16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD.
2 Samuel 23:16
The water David’s mighty men brought him would not only have quenched David’s physical thirst; it would have quenched the thirst of his deflated ego, and it could have satisfied his emotions. The water was David’s greatest need at that time, but he gave it away. Someone may say, “I bought this car because I needed it; I just built this house because I needed it.” What is that thing that you need? Like David, you desired it and you got it. You may even have gotten it by a miracle. Just like Abraham got Isaac by a miracle, yet in obedience to God, he was willing to sacrifice him (Genesis 22:1-13). You too can give to God what you needed and received by a miracle.
David needed the water his men brought to him, but he was acting by revelation when he gave the water as an offering to God. It was not a random event. It was a lifestyle for the man who lived after the heart of God. We know this because in the very next chapter, when David was instructed to build an altar for God, he went to meet Araunah who had all the materials he needed to build the altar. When he told Araunah he needed the materials to build an altar for God, Araunah said, he would give David everything he needed free of charge, but David refused. In 2 Samuel 24:24, the Bible records: “Then the king said to Araunah, ‘No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which costs me nothing.’ So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”
David could have said, “This is a miracle! I don’t have to spend my money.” Just like the water he offered to God cost him the satisfaction of his thirst, David knew this offering had to cost him something. He said, “No! This is for God. I will pay for everything.” The lesson is this: like David, you must be willing to make sacrifices in order to honour God.
Confession:
Father, I will give unto You that which costs me much. You have already given me Your best, and so nothing is too costly for me to give unto You – even if it is some- thing that meets a need in my life.