Not to the King

Josiah squinted. Flies buzzed around him. One bit his ear. He resisted flinching. The dry bush that loomed over him scratched. He didn’t move. Sweat stung his eyes. Didn’t matter. The king had sent him to keep watch on the Philistine camp, and he couldn’t be spotted. 

Except maybe now no one would pay attention to him. Chaos had broken out in the enemy camp. Men fought each other. A cooking fire got out of control; at least two tents were ablaze. Troops fled the camp. 

And if they were fleeing, this was the chance Israel needed to strike back at the invaders. Josiah couldn’t see the cause of the chaos, but it didn’t really matter. They could take advantage of it. 

Josiah crawled backwards out of the bush. The flies continued buzzing around him. He finally made it to the edge of the hill and slid down the far side out of sight of the Philistines. He ran along the network of ravines until he made it back to the Israelite camp. He scrambled up to where the king was stationed under a pomegranite tree. 

“Oh king, live forever!” Josiah called. “The Philistine camp is in chaos! Now’s the time to attack.” 

Saul rose to his feet. “What do you mean?” 

Josiah shrugged. “Perhaps the Lord has caused panic to strike them!” 

“Or perhaps one of the men has attacked when I didn’t give the command.” Saul turned to his general. “Muster the forces. See who has left us.” 

Josiah stood awkwardly. Saul was concerned about who was missing, when it was time to attack? 

It didn’t take long to find out who was missing, though. It didn’t take long to count 600 men. “Jonathon and his armor-bearer are missing,” reported the general. 

The prince had led the attack! Surely this was a good sign. Now it was time to attack! Josiah waited for the command of his king. 

Saul, though, stood and considered. He frowned. “Bring the Ark of the Covenant. We must enquire of the Lord,” he said. 

Was… was the king stalling? 

Beneniah, another lookout, rushed into the camp. “Oh king, live forever! The Philistines are in turmoil! Now is the time to attack!” 

Saul narrowed his eyes. The priest arrived with the Ark. 

Noah, another lookout, stumbled into camp heaving for breath. “Oh king, live forever! The Philistines are abandoning their camp! Now is our chance!” 

Saul lifted his hand to the priest. “Enough.” 

The priest blinked. He hadn’t done anything yet. 

The king turned to his general. “Tell our forces it’s time to attack.” 

Six hundred men marched toward the Philistine camp. By the time they’d made it down the second hill, a hundred more marched with them. By the time they reached the remains of the enemy encampment, three hundred more had joined them. By the time the battle was joined, they were more than twice what they’d started with. 

Israelites had abandoned their own forces to hide in caves. But when victory looked possible, they rejoined the men. Some had gone over to the enemy. Now they rushed to join their countrymen. 

And Josiah was there through it all. He saw the Philistines fall and flee. He saw his countrymen cheer in the victory. He saw that Saul frowned the entire time. 

And he learned something: Victory didn’t belong to the king. Not to someone who was more concerned about who got credit, someone who was so indecisive. 

The four types of constipation are primary, secondary, irritable bowel getting viagra in australia syndrome and congenital. You can generic viagra store djpaulkom.tv purchaser the medicine through the website in cheaper rate. This medicine does not stop the spread of the various dysfunctions tadalafil online caused by diabetes. Age is probably one of the factors accountable for formulating erectile dysfunction whereas the pathological cause is purchase viagra without prescription insufficient blood flow.

No. Victory belonged to the Lord. 

This story is based on I Samuel 14:15-23