2 Samuel 23:8

2 Samuel 23:8 says, These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.  We are told of some of the mighty men of David and what they had done in battle, beginning with chief among the captains, Afion, who had killed eight hundred men at once.  Matthew Henry points out that we had heard nothing of these three men before, so the exploits of David may have been even greater than what we have recorded.  As stated before, many of God's great warriors may never get recognition in this lifetime, or if they do it may be long after their actual feats of bravery.  Verse nine adds, And after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away:  Verse ten continues, He arose, and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to spoil.  Next was Eleazor, one of three mighty men with David who were in a battle with the Philistines at a time when the rest of the army of Israel wasn't with them. He killed Philistines until his hand was weary, under God's power, and God gave him a great victory that day.  We may be outnumbered in our fight against Satan and his forces today, but by the power of God if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we will be victorious.  Verse eleven states, And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines.  Verse twelve adds, But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the LORD wrought a great victory.  Next was Shammah,  who stood against the Philistines to protect a piece of ground of the Israelites when once again the rest of the army wasn't around, having fled in fear.  Even if we stand alone, we should always stand with God and He has already given us the everlasting victory.  We really have no record of these battles except for their being referred to here, and many of the battles fought for God today may never be noted by the rest of the world.  Verse thirteen says, And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.  Verse fourteen adds, And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.  Then, we have a reference to an event that happened when David was in a hold in the cave of Adullam, most likely during the time he was hiding from Saul, and the Philistines were in the valley of Rephaim.  Verse fifteen continues, And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!   David began to desire some water from the well in Bethlehem, but the Philistines were between the well and him.  David was allowing his desire to impact Him.  We need to be careful that as Christians we don't become too desirous of the things of the world.  Verse sixteen states, And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.  Three of David's mighty men broke through the Philistines to get him some of the water.  They put themselves in danger to fulfill David’s desire, and we should never expect any of our fellow Christians to put themselves in danger to fulfill some desire that we have.  Even though David had not asked them to do this, he had shared his desire for the water with them.  Verse seventeen adds, And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.  When these three men returned with the water, David refused to drink it because it had been obtained by these men putting themselves in danger simply to fulfill his desire.  We should certainly never attempt to have other believers fulfill our desires by putting themselves in danger.  It is one thing to risk one's life in a battle that is necessary, but it is something totally different to do so simply to fulfill our desires.