“David had a craving and said, ‘I wish someone could give me water to drink from the well by the gate of Beit-Lechem!’ The three warrior-heroes broke through the army of the P’lishtim, drew water from the well by the gate of Beit-Lechem, took it and brought it to David. But he wouldn’t drink it. Instead, he poured it out to Adonai and said, ‘Adonai! Heaven forbid that I should do such a thing! Am I to drink the blood of men who went and put their lives in jeopardy?’— and he would not consent to drink it. These are the things the three warrior-heroes did.”-2 Samuel 23:15-17
From verse 13, we’re told about a time when three of David’s war heroes overheard David expressing a deep desire to sip water from the well in his hometown of Bethlehem.
Apparently, this water had a certain tangy and sweet bite to it.
This incident took place when David had escaped to the Cave of Adullam, after he had departed from the territory of the Philistine King of Gath.
Many members of David’s tribe of Judah, who despised Saul, got wind of David’s whereabouts and decided to join David’s motley crew.
The Philistines had set up a border patrol not far from the Valley of Rephaim.
Well, long story short, the 3 Hebrew warriors from David’s camp, after hearing of his longing for this water, battled their way past the Philistine guards, traveled all the way up to Bethlehem, got the water, fought their way back through the Philistines, and gave the water to David.
The Jewish sages make it a point to say that David never requested his men to go and get this water for him.
He was merely thinking about the good ‘ole times when he would regularly drink this delicious water unique to his hometown.
The Rabbis go on to say that David was quite surprised, if not shocked, that his men would go to such lengths to get this water for him.
When David was presented with the precious liquid, he declined it.
Instead, he poured it out to the Lord as a libation offering (drink offering).
He reasoned that to drink this water would be the same as drinking the blood of the men who risked their lives to bring him this special gift.
Now, as far as we know, we don’t have any record of there being an altar set up inside the Cave of Adullam.
So whatever kind of drink offering David made, it certainly wasn’t a formal ritual.
Now, what about David’s logic in saying that to drink this water would be like drinking the blood of his men?
Actually, it makes good sense.
David’s men had risked their lives for some special tasting water.
Was that really worth endangering their lives over?
Weren’t David’s men being a bit foolhardy?
David’s logic was that since life is in the blood…
And since David’s men had risked their lives (blood) to get the water…
To drink the water would be the same as drinking the blood of his men.
Therefore, David refused to drink the water and poured it out as an offering before the Lord.
This is a reverent aspect of David that we unfortunately don’t see too much of after he became king over all of Israel.
So, what takeaway can we extract from this passage?
I gotta be honest with you.
Af first, David’s reaction feels off to me.
These men had risked their very lives to get him a drink of water.
If someone did that for me, I’d at least take a sip.
So when David refused, it almost sounds ungrateful.
It’s like he’s judging his men’s loyalty instead of honoring it.
Ya see what I’m getting at here?
Yet, this is where we have to let real wisdom take priority over our human inclinations.
David refused, not because the gift lacked devotion, but because accepting it would have quietly affirmed a dangerous precedent.
And that precedent would have been that a leader’s personal desires are worth another man’s blood.
David knew that if he drank the water, he’d be saying, “My wants are worth your lives.”
And he refused to send that message.
By pouring it out to Adonai, David showed that no leader’s comfort is worth another man’s blood.
So the lesson here is that sometimes doing the right thing means disappointing people you care about.
Ya feel me?
Done.
I have always thought that was not the right thing to do, to pour it out, after all those men risked, but I see your point.
Maybe another lesson we should learn from this is that leaders should be careful what they speak out loud.
When I was the XO of a company of United States Marines, I don’t recall ever actually giving an order- whatever I said WAS an order, and I didn’t have to specify that.
Leaders are in charge, and whatever they say is an order, so when David just blurted out that he would love a drink from that well, he should have considered how his men would react to that.
David should have been more careful.
Yeah, I had to think deep and hard to come to the conclusion I did. And I’ll be honest, I had advanced AI help me with my thought processes on this one. Be blessed.