Young Guys Carrying the Legacy to and from the Old Guys
[16] And Ishbi-benob, one of the descendants of the giants, whose spear weighed three hundred shekels of bronze, and who was armed with a new sword, thought to kill David. [17] But Abishai the son of Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
[18] After this there was again war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Sibbecai the Hushathite struck down Saph, who was one of the descendants of the giants. [19] And there was again war with the Philistines at Gob, and Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam. [20] And there was again war at Gath, where there was a man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number, and he also was descended from the giants. [21] And when he taunted Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimei, David’s brother, struck him down. [22] These four were descended from the giants in Gath, and they fell by the hand of David and by the hand of his servants.
2 Samuel 21:16–22 ESV
This might look like a bunch of names and a bunch of wild descriptions, but there is a really beautiful thing going on here. David is out fighting like a King should be (2 Samuel 11) and he has a close call with Ishbi-benob. Abishai saves the day but all of David’s men agree, that was too close.
They insist that David no longer go out to battle, but they don’t say “because you are too old and weak to fight” which could be one way of saying it.
“You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel.”
In his forced retirement, they honored David. Not only did they honor him as they asked him to stay home from the battle, but the following 4 verses show that they also honored him by continuing his legacy. You can almost picture David becoming like a sports commentator that can’t play any more but is constantly interested in the game. These mighty men continue to return to the king and give their report.
“That giant had 6 toes on each hand!” “All four of them were of the family of Goliath whom you slew as a boy!”
And King David enjoyed every minute of that glory. He did not slip into obscurity back home on the throne, but was still included in all of the exploits. Even in the final writing, the scribe says that these giants fell by “the hand of David and by the hand of his servants” even though we know that David was at home for all of this.
Giving credit, attention, and glory to those no longer on the front lines is fitting for God’s people. Our culture kind of does this on Veteran’s day, but a segmented church doesn’t do it so much. As we share in our glory across generations, we build up every single person, young and old, and we defeat this world’s giants together.