WHAT LOVE WILL DO! 2 Samuel 23:13-17

The incident described in these verses probably occurred before David became king, while he was still fleeing from Saul. The “cave of Adullam” is first mentioned in 1 Samuel 22:1. This is where David located after he fled from Gath. It is where a number of his kinsmen joined him, along with others who were also out of favor with Saul.
The Philistines had taken possession of David’s hometown of Bethlehem and were garrisoned there. Perhaps as they were running out of water and David was thirsty, he verbalized what was meant only as a wish. If only he could have but a drink from that well in Bethlehem. No doubt he had drunk from it many times in his younger years and grown particularly fond of the water it provided.
Some of his men could not help but overhear what David said. He had given no orders to fetch him some water from that well. He had not even intended that anyone would be prompted by his words to attempt to get some water from it. But to these three brave men, David’s wish was their command. The men left the safety of the cave, marched some 12 miles or so to Bethlehem, broke through the enemy lines, drew water for David, and then marched back another 12 miles to bring it to him.
 
 
When presented with this water, David did what at first seems very unusual – he refused to drink the water, and instead poured it out on the ground. This is not because he disdained the efforts of these courageous men, nor because he did not wish to drink the water. I believe his actions demonstrated that he refused to drink the water because the courage of those who obtained it was too noble to do otherwise. David never intended to put these men’s lives at risk, merely to satisfy his own desires. The kind of devotion his men showed to him was the kind of devotion that belonged to God.
Pouring this water out before the Lord was David’s highest expression of appreciation and regard for these men.

I. The WELL REMEMBERED
David, a fugitive in the cave, recalls the well of Bethlehem. David, experiencing a touch of homesickness remembers the well of Bethlehem. He do doubt had often stopped at that well for a cool drink on a hot day. Perhaps he had spend many hours there as he carefully watched his father’s sheep.
This well must have had an exceptional taste to it!
A. Essential for survival
Civilizations have often been born where water supplies were abundant. Water is essential to sustain life. Wells were strategic to survival in those days. Wells were not an optional.
Abraham and Isaac dug wells.
A man can live and average of two months without food, but only one week without water. In the semiarid climate of Palestine, the availability of water was priceless. In a land where water was scarce, wells were extremely important.
 
 
It is not surprising then that we find Bible scenes where wells were a source of strife and fighting.
B. Enemy had surrounded
The Philistines occupied the place where the well of Bethlehem was located. Israel’s enemies have occupied the territory where the well is located.
The enemy had invaded the land where the well was situated.

II. The WARRIORS’ RESPONSE
Three soldiers so mastered by their commander that they were ready to dare anything to pleasure him. They are not named, but you do not have to be named to be remembered.
These three unnamed warriors stand as grand examples of the height of devotion of which men are capable when love and loyalty to one is stirred.
Absorbed
A. They were absorbed in David
They were committed to David. They were dedicated to David. They were devoted to David.
1. This is seen in how they listened for David
 
 
They were attentive to David’s words. His words were not a command but only a wish. It is no command that requires obedience; it is no call for service; it is only the expression of his longing desire. David’s expressed desire calls forth a devoted act of love in a way that no command would have done.
How did they know what David wanted? They spent time in David’s presence. They had an ear for David! They heard the silent whisper of David’s words.
2. This is seen in their love for David
Their love for David inspired them to do what they did. They were not given a command to go get water; they just loved David.
David was thirsty. He expressed his desire out loud for a drink of water from his hometown of Bethlehem. Three of the mighty men of valor overheard their general and immediately resolved to get him a drink.
Now their was a problem. The problem was that the Philistines had a garrison at Bethlehem. To fulfill their leader's wish, they would have to go behind enemy lines and risk their own death. Their love for David was so great, that even an idle wish such as this was seen as an opportunity for service.
These heroic three may suggest to us a sadder thought. They were ready to die for David; are we are ready to live for God?
We lavish on our others, a devotion that ought to shame us, when contrasted with the meagerness of our grudging devotion and self-surrender to Him.
B. They were active for David
 
