Not of Double Heart

I Chronicles 10-12

Before I started using this platform, I wrote a Facebook post devotion about Saul's demise and David's ascension to the throne of Israel. Some of you have read that, so I will not go into great detail about this. I will do a quick summary of the text today however.

In chapter 10, we read about Saul and his sons dying in combat. Saul did not die from his initial wounds, but knew he could not escape due to them. Rather than be tortured by the Philistines, he asked his armor bearer to kill him. When the armor bearer would not, Saul fell on his own sword. When the bodies were found, the Philistines took the head of Saul, and his armor, back to their idol temple. A group of men from Jabesh-gilead covertly went in and took the heads of Saul and his sons, and brought them back to Jabesh-gilead, where they were buried.

Chapters 11-12 tell us about David's mighty men and leaders in his army. When Saul died, Israel made David king. What the text tells us is that many of these men followed David before he became king. They joined his ranks when he was on the run from Saul. Because of their loyalty then, David made them leaders in his army when he became king.

The title comes from I Chronicles 12:33.

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Of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double heart.

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I love this verse! These men were faithful to David because, in their minds, there was only one choice. Failure in a mission was not an option. Their brother might fall, but they would hold the line. They did not break rank.

There are few feelings worse than the betrayal you feel when you are in a hostile situation, one in which you very well could be hurt or killed, and you look around for those who are supposed to have your back, and they are nowhere to be found. They have broke rank. They have fled because their mind was not single. Running was indeed an option for them, and it was the option they chose. Not so with the men of Zebulun! They stayed the course and were loyal to their king and the brother in arms beside them.

James had something to say about this. James wrote, "A double minded man is unstable in all his ways" (James 1:8). The word translated "double minded" is "dipsychos" or di-psyche. The prefix "di" means two. "Psyche" means mind. So a psychologist is someone who studies the mind. di-psychos means two minds.

James said that someone who is double minded is unstable in everything they do. They may say one thing one minute and the opposite the next. They may tell you one thing, and do the opposite. You cannot rely on them. We don't want to take this too general though. Let's keep it in the context of what James was talking about.

James was talking about faith and asking God for wisdom. What he was saying was, don't ask God for wisdom, but in your heart you don't really believe he will give it to you. If you ask, believe that God will indeed give you wisdom. That is the faith part! Faith is trusting God to do what he said he would do. If God said that he would give you wisdom, then, if you ask, he will give you wisdom.

Just as the men of Zebulun were single hearted in their commitment to David, we are to be the same with God. Just as they fought battles side by side with their brothers in arms, we are to do the same with our brothers and sisters in Christ. The church is to have the same mind and be in unity.The Apostle Paul wrote:

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Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.

I Corinthians 1:10

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While we are different people, with different ideas and ways of doing things, we cannot let our differences divide us. I will end with this story.

Toward the end of my time as a correctional officer, I was on the Tactical Squad. We went to other facilities and conducted cell searches, urinalysis, and helped with other problems. We were also trained for civilian riot control, which required training.

At one of these training exercises, we were divided by agencies (Corrections and GA State Patrol). We took turns being the rioters and law enforcement. When it was our turn to put into practice our training as law enforcement, we geared up and took our place. On our squad, we had a young woman who was small in stature. It became obvious from the beginning that she was the target of the "rioters" because they assumed she was the weakest link in our line. There were two problems in their thought process. First, she was of a single heart and kept rank. Second, we (her other squad members) were single-minded. We did not doubt her. This meant that we did not break rank (our line) to run to her assistance, but while maintaining our line, we absolutely helped her. We treated her just like any other squad member, which is what she would have wanted. She stayed in the fight, we stayed in the fight, and together, we accomplished our mission.

That is the job of the church. There is a line to hold. There are ranks to maintain. This is the reason for the church. Being a Christian in not a call to be a lone wolf. We are called to fight this fight together. We support one another. We train one another. We hold each other accountable. We do not abandon our brother or sister in their time of need. We are to be like the men of Zebulun, and "not of double heart".