My Forefather Was a Cave Man

“David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.” 1 Sam 24:3
“Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let your glory be above all the earth” Ps 57:5 _{A Michtam of David when he fled from Saul into the cave.}

David wrote some of his best Psalms while living deep in the belly of caves. Obviously, these damp, dank caverns did not inspire his adoration. Exalting God must never be restricted to days when all is cheery and comfortable. The cave man who walks in the footsteps of David blesses the Lord at all times, His praise is continually in his mouth…yes, even when fleeing from a crazed and murderous foe, only to make his rocky bed along side snakes, scorpions, and scoundrels.

Those same scoundrels—straggling gangs of rejects and misfits (1 Sam 22:1-2)—could not have imagined that they were about to transformed into the first in a long line of Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s special forces, the most feared on earth. Armed at first with slingshots and ass jawbones (First Gen Galil rifles and Lotar tactical knives!), they sure got the job done. Seriously impressive!

Weapons are the hardware of warfare; but it’s the software of character that is the true mettle of champions. Even the best training does not produce a man who will fight like Eleazar did when his hand “stuck to the sword” as he single-handedly defeated scores of Philistines in battle (2 Sam 23:9-10). Dedication, submission, teamwork, fortitude, and courage are not addenda in a military handbook; they are at its core. They are forged not in the classroom, but through the anvils of hard knocks, grit and a never-give-up spirit. They are branded upon the heart of the tested.

Life lessons—those defining moments that stake exclusive claims upon our personalities and priorities—are deposited uniquely during cave encounters. Consider the hour when David had his cruel nemesis trapped. Having taken refuge in a cave as Saul’s three-thousand-strong elite force pursued him, David snuck up behind the unsuspecting king as he had providentially entered the cavity to relieve himself. Lesser men would have wielded daggers of anger and retribution against the man who had senselessly tried to spear him–not once but two times. David chose to honor and forgive. Even clipping the skirt of Saul’s robe stuck in David’s craw.

It was not possible for any of the distressed, debt-ridden, and discontented ragtag recruits in David’s band to witness this supreme act of benevolence and not come under conviction and be changed. How could they find space in their spirits to hold grudges, justify bitterness, or harbor revenge when their captain had just raised the standard of a man so strikingly high right before their eyes?

Nearly one thousand years after David, another man entered a cave, but this time for you and me. After being stripped and minced by beatings, then nailed and flailed by His hands and feet to gruesome planks of wood, the bloodied and breathless Captain of our souls was sealed in a cave in apparent defeat. From His shamed perch atop Calvary, he did not complain or cast blame. Receiving no mercy, He extended mercy. Mocked, in return he blessed. Condemned, he decreed pardons to prisoners and captives everywhere and for all time.

This empty cave now stands as the unrivaled climax of mankind’s tumultuous and rebellious story. It screams, “Mercy wins!” In awe, we venture into it like David’s fragmented fighters had come to Adullam’s chasm in the foothills of ancient Judah. Now, we too have become witnesses…of Him who burst forth from this grave, the only One to have ever lived completely above reproach, exalted as the only perfect Model of excellence, charity and selflessness. As David’s mighty men ran at his side into battle, let us pursue Jesus with all that is within us, not shunning the cross and tomb, but letting it do a work in us, even as it worked in our beloved Captain.

“It was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” Heb 2:10