 
There's no discussion. There's no worrying over the risk. There's no debate. Their king’s wish was their command. It's spontaneous - intense devotion.
They broke through the ranks of the Philistines to bring David some water from the well of Bethlehem because they loved him.
They were not looking for excuses not to go for David.
What proof this gave of how highly these brave men valued their leader, and how ready they were to face the greatest of dangers in his service. It must be remembered that at this time David was uncrowned, a fugitive from Saul, and in no position to reward their valiant efforts on his behalf.
No command had been issued, no one in particular was commissioned to obtain the water from Bethlehem: it was enough for them that their beloved master desired it. How little they feared the Philistines: so absorbed were they in seeking to please David, that terror of the enemy had no place in their hearts! Do they not put all of us to shame?
The mighty three overcame the enemy and brought the water to David at great personal cost and in spite of overwhelming obstacles. They were not commanded to perform this deed. It was not a military duty. They acted out of love for their king.
Similarly, our worship of the Lord should not be performed as a duty, but as an act of devotion because we love Him.
These mighty men were ready to face death in order to do something that was wholly for the gratification of the desire of David. They broke through the host of the Philistines, drew water from the well, and brought it to David.
The Philistines controlled Bethlehem. Now, there was two strategic places where they would have heavily guarded. One was the city gate, and one was the city well. The Philistines didn't want the Jews to storm the gate or poison the well.
These three guys didn't sneak in and then sneak out. These three men fight their way in - it says they "brake through" the enemy lines that are around the city. They have to fight UP the hill - because the gate of Bethlehem is on a hill. So now they're fighting uphill - fight through the heavily guarded gate - and then fight their way over to the well. When they get there - two of them hold off the Philistines - while one of them draws some water.
Then they have to fight their way back to David.

III. The WATER REFUSED
The gallant devotion of the three touched David’s heart. His heart overflowed at the thought of what they had risked and he refused from employing what had been thus done for no higher use than to gratify a piece of sentiment in himself. The sparkling water was too sacred to be taken for any baser use than as act of worship.
 
 
Their act of devotion delighted the heart of David, and he sees in it a sacrifice of which the Lord alone is worthy. Hence, refusing to drink the water, he pours it out before the Lord.
To risk their lives for the water was noble in the three; to have gulped it as if it had been drawn like any other water from a well, would have been wrong for David.
The three mighty men had no right to risk life for such a purpose, and David would have been selfish if he had drunk the water.
A. The motivation of the water
By pouring it out David showed that he was motivated by what they did.
What they did inspired David. David was inspired by them to do something nobler.
He was touched by what they did!
It did not make him think that he was somebody because of what others have done for him!
David was not going to waste this water on himself; he poured it out to the Lord.
He was inspired by the water to do a nobler service. We need to be inspired by the water of life and not just enjoy it selfishly.
B. The magnification of the water
This was just ordinary water; it was not worth anymore than that water from another well.
By pouring it out, David magnified what they did. He gave it a more significant meaning. He lifted their actions to a higher plane.
The greater than David can take what we do for Him and magnify it as well. What we place in His hands at His disposal, He can magnify it as well!
That was what He did when he fed the five thousand. However, when the little was given the Lord, it was magnified.
See Mark 14:1-9. Jesus receives our devotion to Him and pours it out to the glory of the Father.

Conclusion
The Lord is still looking for some mighty men......men who go beyond the call of duty.
Oh, what love will do!
David was a just a man - and he was a sinner...and what love for him motivated these men.
Jesus is the God man, and what love ought to motivate us.
David had men brake through the enemy lines for him, but we have one who broke through the enemy lines for us.
There was someone who heard our sigh for water. He broke through at the cost of His life that He may draw water from the well of salvation.

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