Turn with me tonight to 2 Samuel, 2 Samuel chapter 23. Our text tonight is verses 13 through 17. We'll begin reading in verse 8. So 2 Samuel 23, beginning in verse 8. These are the names of David's mighty men. Josheb, Boshabeth, a Tachyamanite, was chief of the three. He raised his spear against 800 men, whom he killed in one encounter. Next to him was Eleazar, son of Dodai, the Ahorohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines, gathered at Pas Damim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. Next to him was Shammah, son of Agi, the Harite. When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled from them, but Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field. He defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord brought about a great victory. During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. At that time, David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said, Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gates of Bethlehem. So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gates of Bethlehem, and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out before the Lord. Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this, he said. Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives? And David would not drink it. Such were the exploits of the three mighty men. Dear people of God, you mighty men of Christ who are being poured out as a drink offering. I have always enjoyed this account of David's life. David and his mighty men. It brings to mind the kind of idealism that we associate with figures like Robin Hood, or King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, Or maybe William Wallace, as we saw him in Braveheart. Here is a band of men gathered around a great figure for a noble cause. They have a unity and a devotion that we are envious of. They are mighty men who performed daring and spectacular deeds. Their courage and skill cause us to shake our heads in astonishment. David's mighty men seem to be heroes that are bigger than life. The thing that myths and legends are made of. Or maybe even comic books. But here they are, recorded in God's holy, inspired, and inerrant word. They are real men who lived about 3,000 years ago and performed these mighty deeds against real enemies. The Philistines, the enemy of God's people. And God tells us in this word that through these mighty men, he worked his great acts of salvation for his people. The mighty men of David are real men through whom David saved his people using their devotion to God and to David, their king, God's anointed one. The story that we are going to look at in verses 13 through 17 is very short and does not give us many details. But the details that it gives us are very rich. By looking closely at this story, we will see how the mighty men of David point us forward to the ultimate mighty man, Jesus Christ. We will see how their actions in securing the water of Canaan for David point to Christ's work for us. But we will also see, since we, God's people, are united with Christ, we are also mighty men, holy warriors devoted to our King, Jesus Christ. We will look at Jesus as the mighty man and ourselves as his mighty men. To begin with, who are these mighty men? Where did they come from? Well, they came from all over Israel and even from the surrounding nations. Most of them joined David while he was a fugitive from Saul, as 1 Samuel 22, verses 1 and 2 tell to us. David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father's household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About 400 men were with him. They journeyed with David as he ran from place to place, trying to escape from Saul, narrowly escaping death. They stayed with him as he lived among the Philistines for a while. And when David became king, they became his elite, most likely his bodyguard or the captains and commanders of his army. The story in our text took place during one of the times that David was exiled from the promised land. When he was on the run. It most likely occurred during one of the accounts mentioned in 2 Samuel 5, 17-25. Turn with me there. 2 Samuel 5, verses 17-25. When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him. But David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. So David inquired of the Lord, Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me? The Lord answered to him, Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you. So David went to Baal-Parazim, and there he defeated them. He said, As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me. So that place was called Baal-Parazim. The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off. Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim. So David inquired of the Lord and he answered, Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army. So David did as the Lord commanded him and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer. So we see that David has been anointed king over all of Israel. And this was first done in Hebron, where he ruled for seven years. So most likely he had not yet conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital. David was run out by the Philistines, and now he was in hiding. So let us get our bearings for a moment. The Philistines are camped in the valley of Rephaim. So where is that? That is a valley just south of Jerusalem and a little north of Bethlehem. We must remember that Jerusalem and Bethlehem are about five miles apart on the top of the ridge that makes up the Judean hill country. So for the Philistines to have gone into the valley of Rephaim, To be right by Bethlehem means that they have invaded into the very heart of the promised land. And they have set up camp right in between David's future capital and David's hometown. David fled to the cave of Adullam. He has left the high ridge where Bethlehem and Jerusalem were and gone down into the foothills to the west. This was where we read that he had gathered his men to himself during the time that Saul was chasing him, many of whom are now listed as his mighty men. And now God's anointed found himself run out of the promised land, on the run from his enemies. You can imagine David saying to himself, Not again. Will I never be able to find rest? His conflicts with Saul and Saul's family had just come to an end, as all of Israel had anointed him king. But right away, here he is, on the run again. We also must notice what time of year it is. Verse 13 in our