In 2 Samuel 23:11–12 we meet Shammah, one of David’s mighty men, whose brief but powerful story teaches that faithfulness in small things invites divine victory. When the Philistines gathered to seize a field of lentils and the people fled, Shammah stood his ground. What others saw as insignificant, God saw as sacred. That patch of lentils represented covenant blessing—provision from the Lord—and Shammah refused to surrender it. Alone, he stood in the midst of the field and defended it, and Scripture says, “the Lord wrought a great victory.” His courage reminds us that no part of God’s inheritance is too small to protect. If the enemy can rob us of a single “lentil field”—a little prayer life, a bit of faith, a moment of holiness—he will take greater ground next. Shammah’s victory was not the result of strength but of trust; he relied on God’s power rather than human might. Like Jehoshaphat, who heard, “the battle is not yours but God’s” (2 Chron 20:15), Shammah discovered that divine strength is perfected in weakness. His faith echoes Paul’s exhortation to “stand” in Ephesians 6:13 and the servant’s reward in Matthew 25:21: faithfulness in little things leads to rulership over much. For us, the lentil field may be our integrity, our family, our prayer life, or our witness in a dark world. To abandon it is to yield to fear; to defend it is to declare that God’s promises are worth every struggle. Courage rooted in obedience turns ordinary ground into holy territory, for “the Lord thy God… will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deut 31:6). Shammah’s stand teaches that every believer is called to guard the ground God has entrusted—trusting that when we stand firm, God Himself will bring the victory.
