An Expensive Cup of Water

And David said with longing, "Oh, that someone would give me a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!" So the three 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 David would not drink it, but poured it out to the LORD. And he said, "Far be it from me, O my God, that I should do this! Shall I drink the blood of these men who have put their lives in jeopardy? For at the risk of their lives they brought it." Therefore he would not drink it. These things were done by the three mighty men.
(1 Chronicles 11:17-19)

In God’s economy value and exchange are not like the world's. Remember when the woman poured expensive ointment on Jesus’ feet? It puzzled and even angered certain people that something so expensive would be so blatantly “wasted.”

But Jesus commended her. She was being led by the Spirit of God to do what she did.

This woman was not conscious of her faith or of being led by the Spirit. She was only conscious of her love for Jesus. This was undoubtedly her most precious possession poured out as an act of worship, not waste.

When I read of the three men standing before David, tired, out of breath, wanting David to drink and quench his own thirst with the water from Bethlehem’s well that they had risked their lives to obtain, it is not hard to imagine the look of shock and dismay on their faces when it was purposely poured out on the ground right in front of them. “How can David place so little value on our gift to him?” they may have thought. They may have exchanged hurtful glances.

But David’s motive for dumping the cup was not sadistic. David was not a crazy man. This was a demonstration of total selflessness, trust in God, and worship. The scripture says David poured it out “to the Lord.” This was an act of faith, an offering.

Years before he had been anointed as king over all of the land in that area, including the well of Bethlehem.

David was accustomed to offering his best to God. He had been uprooted and running for years now and saw an opportunity to break the cycle of bondage. As he stared at the water in the cup in his hand, he knew that to satisfy his own thirst, belch and say “thank you” would demean the value of the gift. By pouring it out (to the Lord), he was actually increasing its value. In a similar way the Israelites bring the very best of their crops and flocks and “waste” them as burnt offerings unto God.

A person who does not understand the power of sacrificial offerings to break spiritual bondages would see that this was poor leadership on the part of David, that it was probably demoralizing to his troops. But in reality David was honoring and memorializing the lives of those brave soldiers for all time. David’s act of faith and devotion to God and his bold leadership soon won him the unbending loyalty of those men, and the promised kingdom, that included that same well in the city that became known as the “City of David.”