victory!
What’s your lentil patch? What do you need to defend? Is it a health, marriage, relationship, or financial issue? Sometimes it seems better to run away like many others when adversity knocks at our door, and to just accept the inevitable. That’s taking the easy way out. Jesus said that he would always cause us to triumph in Him. It takes guts and commitment to stand and face our problems, especially if we’re alone. Feeling like there is no one there in the middle of the night when the enemy seems at his strongest. All alone in the dark listening to the voices that would defeat us.
We can learn a lot from those few verses of Shammah’s victory over the Philistines that we can apply to our situations today. The Philistines were at constant war with Israel. It was the Philistine giant, Goliath, that David defeated while still a boy. The devil is our constant enemy; he only comes to rob, kill and destroy. He hates people and is behind the sickness and evil we find in the world. That’s not to say that our attention should be focused on him, but we need to be aware of his tactics and like Shammah be equipped to deal with his attacks. Shammah went to the cave of Adullum as a man in desperate need. He was probably drawn to David as he had heard and maybe seen some of David’s exploits. He aligned himself to someone who inspired him and could help him get out of the mess he was in. By aligning himself to David, Shammah’s life was transformed. David exemplified a God-centered life, a life of integrity, and service. This was a man who led by example and lived out his beliefs in obedience to God. Who we align ourselves to can have tremendous impact on our lives, for the better or worse, depending on who that person/persons are!
God made a covenant with Israel through Abraham, but it was the people who had to take possession of the land. God parted the Red Sea, however Moses had to lift his staff and the people had to move forward to cross over. Joshua took the people into the promised land, but the men had to fight and take the land. In each instance the victory could only be achieved through obedience. When Israel obeyed God, He provided the supernatural strength and the miracles that gave Israel victory over their enemies. Every time Israel obeyed the Lord they had victory and peace, yet every time they disobeyed their enemies got the upper hand.
“When people’s lives please the Lord, even their enemies are at peace with them”. Proverbs 16:7 NLT
As New Testament believers, under a better covenant, we have all the promises of God through Jesus’ death and resurrection. However, just like our predecessors, we must enforce that victory, not through taking up arms and physically battling a seen enemy, but by enforcing the victory through our declarations! Our enemy is an unseen demonic force that shows itself in many forms, such as sickness, anxiety, depression, anger, broken relationships and the like. The thief in John 10:10 only comes to rob, kill, steal and destroy.
“For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world and against evil spirits in heavenly places.” Eph 6:12 NLT
You may ask how we can fight an invisible foe? With the weapons that God has given us!
“For though we walk in the flesh [as mortal men], we are not carrying on our [spiritual] warfare according to the flesh and using the weapons of man. The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-4 AMP
Shammah understood this because of his experiences with David. He would have heard David’s stories of how God gave him the ability to kill the lion and the bear, his stories of how Samuel the prophet came to his house, his victory over the Philistine giant Goliath with just a sling and a stone. Stories that would have captured Shammah’s heart and give him the desire to be like his leader David. I believe that if we hang around people long enough, we eventually take on some of their mannerisms and traits and can even sound like them. This works for good and evil. We know that there was a time when the Philistines gathered at Lehi, a Hebrew word meaning ‘jawbone’, so called because it was the site where the hero Samson defeated 1,000 warriors using only the jawbone of a donkey as a weapon. Lehi was the site of an encampment by a Philistine army. The Philistines planned a surprise attack; they gathered their troops and lay in wait until the army of Israel arrived in a field that was full of lentils.
I believe that often the attacks we experience in life take us by surprise and we can be caught on the back foot! In the book of James, he tells us that these kinds of situations are an opportunity for joy and to grow and develop our faith to learn endurance. It is through adversity that we can learn to be an overcomer and conqueror our fears, not in our own strength but through using the weapons that God has provided us with!
This surprise attack panicked the Israelite army and they ran, “but Shammah held his ground.” He watched a trained army run away due to fear. There will be times in our lives when we encounter a surprise personal attack or an attack of conscious and we will watch as those we thought would stand with us run away in fear. It will be in those moments that like Shammah, we will have to decide to fight or flee, to take our stand, to find our voice!
Shammah took up position right in the middle of the lentil patch with the enemy surrounding him on all sides. Little did the Philistines know but they were doomed to failure as there was an unseen army fighting with Shammah. Remember the story in 2 Kings 6:15-17 when Elisha prayed that his servants’ eyes would be open to see that a greater force was with them than the enemy they faced. Shammah, I believe, knew the reality of this as he stood his ground. God honoured his stand as he fought that day, and it says,
“So, the Lord brought about a great victory.” The battle is the Lords, but the victory is ours!
I believe that God loves it when we take a stand, even when that stand doesn’t work out as we expected! Even on those occasions He turns the worst situations around for our good. Lentils produce a lens-shaped seed. And although the lentil patch was trampled over by the feet of the enemy, that enemy fell right on top of a life-giving seed. A seed that could still produce a crop again as long as the seed was protected and planted in good soil. If we protect the seed, there’s life. The seed that was planted in the heart of Shammah enabled him to take his stand in a way that we are yet to see as New Testament believers.
The seed is in the word!
“So, the Word became human and made His home among us.” Jn 1:14 NLT.
Life and death are in the power of the tongue! God has given you and I the most extraordinary privilege of not only being a joint heir with Jesus but also a co-labourer. He has given us the use of the name that is above every name. That name is Jesus!
What practical steps can you take to defend your lentil patch?
Acknowledge your need, acknowledge your lack of experience in standing and defending your lentil patch, then ask the Holy Spirit to direct you to a church, ministry or individual who can help you.
“He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle…” Psalm 144:1
Be teachable; remember why you went to them in the first place! Shammah’s transformation didn’t happen overnight. They stayed at Adullum until the Holy Spirit told them to leave. Stay and learn until you’re released by those who are teaching you; that way you do no harm to yourself or others! If you have several lentil patches to defend and you’re confused or overwhelmed, then ask the Holy Spirit which one to start with. Make your stand and use God’s word. Find the scriptures that cover your situation and begin to declare them out loud. There is no time limit as to how long a battle lasts. It could be a day, a week, a month, a year or longer. Get support from like-minded family and friends. If you fall off the “wagon” don’t beat yourself up, get back up and take your stand again. Use all the God given weapons that you have and re-read some of the previous chapters to help strengthen your stand. God is greater in you than the enemy that you face. So often our eyes focus on what we see, the sickness, the lack and our feelings can end up controlling us and paralyzing our faith.
Rehearse your own testimonies and watch or listen to the testimonies of others. Don’t be consumed with your own situation. Find someone else to pray for and help them defend their lentil patch.
“Therefore, put on the complete armour of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious].” Ephesians 6:13 AMP
Before we depart this planet, we will have many battles to overcome. The battle for significance, the battle to be accepted and loved, the battle for our health and emotional wellbeing, the battle to fulfil our dreams, the battle to take risks, the battle to defend our lentil patches and the battle to keep our passion!
We all have the potential to be God’s stealth bombers invading the invisible realm, taking back what is rightfully ours!
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