text tells us that they went down at harvest time. When I think of harvest time, I think of late summer and early fall in Montana, when all of the combines come out and start harvesting the grain. And in our text, it is referring to the grain harvest, the crops of wheat and barley. But they did not harvest in late summer and early fall, as in Montana. But instead, their harvest time was in mid-spring to early summer. They would harvest the different grains from March until June. And Passover was at the very beginning of the harvest time. For the first day after the Sabbath of Passover, the day that we now call Easter Sunday, the Festival of First Fruits was celebrated, where they would present before the Lord the first portion of the harvest. It was also at the harvest time when the Jordan was flooded from all the spring rains. And this is when Joshua first led the Israelites into the Promised Land. as Joshua 3, 14 through 15, tells us. So when the people broke camp to cross the Jordan, the priest carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet, as soon as the priest who carried the Ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water's edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. So David was on the run in the springtime. The same time when Israel was preparing to enter the promised land. And the same time when Jesus, the true Israel, was raised as the first fruits of the true promised land of heaven. Now verse 14 of our text says that David was at the stronghold while the Philistines were at Bethlehem. Was this a different place? It could be. David, in his time running from Saul, stayed in strongholds in the wilderness of Judah to the east of Jerusalem and Bethlehem. And so this may be a picture of David retracing his steps as he runs, this time not from Saul, but from the Philistines. The wilderness of Judah is a dry place, but David in his childhood would have brought his flocks to graze out there on the sparse grass, especially during the spring rains. David, in his fugitive camp, has a desire, a craving, and he makes a wish, probably muttering to himself, Oh, that someone would get me a drink from the well near the gate of Bethlehem. Now, was it that David was thirsty? Most likely not. As we said, it was springtime when all the wells and cisterns would be full. It was the flood season for the Jordan River. David's desire did not come from lack of water or most likely even from a desire for fresh water. No, he wanted the water of Canaan, the promised land. Here is the anointed king, the ruler of God's people, and he is outside the promised land waiting to go in just like Israel centuries before. And he can visualize the well by the gate of Bethlehem where he would go as a boy and ask someone to get water for him. And he would sit and drink and rest after a hard day of tending the flock. David wanted to be back in his hometown, in his kingdom, in the land that God had promised to his fathers. He desired rest in Canaan. The three mighty men who came down to David heard this wish and they were gone. They grabbed their spears and swords and a jug of water, or a jug to put water in, and they looked up towards Bethlehem, and they started out. Their journey was at least 30 miles round trip, and they would have had to climb at least 1,500 feet in elevation to reach Bethlehem, all to fulfill the wish of their king. This, dear people of God, is a picture of devotion. David merely uttered his wish, and they were gone. Now, we do not have many details of their exploits. We can only guess how many they had to kill as they broke through the Philistine camp that was guarding Bethlehem. And we can only imagine them fighting side by side as one of them drew the water from the well. and then the fierce drive as they returned from where they had came. And we can imagine the Philistines standing there, blood-soaked and sweating, wondering why these men had gone to so much trouble for a jug of water. Those funny Israelites, they don't even eat pork. The three men came into camp, maybe later in the day or possibly the next day, And they approach David, probably with big smiles on their faces. And they presented him with water from the well of Bethlehem. And David takes it, most likely a little stunned at first. And he raises it to his lips for a big thirst-quenching goal. But wait, he doesn't drink it. No, instead, right in front of these three men, he pours it out as a drink offering to the Lord. and says, Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this. Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives? Or, as the parallel to our story in 1 Chronicles 11, 19 says, Shall I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives? These three mighty men went through incredible effort to get this water, which David had wished, and David pours it out on the ground. we cry out, what in the world are you doing? It's like that point in the movie where you yell at the screen, no, what are you doing? It seems strange to us and ungrateful. But was it? Why did David refuse to drink this water? The word used to describe David's act of pouring out the water is the Hebrew word that means to pour out a drink offering, a libation, to pour out a sacrifice. There is a different Hebrew word that is used to refer to pouring out water or even blood. The word to pour out a sacrifice is used often in the five books of Moses to describe the sacrifices that Israel was to offer. It was part of the many sacrifices and feasts that they were commanded to keep. The drink offering was to be poured out, and it was to be a certain amount of wine. An example is from the Feast of First Fruits, as seen in Leviticus chapter 23, verses 10 through 13. Speak to the Israelites and say to them, When you enter the land I am going to give you, and you reap its harvest, Bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf. The priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. On the day you wave the sheaf, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb, a year old without defect, together with its grain offering of two-tenths of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made to the Lord by fire, a pleasing aroma, and its drink offering, a quarter of a hen of wine. The drink offering was one of the bloodless sacrifices in Israel. Because it was bloodless, they did not necessarily need a priest to offer it. They could offer it anywhere. And so David was not breaking the law of Moses by pouring out a drink offering. The wine of the drink offering has a close connection with blood. Wine is often called the blood of grapes, and it was used as an image of blood in pictures of judgment. So why did David pour out this water that they brought to him as a drink offering? Why did he not just take it up and satisfy his thirst? Well, David gives his reason in the phrase that follows his action. He says, Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this. Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives? David identified the water with the blood of the men who went to get it, and he could not drink their blood. God commanded Israel not to drink the blood of any animal. He told them that the life of the animal was in the blood, and that blood was given to them to make atonement for their sins. They were using the blood of another to cover over the sins in their own lives. We see this in Leviticus 17, verse 11. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar. It is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. And so David raises the rhetorical question, Shall I drink the blood of these men? God forbid. David uses strong language as he cries out in an oath. Far be it from me, O Lord, to do this. Or may it be profane, may it be an abomination for me to do this. But we still shake our heads. And we question, why is David getting so worked up about this jug of water? It's not really their blood. But David sees that these men, in their devotion, have risked their own lives to get this water from Canaan. These men have gone into the promised land and broken through the death lines of the Philistines to secure for David the water of Canaan. They have paid for this water with their own blood. This is what David sees. This water is their blood because they have given their blood to get it. David knows he is not worthy of such loyalty, of such love. He knows that it is not proper for him to take the blood of these men as his possession and drink it. He cannot take their lives as his own. Know the blood, the lives of all men belong to God. And so he knows that this water, their blood, is only properly to be given to God. Their lives are only properly to be poured out to God as a drink offering. The three mighty men would have understood this, I think. And they would have taken David's action not as an insult, but as the highest honor. As we read in verses 10 and 12 preceding our passage, the mighty men were instruments of God's salvation, not ultimately just David's personal devotees. They were faithful to God's anointed one, David, as king over Israel. But their devotion had to rest ultimately in God and not in David. So what are we to make of this great story? Let us look at the depth of the picture of God's grace that is portrayed in it. It is nothing other than the story of the true mighty man bringing about God's salvation by obtaining the true water of Canaan. These mighty men point us forward to Jesus Christ. We have talked about the promised land of Canaan and the water of Canaan. But Canaan was not the fulfillment of the promises given to Abraham. No, Abraham looked forward to a heavenly country, and so did Israel, and so did David. So we must understand David's yearning for the water of Canaan, his yearning for rest in Canaan as really a yearning for the fullness of heaven. It is a desire for the true and enduring rest that God has for his people. We yearn to drink the water of heaven, to experience the eternal rest prepared for us. And even right now, we get a foretaste as we partake in the worship of heaven in our worship and as we partake of the food and drink of heaven in our sacraments. How is it that God brings his people into Canaan? We read that in the exploits of the mighty men, God made a great salvation for his people. It is God who brings his people into the promised land. It is he who accomplishes for us a great salvation. He has conquered sin and death so that we may look forward to the eternal glories of heaven. And this was through his incarnation. God became man so that he could secure for us the waters of Canaan, the eternal Sabbath rest. And so we can see that the mighty men are looking forward to Christ. They are anticipating Christ's work as they wage holy war against the Philistines. Christ came to wage holy war against Satan and his legions. The mighty men at harvest time secured for David the water of Canaan by their own blood. Christ, during the harvest time, secured for us the living water by His own blood. He went up and through the battle lines of death to secure for us water that is unto eternal life. He was raised to life as the first fruits of the coming harvest. We look forward to being raised just as He was raised. David poured out the blood of the mighty men as a sacrifice to the Lord. And Christ was also poured out as the ultimate sacrifice. The sacrifice that satisfied God's wrath against our sins. But we must remember that David, he would not drink the blood of the men. He would not drink the water that they had secured through their own blood. it was forbidden in the sacrificial system to drink blood, for it made atonement for sins. But one came who said, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day, for my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. Do we forget the shock of this passage? Jesus called on them not only to drink blood, but his own blood. David was right in not drinking the blood of the mighty men, for the life of the sacrifice was to be given wholly to God. But the sacrificial system contained an element of participation in the sacrifice, in that the eight of what was sacrificed. And this is what Jesus is calling us to in his words. Jesus is calling us to identify ourselves with his very life as we drink his blood that contains his life. Our lives must be identified with Christ, identified with his going through the death passage and securing the water of Canaan. For not only has he secured the living water, but he himself is the living water. And all who drink of him will never thirst again. The water of Canaan that the mighty men brought back to David pointed to the blood of Christ. We must partake of His blood so that we may live through His life. This is what we do when we partake of the Lord's Supper in the bread and the wine. The wine that was used in the drink offering with its connection with blood is now used as our spiritual nourishment. We partake of the very body and blood of Christ in communion so that we may participate in His life. Only as we partake of his life can we have hope. For we in ourselves can never fulfill the demands of God. We must depend on his nourishment of us through his actions as the ultimate mighty man, the holy warrior for God. And we are reminded in the verses following our text that David himself, the king after God's own heart, could not through his life secure the eternal rest of heaven. No, he also was a sinner in need of grace. For who is listed at the end of David's mighty men? Those who served him faithfully and loyally. Look at verse 39. And Uriah the Hittite. Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba. David seduced the wife of one of his most loyal followers. And then he had him killed to cover it up. David was, I am, each and every one of you are in need of the life that can only come through identification with Christ. But in our identification with Christ, we also see our new identity. We have become mighty men, holy warriors. Not that we earn the waters of Canaan, the glories of heaven by our own deeds. No, that has been done by Christ. We, though now, follow His example because we are united with Him. You, dear people of God, partake of the very body and blood of the ultimate holy warrior and mighty man. So how can you but live in your own lives as anything less? Your gratitude is shown as you follow the one to whom you are united. You may not feel like a mighty man, a holy warrior. You may think of yourself as too weak. How can I do anything for Christ and His church? But you forget the power of the Holy Spirit. You forget that God has appointed good works for you to do. You forget that if God is for us, who can be against us? So step forth boldly to do the will of our Lord. But others of you may not feel like a mighty man because it makes you a little uncomfortable, just a little too zealous, perhaps. It's easier to just sit on the fence and watch the action. You would prefer to not be identified as a Christian all the time. Being a Christian is okay as long as it doesn't interfere with my other activities. But what you forget is that Christ will tolerate no rivals. You cannot serve two masters. You cannot split your devotion between Christ and the world. Remember the words of Christ in Matthew 12, verse 30. He who is not with me is against me. And he who does not gather with me scatters. God calls us to a holy devotion to his anointed one. We are not freed men who can go about and work for who we want and do what we want. No, we are the mighty men of Christ. We are the church militant. But our fight is not against flesh and blood. We are not in this world fighting to create an earthly kingdom as in the age of Israel in Canaan. No, Canaan was pointing forward to the true heaven and the new earth. No, instead, the church right now is involved in a spiritual battle. As Paul says in Ephesians 6, verse 12, Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We do not take up a sword and a spear against the heathen in our land. No, instead, we take up the spiritual armor of God against the devil, the world, and our own flesh. And so, through that, may we further God's work in the world. May you, dear people of God, understand your calling as holy warriors. It does not mean that you forsake the world and your cultural activities, but instead, may all that you do be done in light of your warrior status. You are a mighty man of Christ, so do not give your allegiance to another. Do not serve the idols all around us that the world follows. You partake of the very body and blood of Christ, so do not give your devotion to another. Christ tells us how to show this devotion. In John 14, verse 15, he says, If you love me, you will obey what I command. His commands touch all areas of our life. How we treat our wives, our husbands, our parents. How we raise our children. How we go about our work. How we relate to our neighbor. And many more such things. The Bible reveals to us not only the work of the true mighty man for us, but also the commands of Christ our King so that we may serve him as his mighty men. At the heart of our calling, we must see that Christ, the head of the church, the head of us as mighty men, has given to the church, us the mighty men, The task of making disciples of all nations. Of proclaiming the wonders of the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus told his disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field. Jesus is the first fruits of the harvest. But he has commissioned us, the church, to labor in the fields to bring in the rest of the harvest. May your life be characterized by devotion to this calling. May you respond with zeal, with the zeal shown by David's mighty men as they sought to fulfill his every desire. May you respond to David's Lord with the devotion that he has expressed not just a desire, but a command. This is what Paul means when he talks of being poured out as a drink offering. He was living his life as a mighty man of Christ, devoted to his will. He knew very well the grace of God in his life. And he was now being poured out as a drink offering in his calling to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. He called on the church to live out of its union with Christ. To have the same attitude as Christ. And as he looked at his own life, he could say in 2 Timothy 4 verse 6, For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. Paul, in his devotion to Christ, had his life, his blood, poured out as a drink offering to God. He lived out of his union with Christ, the true sacrifice. He was a mighty man because he partook of the body and blood of the true mighty man. Dear people of God, you are united with the ultimate mighty man. in his work of salvation for you. Now live as the mighty men that you are in response to God's wonderful grace. May your life be poured out as a sacrifice, even as Christ's life was poured out for you. Amen. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we ask that you will, you will cause us to see what it means to be Christians, to be devoted to our Lord. And may we not only understand what we are called to, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, will you give us strength. Strength as we go out this week, as we go out each day, into all the various activities. And may we not forget to whom we belong. And may we serve as mighty men of Christ, wherever you have put us. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.