Run Like a Roe
/2 Samuel 2:18-23
18 And there were three sons of Zeruiah there, Joab, and Abishai, and Asahel: and Asahel was as light of foot as a wild roe. 19 And Asahel pursued after Abner; and in going he turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 20 Then Abner looked behind him, and said, Art thou Asahel? And he answered, I am. 21 And Abner said to him, Turn thee aside to thy right hand or to thy left, and lay thee hold on one of the young men, and take thee his armour. But Asahel would not turn aside from following of him. 22 And Abner said again to Asahel, Turn thee aside from following me: wherefore should I smite thee to the ground? how then should I hold up my face to Joab thy brother? 23 Howbeit he refused to turn aside: wherefore Abner with the hinder end of the spear smote him under the fifth rib, that the spear came out behind him; and he fell down there, and died in the same place: and it came to pass, that as many as came to the place where Asahel fell down and died stood still.
This message focuses on Asahel who was David’s nephew, the son of his sister Zeruiah. He was one of David’s mighty men and one of the captains of his army. The scripture tells us that David’s mighty men didn’t start that way. In 1 Samuel 22:1-2 they were described as people that were in distress, discontented, and in debt.
The mention of Asahel starts once Saul dies. [Saul is the struggle w/ self]. Asahel was swift as a roe. The conflict of the story is that, now, it’s time for David to reign as king, but Abner, who was Saul’s general, refuses to allow God’s will to be done and makes Saul’s son Ishbosheth King over Gilead.
What stood out to me was the fact that Asahel’s actions said, “No! today is the day that the right king will reign. David is my king, and I will give my life making sure that he will sit on the throne.
How long you think this sprint may have lasted … I don’t know/ what/ do you think 5 minutes, maybe 7 minutes of a top speed run? As Abner is looking behind him and asking are you Asahel and warning him. Maybe a little longer with the adrenaline of the battlefield surging, but you get the point—it’s a snippet of time.
But what I see in this, is the Christian journey of a person’s walk with God. The race for God:
Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
5th rib/apex— heart poured out on the battlefield.
The first thing I see is that early on in the run, Asahel had an opportunity to go get some armor, but he refused. I am admittedly taking some liberty with the text, but I like Asahel, and I wish he would have lived. I wish that he could have been a captain in David’s army and fought further battles. I wish that he would have stopped to get that armor and lived another day, but that wasn’t God’s plan for his life. God’s plan for his life was that he would pour out his heart on the battlefield.
For you and I though, we need to make sure that we clothe ourselves in the armor of God as we engage in warfare with our enemy. We have to understand that we are fighting a spiritual, not a physical fight and the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God (2 Corinthians 10:4):
Don’t let vain imaginations get in your way as you fight this fight. What is a vain imagination? It could be many things, but at its core it’s a lie from Satan.
Lies that say that you’re not really changed
You’re children won’t serve the Lord
You will die from that disease
Your marriage won’t make it
You can’t win this battle
Casting down vain imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself above the knowledge of God
Your weapons aren’t carnal/ worldly! They’re spiritual. Pick up that shield of faith, pick up that sword of the Spirit and stand on the truth of the word of God. Quit building your house on shifting sand. That’s all this world has to offer is shifting sand. Build your house on the rock that is Jesus.
Yeah, I wish Asahel would have picked up some armor and lived. I would have liked to have heard more stories about his leadership in battle, but that wasn’t God’s will for his life. But I will say this, “Both physically and spiritually, I want to die like Asahel. He died on the battlefield. Not only that but he died with his heart literally poured out.
Let’s take note of some of the thoughts about his pursuit:
1. He had one purpose— put the right king on the throne. What could the body of Christ do for the Lord if all His people made that the purpose of their heart. “Start with me Lord! I put you on the throne of my heart. I want you and you alone to reign in me, and now Lord fill up my brothers and sisters with your Spirit and a knowledge of your truth that they could live for you.” Teach me Lord to learn how to truly prefer my brother and sister more than myself. It’s your will for me to love them like you loved me. Let it be more than just lip service. Teach me how to have the same mind in me that was in you (Phil 2:5)
2. The scripture says that he didn’t turn to the right or the left. I counted at least 13 times that the Bible talked about staying the straight path and not turning to the left or the right.
We’ve learned how to—trust in His finished work, but what about reverence? The fear of God, the aww of God, by the grace of God not turning to the right or left and running the straight course?
Hebrews 12:12-14
Proverbs 4:26-27
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Asahel didn’t just walk a straight path he ran it full blast to preserve God’s will
3. He wasn’t interested in preserving his own will.
Matthew 20:25-28
25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Everybody wants to be the boss and everybody wants to be seen. Every last one of us at some point and time in this Christian journey will get in the way of God’s will for our lives and the lives of others. Asahel wasn’t worried about his career, he wasn’t concerned about preserving his own life. He was on the battlefield serving his king!
4. Asahel was ready to die for this purpose. The Christian life as we have been discussing is all about dying to self. Simply stated, He died for us and our flesh must die for Him.
An ongoing spiritual tug of war where the Holy Spirit is constantly revealing to us the uncleanness of our hearts. Once you think your sanctified today, you will realize next year that there were other things that you didn’t even realize were there before. If you know that you’re wrong and refuse to humble yourself:
1 Peter 5:5-6
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
One of the hardest things is to humble yourself to God, no really humble yourself. Because it’s one thing to humble yourself to God, but nearly every time I’ve done that, He asks me to humble myself to man. And man doesn’t want to make himself vulnerable to man because it makes him feel weak, but it’s really based in fear and a lack of faith that God isn’t big enough to get you through the situation. “I can’t do that. They will think I was wrong. I will look small in man’s eyes.” This is all a part of dying to self my friend. It’s more than the obvious things. It’s attitudes and mindsets and deep seeded personality flaws, insecurities from our past and we’re trying to preserve and protect self. No, self must die and then Christ can be formed in us:
You can’t have resurrection power if you don’t die with Him. You might have something, but if you’re not dying, it’s not what God is offering:
Philippians 3:10
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
But with all that said, that is spiritual death. The death that we so often talk about. But Asahel died a physical death. He loved not his own life even unto death.
And that is what it will require if you’re ever faced with the real enemy that is trying to take the throne of your King. And you must know that is what he wants and he will not stop until he’s thrown into the pit or we die fighting the good fight of faith:
Revelation 12:11
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.