Some brave and experienced warriors from the tribe of Gad also defected to David while he was at the stronghold in the wilderness. They were expert with both shield and spear, as fierce as lions and as swift as deer on the mountains.

Ezer was their leader.
Obadiah was second.
Eliab was third.
Mishmannah was fourth.
Jeremiah was fifth.
Attai was sixth.
Eliel was seventh.
Johanan was eighth.
Elzabad was ninth.
Jeremiah was tenth.
Macbannai was eleventh.

These warriors from Gad were army commanders. The weakest among them could take on a hundred regular troops, and the strongest could take on a thousand! These were the men who crossed the Jordan River during its seasonal flooding at the beginning of the year and drove out all the people living in the lowlands on both the east and west banks.

Others from Benjamin and Judah came to David at the stronghold. David went out to meet them and said, “If you have come in peace to help me, we are friends. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies when I am innocent, then may the God of our ancestors see it and punish you.”

Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, the leader of the Thirty, and he said,

“We are yours, David!
We are on your side, son of Jesse.
Peace and prosperity be with you,
and success to all who help you,
for your God is the one who helps you.”

So David let them join him, and he made them officers over his troops.

1 Chronicles 12:8-18

So David escaped from Saul and went to King Achish of Gath.
1 Samuel 21:10

• David is on the run from King Saul. 
• David will be the king. 
• God will guide David. 
• God will protest David. 
• One way God protects David is by sending him loyal men. 
• The men who served David were mighty because they responded to God’s call on their lives. 
• The men who served David were mighty because they served God’s anointed King David at great risk to themselves. 
• Stepping forward to serve showed faith. 
• The Holy Spirit grows your faith when you step forward to serve Him. 
• We serve God in faith or our works are meaningless. 
• Hebrews 11:6
• When we trust God and step out in faith, He will grow our faith. 
• John 14:26, John 15:26, Romans 10:17
• We trust in God, not powerful people. 
• Psalm 146:3
• 1 Corinthians 2:14
• Faith is a journey. 
• We are not alone. 
• We are not growing our own faith. 
• God gives us faith. 
• God guides our faith. 
• God grows our faith…from glory to glory!
• So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
  2 Corinthians 3:18

Let God grow your faith.