David and all the Israelites marched to Jerusalem (that is, Jebus). The Jebusites who lived there said to David, “You will not get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.
David had said, “Whoever leads the attack on the Jebusites will become commander in chief.” Joab son of Zeruiah went up first, and so he received the command.
David then took up residence in the fortress, and so it was called the City of David. He built up the city around it, from the terraces to the surrounding wall, while Joab restored the rest of the city. And David became more and more powerful, because the Lord Almighty was with him.

• 1 Chronicles 11:4-9

Three of the thirty chiefs came down to David to the rock at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. David longed for water and said, “Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!” So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David. But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out to the Lord. “God forbid that I should do this!” he said. “Should I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives?” Because they risked their lives to bring it back, David would not drink it.
Such were the exploits of the three mighty warriors.

• 1 Chronicles 11:15-19

These are two vastly different Scriptures from the same chapter.  The first speaks of how Joab became the commander of David’s army.  Joab was a nephew of David, a son of David’s sister.  But David left it up to whomever led the army into Jerusalem to take the city from the Jebusites.

Already, Joab had murdered Abner, Saul’s commander of his army.  Joab is a ruthless warrior.  He would kill Absalom, but then side against David’s choice of Solomon as king by joining forces with Adonijah.  While just casually reading these war stories, or murder stories in some cases, Joab looks like a blood thirsty person who ran amok.  But Abner presented a threat to David.  If there was someone from the other tribes who could stand up to David, Abner could take the army with him.  But would he have done so?  The wheeling and dealing of Abner gives the impression that Abner was protecting Abner.  While he may not have had a reason to betray David, he had no specific loyalty to him, while Joab was a nephew of the king.

Absalom had to be killed to protect David against David.  Absalom had his brother Amnon killed, and David forgave him.  Absalom burned Joab’s barley field to get Joab’s attention, and Absalom had not paid for that crime either.  David quickly forgave Absalom.  Then Absalom turned the people against David with some carefully made promises and lies.  Joab killed Absalom so that David would not forgive him again.

Then, Joab had been complicit in the murder of Uriah, so maybe he did not want Solomon to be king, but only at this point did he go against the best interests of David, politically.

The second Scripture talks of the great warriors of David.  Joab is not mentioned.  Was Joab simply the commander, and not a skilled warrior, or being the commander, he had no need to prove himself a good warrior?

But the story talks of David wishing to have a drink of water from a specific location.  Three of David’s greatest warriors broke free of the Philistines and went to the well to get water for David just because he wished for the water.  Then he would not drink it because his men risked their lives for it.

The phrase of “your wish is my command” is said to be from the tales of Aladdin.  The original story is ages old, but the first book was written in 1704, One Thousand and One Nights.  Yet, the concept dates back to these verses in 1 Chronicles 11.

I was taught to never wish for anything out loud around those under my command.  They would take this as a command and do what was necessary to get the wish granted.

I thought the comment during training was a myth, but as a platoon leader, I was handed a construction site with an impossible goal.  I was over budget when I inherited the project.  Other than a few buckets of paint, the Facilities Engineer would not grant any construction materials request.  We bought a few parts on the German economy, but we needed a grounding tape for the exterior lighting.  We were going to be inspected in the morning, and we would flunk the inspection due to the missing metal strip, about an inch wide that circled the entirety of the project.  My platoon sergeant started asking me questions.  It became irritating in that he never got the answer he wanted from me.  He kept rephrasing the question to get the answer he wanted.  Finally, I said, “Sure, Sarge, I wish we had the grounding tape, but we do not, and we do not have the money to buy it.”

The next day, I got a call that one of my troops had a bad illness overnight and he was at the local hospital.  While my platoon sergeant went to the project to continue work, I had to wait next to a side exit of the hospital and about an hour later, my soldier came out, not looking sick at all.

I arrived at the project just as the inspector left.  I asked why was the trench being filled in.  All the troops were busy shoveling dirt.  I never got to see what was in the trench.  My platoon sergeant told me that we passed the inspection.  I asked how that could happen?

My platoon sergeant said, “Sir, you do not ask such questions.  You have no need to know.”

At that moment a military pickup and an MP Jeep drove up behind me.

A civilian got out of the truck, mad as fire.  “Lieutenant, your men stole my banding strap.  I can’t prove it, but they did.  Have you seen it?”

I replied, “Sir, I have no idea who you are but I have seen no banding strap on my project.”  It turned out that he ran the railroad depot that was on the base and he tied down loads on the railcars with thick banding strap.  He had two coils just delivered the day before and they were gone.  I said, “I have seen nothing like that here, Sir.  You say you have no proof.  How was it stolen?  Isn’t your fence ten feet high topped with triple concertina wire and electrified?  Do you see a lockpick expert among my men?”

The civilian threw a minor tantrum, but the MPs said they had no proof.  It could be anyone on the base.  The two vehicles drove away, with one very angry civilian.

Then my platoon sergeant said, “You did a fine job of being a good officer, Sir.  I have two interesting bits of trivia for you, now that we have avoided those people with no evidence.  One tidbit is that banding strap is almost exactly like grounding tape, close enough for the inspector anyway. The other tidbit is that our deuce-n-half driver was his state champion in the pole vault three years in a row.”

I asked, “And these trivia tidbits are not connected at all?”

My Platoon Sergeant said, “No connection that I can make, Sir.”

But I had made the mistake.  I wished for something, and my troops did everything they could do to make it happen. My training was correct. An officer’s wish indeed was a command.

The statute of limitations is long gone, or did I make up the story?  My platoon sergeant passed away nearly fifteen years ago.  And I have no idea what happened to the deuce-n-half driver.  He was a very good soldier. But as the photo suggests, it takes three sergeants to watch him do the maintenance on his truck.

Note: A Deuce-n-half was probably one of the best trucks the army ever had, if well maintained.  It’s name comes from having a two and one half ton design capacity.

David did not drink the water because his “wish” may have led to his own men losing their lives.  The guilt weighed upon his heart because he realized they would do anything for him.

Have a Memorable Memorial Day.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.