Prepared for service

I Chronicles 12:38 All these men of war, arrayed in battle order, came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel.

I keep being drawn to this chapter in the history of the reign of King David.  It seems to be rich in spiritual lessons for me.  I know I have journaled about it before, and here I am again!  As I read through this listing of the groups of men coming to fight for David, I found some of the information about them to be inspiring.  They all came “arrayed in battle order” because they recognized the possibility of actually having to fight to make this happen.  They had no disillusions about this … they knew there might be some difficult days ahead so they came prepared.  For example, 6800 men from Judah came “bearing shield and spear” (v.24) and Zadok brought twenty-two commanders from his own father’s house (v.29).  The Benjaminites switched their allegiance over to David and came to fight for him and the Ephramites left their own fame in their area to be a part of this large army.  Evidently, helping this cause of David on a wider scale was more important to them than being a “big frog in a little pond.”  That says a lot about them, and serves as a great example of humble service, I think.  Then there were the 18000 men from the tribe of Manasseh.  I find it very inspiring to read that they had been expressly chosen to represent their tribe.  There were not just joining for themselves … they had a higher, more noble goal, if you will.  The representatives from Issachar had a special ability that would be of particular importance to this new army.  Verse 32 says they had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.  I can imagine how important such skill would be when facing war.  The army from Zebulun was seasoned men and single minded in their sense of purpose.  They knew exactly why they were there.  Finally, the Danites, the Asherites, the Reubenites, the Gadites … all came equipped and ready for battle.  I see all of these men (340,000 by my calculations) as purposeful, prepared men, men who serve as my example of how I should serve my heavenly King Jesus.