2 Samuel 21: Be a Rescuer

¹⁵ Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. ¹⁶ And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. ¹⁷ But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David’s rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David’s men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished.” -2 Samuel 21:15-17

David was not a leader who served from a distance. When it came to battle, he was right in the fight with his soldiers. In 2 Samuel 21, Rapha came toward a weakened David to kill him with a spear. David’s rescue was found in the form of a friend named Abishai.

Abishai literally killed the man who came to kill David. He placed his life in harm’s way to save the life of another. Today, we call people like this first responders or heroes. I like to call them rescuers.

Rescuers are willing to give up everything, even their life, to save a person in need. From the teacher who gives her life to educate students to the soldier in harm’s way to the minister serving those with spiritual needs, rescuers can be found in many places in our society.

Jesus Christ serves as our ultimate example of a rescuer. He entered our world, lived life among us, and gave his life as a sacrifice for our sins to offer us eternal life. Let us embrace him as our Savior and Rescuer. Let us likewise seek to serve as a rescuer to those in our lives who need help to stand and to survive life’s struggles.

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Dillon Burroughs is the author and coauthor of numerous books and is handwriting a copy of all 31,173 verses of the Bible at HolyWritProject.com. Find out more about Dillon at Facebook.com/readdB or readdB.com.