“David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” (2 Sam. 23:15). Such was the breathing of David’s heart, a desire which met with a speedy and hearty response from three members of that devoted and heroic band which flocked around him in the cave of Adullam. “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” (2 Sam. 23:16). There was no command issued. No one in particular was singled out and commissioned to go. There was the simple utterance of the desire, and this afforded the opportunity for genuine affection and true devotedness. Had there been a specific command given to anyone, it would merely have afforded an occasion for ready obedience, but the utterance of a desire developed that ardent attachment to the person of David which is so lovely to behold.
Notice the way David acted in this most touching scene: “Nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. 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 of it” (2 Sam. 23:1617). It was a sacrifice too costly for any except Jehovah Himself. Hence David would not permit the sweet odor of it to be interrupted in its ascent to the throne of God.
Their hearts were set on David, and they did not count their lives dear unto them so that they might gratify him and refresh his spirit. Had they acted to get a name or place for themselves, it would have robbed their act of all its charm and consigned it to its merited contempt and oblivion. But they loved David, and this was the spring of their activity. They proved that he was more precious to their hearts than life itself. They forgot all in the one absorbing object of serving David, and the odor of their sacrifice ascended to the throne of God.
Oh! how we long for something like this in reference to the true David in this the day of His rejection. We do greatly covet a more intense and self-sacrificing devotedness as the fruit of the constraining love of Christ. It is not a question of working for rewards, for a crown or for a place, though we fully believe in the doctrine of rewards. No! the very moment we make rewards our object, we are below the mark. We believe that service rendered with the eye upon the reward would be defective. But then we believe also that every act of true service will be rewarded in the day of Christ’s glory. Each servant will get his place in the record and his place in the kingdom according to the measure of His personal devotedness down here.
C. H. Mackintosh, adapted from
Things New and Old, 6:216-218