Someday, beloved, the last of those monsters that bedevil us will be laid low. Count on it!
Did you think we had heard the last of the Philistines? No, some enemies just keep rearing their heads. David, now well on in his 40-year reign, “grew faint” in battle (2 Sam 21:15). Enter Ishbi-benob (meaning, “his seat is in the high place”), described as “one of the sons of the giant.” Seeing the Israelite king’s vulnerability, he decided to try out “a new sword,” and “thought he could kill David” (v 16). But “Abishai the son of Zeruiah,” David’s nephew, “came to his aid, and struck the Philistine and killed him” (v 17). Whew, that was a close one! At that point, David’s men appealed to him to leave the battles to younger men, “lest you quench the lamp of Israel” (v 17). The rest of the chapter recounts the death of the following: “Saph, who was one of the sons of the giant” (v 18); Lahmi, “the brother of Goliath the Gittite” (v 19; 1 Chron 20:5); and a monstrosity, a “man of great stature, who had six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot, twenty-four in number; and he also was born to the giant” (2 Sam 21:20). In the battles against these giants, the Scriptures record that all fell to relatives of David. It’s wonderful when family—especially God’s family—stick together when a sister or brother is facing a giant! We all have enemies bigger than we are, but let’s “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Pet 5:8-9). We’re in this together! The last verse states: “These four were born to the giant in Gath, and fell by the hand of David and…his servants.” Remember those other four smooth stones David took with him as a lad? Always be prepared!