Six Battles Every Man Must Win

Part 5:  Fight For Your Friends

1 Samuel 22:1-2

Pastor Darrin Wright – February 24, 2008

 

 

I.  Battle # 5:  Fight For Your Friends.

·         A compelling scene from a nature show airing on Animal Planet shows a herd of gazelles grazing in the middle of a meadow.  The golden grass is two, maybe three, feet tall.  The sky is heavy and gray, with hot clouds hanging like tattered sheets.  The graceful gazelles with their ringed horns that curve backward and inward are focused on the grass, not on the danger that lurks close by.

·         In the foreground a leopard creeps slowly from the left to the right of the screen.  A soft breeze blows the grass back and forth in front of the leopard, his camouflage coat rendering him almost invisible.  He stops and gazes at the herd.

·         A single gazelle, savoring the sweet grass, forgets the herd and the safety it offers.  He stands alone, head down, eating.

·         The leopard locks his eyes on the lone gazelle.

·         He stiffens – like a statue.

·         He attacks.

·         The gazelle springs into the air.  He darts to the right.  He cuts to the left.  The leopard runs as fast as the wind.  He closes in on his prey.  He lashes out with his right paw and hits the rear legs of the gazelle, knocking it to the ground.  In an instant, the leopard clamps his jaws on the gazelle’s throat.

·         The graceful gazelle lies motionless.  In a few moments he will be dead.  Why?  Because he wandered from the herd.  He could have been the slowest, smallest, weakest gazelle in the meadow, but if he had stayed in the middle of the herd, he would have been safe.

·         The gazelles find safety in numbers.  God programmed them that way.

·         As human beings, we lack such instincts, yet we face an even greater danger.

·         1 Peter 5:8(NASB) – “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

·         He watches to see when we’re alone, weak, and vulnerable.  Then he attacks.

·         We must learn a lesson from the gazelle and stay close to the herd.  Alone we’re weak.  Together we’re strong.

·         To be effective warriors, we must learn to stick together and fight for our friends.

·         Key Text:  2 Samuel 23:15-17(NASB) – “David had a craving and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is by the gate!  So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David.  Nevertheless, he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord; and he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this.  Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?  Therefore he would not drink it.  These things the three mighty men did.”

·         Key People:  The three mighty men.

·         David hadn’t yet ascended to the throne of Israel.  Instead of ruling a nation, he was leading a band of warriors and living like a refugee.  At one point, while David was hiding in a cave, he became filled with despair.  His situation seemed hopeless.

·         When we become full of fear and despair, we become isolated, and feel a deep sense of loneliness.

 

·         While struggling with such feelings David remembered the well he drank from as a boy in Bethlehem.  He longed for a cup of water from that well.  He ached for the freedom he knew as a child.  He feared he would never taste that water because the Philistines blocked the way.  David had no hope for the future.

·         David wasn’t alone in the cave.  Three of his mighty men noticed his despair.  They fought through the enemy lines, drew water from the well, fought through the enemy lines again and brought the water to David.

·         It wasn’t water that David lacked, it was hope.  David probably felt as though he had lost his opportunity to be king; he had lost his relationship with Saul and Jonathon, and he probably felt he lost his significance.

·         By breaking through the enemy lines, the three mighty men offered David hope.

·         David’s Response:  David said the water represented their blood, which they eagerly risked for him.  He considered it too precious a gift for him to drink, so he poured the water onto the ground as an offering to God and an act of thanksgiving for preserving their lives.

·         David elevated their heroic act to a deed so sacrificial, so loving, and so brave that he would not defile it by drinking the water.

·         David’s response bears testimony to the fact that a sacrificial act of friendship honors God like few things a man can do.

·         Such friendship evades most men.  We need friends who understand our fears and offer us protection, men who will stand guard around us during our times of vulnerability and shame.

·         Most men steer clear of close relationships, and they never connect with men who will help them.

·         Most men feel their struggles are personal, private, and sometimes shameful.  It’s not the sort of thing they want other men to see.

·         Yet, we all need a few close friends.  Men who understand our struggles and provide us with protection and encouragement.  Men who will be there during our darkest night and hardest battle.

·         Question:  How can you and I have friends like the three mighty men who got David the cup of water?  How can we be that kind of friend to someone else?

·         Answer:  The three traits of David’s mighty men.

 

  1. Friendship Trait #1:  Focused Listener.

1.      Many men find it difficult to interact on an intellectual and emotional level with another person.  They don’t know how to escape the gravitational pull of their own thoughts and feelings and enter into the orbit of another person.

2.      Deep and enduring friendships require self-sacrifice that’s driven by love. 

3.      Unfortunately, we have a difficult time using that word as it applies to our male friends.

4.      John 15:9 (NASB) – “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you.”

5.      The three men who risked their lives for David loved him.  They heard the words he spoke in a whisper, they saw his need, and met it.

6.      Listening intently requires breaking away form self-absorption and tuning in, not only to spoken words of a friend but also to the meaning behind those words.  It involves listening to the tone of his voice, reading his body language, and knowing the meaning of his silence.

7.      Listening requires time and effort.  It demands that you consistently remind yourself to focus on your friend’s needs, not your.

  1. Friendship Trait # 2:  Be An Encourager.

1.      Listening fosters understanding, and from understanding flows encouragement.

2.      Encouragement may consist of a courageous act like pursuing a friend even in the face of rejection, speaking optimistic words, offering a spiritual perspective, or spending quality time with them.

3.      The cup of water the mighty men offered David filled him with courage – which is what the word encouragement means.

4.      Every warrior suffers setbacks and encounters pain.  During those dark nights we need a friend with a light to show us the way…a friend who will listen to us and encourage us.  And we need to be that kind of a friend to others.

 

  1. Friendship Trait # 3:  Be A Courageous Risk Taker.

1.      As warriors we must realize that we cannot win the battle for our heart alone.  We need other men and other men need us, just as David needed the three men who risked their lives to provide him with a cup of hope.

2.      Ecclesiastes 4:12(NASB)- “And if one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him.  A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.”

3.      Risk taking is something we do every day.  But of the many risks we take, some of the most significant are those involved in loving other people.

4.      Most men lack close friends because they refuse to take the risks necessary for an enduring friendship.

5.      We must lock arms.

6.      We must stay near the herd.

7.      Together we’re strong.

8.      Alone we are weak.

9.      Illustration:  The Army’s creed:  “You do not leave a fallen comrade on the field of battle” was tested several years ago in Afghanistan.  Two huge MH -47 helicopters came under heavy fire from small arms and rocket propelled grenades.  A hydraulic line in one of the choppers was cut, so the choppers veered away to the north, climbing steeply.  When they finally set down, they discovered the rear gunner on one of the helicopters, Navy seal Neil Roberts, was missing.  He had apparently been jolted out when the chopper banked hard to the north.

The Rangers decided to risk their lives.  They asked for and received permission to go after their man.  A short time later, six commandos were dropped off to search for Roberts.  It was not until midnight that the last U.S. soldier was evacuated.  The choppers also carried eleven wounded and seven bodies – Roberts and his six would – be rescuers.  Those six men died because they chose to risk their lives rather than leave one of their buddies behind.

Friendship seldom demands that we risk our physical lives.  But like the Rangers, we must be willing to risk ourselves for the sake of a buddy.