No Stand, No Serve

“All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David king.” (1Ch 12:38 AV)

There is not place in the king’s army for those who cannot keep rank.  If you don’t know what that means, it means those who can stay in line and advance the line without cowering under fire, tucking tail, and running away.  One can go through basic training.  One can train in the skills of battle.  One can march with his unit.  One can show proficiency in battle skills far and above his peers.  But if he cannot keep rank, he is worse than of no value.  He would become a discouragement to those of lesser skill.  He would become the reason others would fail.  The soldier with the greatest value is not necessarily the one who can shoot out to a thousand yards.  He is the one who can keep rank.

There are times when the bullets are flying that we feel we cannot take it anymore.  Several years ago, I was privileged to go to a machine gun shoot at Knob’s Creek, KY.  I would encourage any able-bodied soul to take at least one trip to such an outing. Even if firearms are not your thing, you can learn a lot from the experience.   This gun range is cut into an old rock quarry.  They have a firing line that is about fifty to seventy-five feet long.  A shooter can pay a fee to enter the firing line and fire upon all sorts of objects laid out in the quarry.  The particular morning, I was there, there had to be at least one hundred shooters all lined up.  The fire arms ranged from handguns all the way up to Barret .50 cal semi-automatic and even included a cannon.  At the stroke of 9:00 am, the range master gave the command to open fire.  Every shooter unloaded their firearm at the same time.  This went on for a good half-hour or more until the range master gave the command to cease fire.  That experience would be the closest I would ever be to real combat and was an eye opener for me as to what our military goes through on a daily basis.  I couldn’t bear the percussion of this firestorm for very long.  I had to walk away.  It was too overwhelming.

When we are in the battle for the LORD, there can be no breaking rank.  No matter how much mortar there might be flying over our heads, we cannot break rank.  No matter how much we may not like the intensity of the battle, do not break rank.  Benedict Arnold is known for only one thing.  Not his bravery, but his cowardice.  If we want to serve, we have to learn to stand first.