And David came to the two hundred men which were so faint that they could not follow.
The statute of David for the sharing of the spoil
I. I shall begin by saying, first, that faint ones occur even in the army of our King. We have among us soldiers whose faith is real, and whose love is burning; and yet, for all that, just now their strength is weakened in the way, and they am so depressed in spirit, that they are obliged to stop behind with the baggage.
1. Possibly some of these weary ones had grown faint because they had been a good deal perplexed. David had so wrongfully entangled himself with the Philistine king, that he felt bound to go with Achish to fight against Israel. They were perplexed with their leader’s movements. I do not know whether you agree with me, but I find that half-an-hour’s perplexity takes more out of a man than a month’s labour.
2. Perhaps, also, the pace was killing to these men. They made forced marches for three days from the city of Achish to Ziklag. To us there may come multiplied labours, and we faint because our strength is small.
3. Worst of all, their grief came in just then. Their wives were gone. Although, as it turned out, they were neither killed nor otherwise harmed; yet they could not tell this, and they feared the worse.
4. Perhaps, also, the force of the torrent was too much for them. In all probability the brook Besor was only a hollow place, which in ordinary times was almost dry; but in a season of great rain it filled suddenly with a rushing muddy stream, against which only strong men could stand. These men might have kept on upon dry land, but the current was too fierce for them, and they feared that it would carry them off their feet and drown them. Therefore, David gave them leave to stop there and guard the stuff.
5. Yet these fainting ones were, after all, in David’s army. Their names were in their Captain’s Register as much as the names of the strong.
II. These fainting ones rejoice to see their leader return.
1. David saluted the stay-at-homes. Our King’s salutations are wonderful for their heartiness. He uses no empty compliments nor vain words. Every syllable from His lips is a benediction. Every glance of His eye is an inspiration.
2. David’s courtesy was as free as it was true. When Christ comes into a company his presence makes a heavenly difference. Have you never seen an assembly listening to an orator, all unmoved and stolid? Suddenly the Holy Ghost hast fallen on the speaker, and the king himself has been visibly set forth among them in the midst of the assembly, and all have felt as if they could leap to their feet and cry, “Hallelujah, hallelujah!” Then hearts beat fast, and souls leap high; for where Jesus is found his presence fills the place with delight.
III. Faint ones have their leader for their advocate.
1. First, do you notice, he pleads their unity? The followers of the son of Jesse are one and inseparable. David said, “Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us.” “We are all one,” says David. “God has given the spoil, not to you alone, but to us all. We are all one company of brothers.” The unity of saints is the consolation of the feeble. One life is ours, one love is ours, one heaven shall be ours in our one Saviour.
2. David further pleaded free grace, for be said to them, “Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us.” The gift of God is eternal life. Deny not to anyone of your brethren any comfort of the covenant of grace.
3. Then he pleaded their needfulness. He said, “These men abided by the stuff.” No army fights well when its camp is unguarded. The kind of service which seems most commonplace among men is often the most precious unto God. Therefore, as for those who cannot come into the front places of warfare, deny them not seats of honour, since, after all, they may be doing the greater good. Remember the statute, “They shall part alike.”
4. Notice that David adds to his pleading a statute. He makes a statute for those who are forced to stay at home because they are faint. Blessed be the name of our Lord Jesus, He is always looking to the interests of those who have nobody else to care for them! Some of God’s people are illiterate, and they have but tittle native talent. Some dear servants of God seem always to be defeated. They seem sent to a people whose hearts are made gross and their ears dull of hearing. Some saints are constitutionally depressed and sad; they are like certain lovely ferns, which grow best under a constant drip. Well, well, the Lord will gather these beautiful ferns of the shade as well as the roses of the sun; they shall share His notice as much as the blazing sunflowers and the saddest shall rejoice with the gladdest. If lawfully detained from the field of active labour this statute stands fast forever, for you as well as for others: “As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.”
