David's Army

I've been reading in 1 Chronicles and just got through the 9 chapters of genealogy. That's tough to read because the names are so hard to pronounce but if I am going to read the ENTIRE Bible, I'll read all those names and relationships. It is NOT my favorite read.

But then I got to the story of David. I don't think this is a chronological listing of events but more a summary of all that happened. One of the things I found interesting was a listing of the groups of people who were supporting him. 1 Chronicles 12: 22 says there were men coming to David day by day to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God. In fact the "count" indicates there were over 300,000 warriors whose descriptions ranged from men armed with spear and shield to mighty men of valor to seasoned troops. In addition there were over 8000 Levites and priests. And they were all with David, eating and drinking. That means a huge need for lots of food and for lots of space to sleep at night. We're told their brothers made provision for them. It's still staggering to my feeble mind; I get stressed over dinner for 6 or 8.

The group I found most interesting was the 200 from the tribe of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do. Maybe part of what made David such a great leader was his recognition of the need to have wise counsel around him in addition to the brute strength needed to defeat his enemies in battle.

Of course the people knew that the Lord had chosen David. (1 Chron 11:3, 12:18). But more importantly David knew it and sought God for direction. (1 Chronicles 14:8-16)