2 Samuel 23:11-12 - “And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.”
These two verses about Shammah, one of King David’s mighty men of valor, are sandwiched in between other accounts and might be easy to pass by. While Eleazor stood with David and a two others to battle the Philistines for so long that his sword stuck to his hand, and Abishai fought with a spear against 300 men, Shammah’s role may seem insignificant in defending a lentil field. My pastor taught on this account, and made the point that Shammah went into the middle of the field and fought from that position. At the center, there is only the option of fighting. Had he positioned himself at the edge of the field, he could have stepped away if he saw that the battle wasn’t going his way. But in the middle of the field, he was fully committed, he was “all in”.
I wonder how important this field was to the people that when given the choice of defending it or fleeing, they chose to run. But Shammah chose to stay and defend this lesser piece of ground alone. I imagine that he was most likely assigned or chose to defend this along with others, and he stuck with that decision. He didn’t run away with the others when he faced what seemed like impossible odds which leads me to understand that he was fully committed to David, and if being fully committed meant dying for him, Shammah was willing.
About a year ago, I was asked to help out before the first service by cleaning windows at church. At first, I did because it was asked of me to do, and I confess that I did it half-heartedly, “standing at the edge of the field”. Then the verses from Colossians 3:23-24 floated up into my memory – “Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” I realized that if I am “all in” in my faith in Jesus, then I am choosing to walk to the center of that field and give my all with everything I undertake, whether it’s cleaning windows or washing dishes that might equate to defending a less valuable lentil field. It is not for me to judge whether this work is worthy of me; rather it is my hope that I am worthy of it because I am serving the Lord Christ in doing it.
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