The Last Time On The Field

This is a tough time of year for a lot of students and parents. There are a lot of “finals” and I’m not talking about tests. The kids that are graduating this year are experiencing some of their last times on the field with friends. I know of a few area teams that, as I am writing this, are still playing for State Championships in baseball and softball. Other teams have already been eliminated and the tears have flowed. Whether a part of the winning team or the losing team, it’s hard to walk off the field for the last time knowing that you will never be back on that field with your friends and comrades again. 

As I listened to my daily Bible reading this morning I came across a story that I often forget about. When I think of King David I think of a mighty man. A warrior who had single handedly fought a lion, a bear, and a giant and came out the victor in all three of those matches. I think about a man who for years was the world champion of “Hide and Go Seek” as Saul chased him from one place to the next. He was stealthy enough to cut a piece of Saul’s robe off during Saul’s restroom break on one of those missions to kill David. He was a military genius and a known winner.

And that is what made this morning’s reading so tough. “There was war again between the Philistines and Israel, and David went down together with his servants, and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary” (2 Samuel 21:15). 

Wait, what? Not David. David is mighty. David is strong. David is a warrior. Yes, but if not for Abishai on that day, Ishbi-benob, a descendant of the giants (likely one of Goliath’s family) would have killed David (16). 

And David’s men said this to him, “You shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel” (17). 

David’s last time on the field wasn’t a personal best. David didn’t get to go out on top. He was almost killed by a man that may have very well been trying to avenge David’s very first victory. He had to have help and then was told that was it for him. He didn’t really leave the battle field on his own terms. He didn’t leave the field the way he would have chosen to. Yet, David, stepped off the field for the very last time. 

In recent years I’ve watched my Dad go from being a strong and healthy man who could work circles around me to a man whose strength has begun to wain. His health hasn’t been great and it’s certainly hard to watch him struggle to do the tasks he always loved to do - work a garden, hunt, piddle around in his shop, and play with grandkids to name a few. 

So what is the point of all this? It’s that last statement that they make to David that needs to stick with us as we watch our kids walk off the field for the last time or watch our parent’s health decline. 

There is more to life than the things we do. Who we are is far more important than what we can accomplish on the field of battle, the field of play, or in a field of crops. David represented a kingdom far greater. He was the lamp of Israel — and we are the light of the world. 

So wherever you find yourself in life, don’t define yourself by what you can do - define yourself by who you are: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…so let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify the Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14, 16). 

Ben