The fine line between confidence and overconfidence (and what that has to do with Michael Jordan and mountain lions) – 2 Samuel 23:8–39, Part 4

I was a teen in the early 1990s when Michael Jordan was leading the Chicago Bulls to their first of two three-peats as NBA champions. I watched Michael Jordan avidly, and on my home’s driveway where we had a hoop, I tried to mimic his moves. I played for my small private Christian school’s middle school basketball team, and after middle school I transferred to my local, much larger, public school. My public school’s basketball team was excellent, and I was intimidated to even try out, so my sports focus turned to soccer.

Still, I continued to practice basketball on my own. I loved the artistry and athleticism of the game, and I came to believe I was pretty good. In fact, I dreamed that if the circumstances were right, I could score on Michael Jordan.  I was serious.  I really thought that.  By the way, have you heard that the human male brain is not fully developed until age 25? 

As the account of David’s mighty men continues in 2 Samuel 23, we meet two more important soldiers in verses 18–23, Abishai and Benaiah. Both men were extremely powerful soldiers. I suspect one of them was not yet 25 years old. Though the account doesn’t give us their ages, I think you’ll see what I mean.

Abishai entered the story of David many times previously. For example, Abishai was with David when David had the opportunity to kill Saul, but didn’t. Abishai stood by David when David’s son Absalom rebelled against David. In 2 Samuel 23 we now learn that Abishai is commander of The Three. Remember The Three? The Three were the group of super-soldiers that I introduced in this post. Though Abishai is not one of The Three, his amazing feats in battle make him as famous as they are. One time, the narrator tells us, Abishai killed 300 men in one battle. Perhaps because of Abishai’s stature as a general in David’s army, David places Abishai as commander of The Three, the most elite fighting squad in his military. Abishai is not the one I’m thinking is under 25.

That distinction goes to Benaiah. Benaiah’s name has come up a few times in the account of David’s monarchy, but this is the first we are learning any stories about Benaiah.  Though he is not part of The Three, Benaiah is a super-soldier in his own right. He defeats opponents who are much more imposing than he. Then the narrator tells us that Benaiah went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.  There is so much detail packed into that one sentence.  Think about that.  He went down into a pit, on a snowy day, and killed a lion.  What. The. World.   

I wonder if Benaiah had some of the male hubris clouding his thoughts when on that snowy day he decided to jump in the pit with a lion.  Why didn’t he just kill it by dropping heavy rocks on it? Why not just shoot it with arrows? Why jump in the pit with the lion?

This was not a massive African lion, but it was likely a mountain lion. Much smaller. It makes little difference to me, however. Mountain lion or African lion, I am not jumping down into a pit to try to kill it in close quarters. Especially on a snowy day when conditions could be more slippery. (Not to mention, why is a lion in a pit in the first place? Was there news of a mountain lion creating havoc in the area, and they were trying to trap it? Was this pit a trap for another kind of animal, or perhaps for enemy soldiers? So many questions!)

No matter about the kind of lion or snowy conditions, Benaiah jumps in! Were the other soldiers in The Three coaxing each other like males sometimes do, “I bet you won’t jump down there and kill that lion?” Whether peer pressure or the undeveloped male brain or hubris, I have to hand it Benaiah. There is something amazing about his confidence.  When you think you can do something, you often just do it.  And he did.  In 1 Kings, we will learn that Benaiah will go on to become commander of the Army.  I wish we knew more about Benaiah.  Was his confidence in the Lord?  The narrator doesn’t tell us.

It is, however, a good question. Is your confidence in the Lord? What does it mean to place your confidence in him?

If you look at the rest of the chapter, 2 Samuel 23, verses 24–39, you’ll see a list of the rest of David’s Mighty men, a group called The Thirty. I’m not going to comment on the list of The Thirty because the narrator only gives us their names.  With one exception, the very last soldier in the list.  In verse 39, we read about Uriah the Hittite.  Remember him?  We know him.  Uriah was Bathsheba’s wife!  Bathsheba was the woman who David wanted so badly, he possibly raped her, got her pregnant, and to cover it up he had her husband Uriah killed in battle. Read Emily Marks’ excellent week of guest blogs on David, Bathsheba and Uriah, starting here.

In the final post on 2 Samuel 23, tomorrow, we talk about how we might tie these stories together in a way that can apply to our lives.

Photo by Robert Sachowski on Unsplash