IV. Now, faint ones find Jesus to be their good Lord in every way. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Tarrying by the stuff
There is an impression abroad that the great rewards of the eternal world are to be given to the great heroes, the great philanthropists, the great statesmen--the great men, the great women. My text sets forth the idea that just as great rewards will come to those who stay at home and mind their own business, just as great rewards to those who are never seen in the high places of the field, just as great rewards to those who are never heard of--garrison duty as important as duty at the front. “As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff.” A great many people are discouraged when they read the story of David and Joshua, and Paul and John Knox and Martin Luther; they say, “Those men had special opportunities; perhaps if I had had the same opportunities I might have done just as well; but I shall never be called to command the sun and moon to stand still; I will never be called to preach on Mars’ Hill; I will never be called, as John Knox was, to make a queen tremble for her crimes; I will never preside over a hospital; my life is all commonplace and humdrum.” And many a woman says within herself, “Ah, you folks on the platform and in the pulpit are all the time talking about heroines, great women, and they were great, but they had a special opportunity; perhaps, if I had the same opportunity I might do just as well; my life is all humdrum, my life is to sew the button on, to prevent the children from being asphyxiated with the whooping cough, to keep down the family expenses, to see that the meals are ready at the right time; I get no chance, it is all humdrum, humdrum.” Woman, your reward in the eternal world will be just as great as that of Florence Nightingale, who was called by the soldiers in the camp “The Lady of the Lamp”; because passing through the hospitals she kindled up the darkness with this lamp, and ministered to the suffering, and they all said, “Here comes the lady of the lamp.” Your reward in eternity will be just as great if you do your work where you are put as well as she did her work where she was put. Your reward will be just as great as that of Mrs. Hertzog, who endowed the theological seminary for the education of the young ministry. Ah, how many who had ten talents get no reward in the eternal world, and how many who had only one talent will have dominions committed to them!
1. Oh, what consolation there is there for all people who do unappreciated work! Here is a great merchant philanthropist; he is as good and generous as he is affluent; you know his name--do you know the name of his confidential clerk?--the man on whose fidelity that fortune was built up, so that he could accumulate his vast wealth and then generously distribute it? Oh, no, you don’t know the name of the confidential clerk. Is he to get no reward? I tell you that in the eternal world the merchant prince, who distributed his millions will get no more reward than the confidential clerk. “As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff.” You know the names, I suppose, of the great presidents of railroads. Do you know the names of the brakeman, of the engineer, on whose wrist last night 300 lives hung; of the switchman, who, moving the switch three or four inches that way, and the whole train goes through in peace and families reach their homes in safety? A good many years ago a Christian woman was seen every eventide going along by the edge of the woods. She had a large family, and her neighbours said, “How can this woman, with all her cares and anxieties, waste her time going along the edge of the wood at eventide?” They did not find out until after her death why she went. She went there to pray for her household, and one evening, while there, she wrote that beautiful hymn sung in all our churches in America, and, I have no doubt, sung in your churches:--
I love to steal awhile away
From every cumbering care,
And spend the hours of setting day
In humble grateful prayer.
No minister of religion standing in European or American pulpit today giving out that hymn, will have more reward than that woman received for writing it.
2. There is great consolation in the subject for all those who used to be at the front in great enterprises of benevolence and religion. Why, when a subscription paper came round their name was at the top for a good big sum. When a revival came they would pray all night with the anxious. They were strong, healthy, affluent. But not now. Their fortune has collapsed, their health has gone, they are clear discouraged; they do not see how they can help God’s work any more. Nay; look at those 200 men by the brook Besor. Just shove back the sleeve and show how the muscles were twisted in the battle. Just pull aside the turban and see the scar where the battleaxe struck. Just pull aside the coat a little and see where the spear went in. They got just as much reward as those who went to the front, and you who were at the front in the old days had the health, the muscle, the high spirits for all that kind of work. God has not forgotten you.
3. What comfort this in for the aged! What have you got to do? Only to wait. Your reward will come. There is great consolation in this for all the aged ministers. I know some of them are preaching the Gospel. A man cannot preach the Gospel for fifty years without showing it in an illuminated countenance. Oh! there has got to be a readjustment of coronets; people who have no coronet in this world to be crowned; people who have great honours in this world to lose their coronet. Oh, there has got, to be a redistribution of coronets! Shall not the child have a crown? the father a crown? the mother a crown? And all ye who are doing unappreciated work the day of your reward is coming. (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.).