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After David’s men were humiliated by the Ammonites, a war was sure to break out. The Ammonites hired the Syrians to help fight because they knew David would be boiling. Upon hearing this, David sent Joab and the entire army to take care of the job.
Here in 2 Samuel 10, we read the phrase ‘mighty men’. The most skilled of this Israelite army were David’s mighty men.
“One of these mighty men was Adino the Eznite – famous for killing 800 men at one time (2 Samuel 23:8). Another was Jashobeam who killed 300 men at one time (1 Chronicles 11:11). Another was Benaiah who killed a lion in a pit on a snowy day and took on a huge Egyptian warrior and killed the Egyptian with his own spear (1 Chronicles 11:22-23).”
David Guzik
How was David able to assemble such a powerful force? Scripture tells us that this group began to form when David was on the run back in 1 Samuel 22.
David fled from the city of Gath and went to a cave near the town of Adullam. When his brothers and the rest of the family heard that he was there, they joined him. 2 People who were oppressed or in debt or dissatisfied went to him, about four hundred men in all, and he became their leader.
1 Samuel 22:1-2 GNB
These men had come to David oppressed, in debt, and dissatisfied. They looked to David for leadership. This unique assembling was not a coincidence. These men needed David and David needed these men. This storyline is intriguing because it was through David’s leadership that these oppressed and dissatisfied ordinary men would become mighty men of the Lord.
The ultimate act of purpose we could accomplish in this life is to be able to take people who are oppressed, in debt, and dissatisfied and lead them to victory. David was able to do this because he was a man of God. His personal relationship with the Lord spilled over into his relationships with others, and men who came under his leadership were led from dysfunction to mighty victory.