Gideon’s 300 Chosen Men
7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose early and camped beside [a]the spring of Harod; and the camp of Midian was on the north side of [b]them by the hill of Moreh in the valley.
2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel [c]would become boastful, saying, ‘My own [d]power has delivered me.’ 3 Now therefore [e]come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.
4 Then the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.” 6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his [f]home.” 8 So [g]the 300 men took the people’s provisions and their trumpets into their hands. And [h]Gideon sent all the other men of Israel, each to his tent, but retained the 300 men; and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
When there is someone who seems to want all the attention for doing great things, we sometimes call them a “glory hog”. It seems from this passage that God is a “glory hog”, but it’s in a good way. First, He deserves it. Every victory, all our strength, our very life breath, is from Him.
But secondly, it protects us from pride. The vice of pride is a deadly trap, one that we fall into far too easily. As Solomon said, it goes before a fall and destruction, and that’s not something any of us wants in our lives.
We see this in professional sports also. When a team gets a bit too big for their britches, they crumble and fall apart. They got to thinking they were so much better than the other team, forgetting that the other team is full of professionals also, and then they get beat, sometimes shamefully.
So when you achieve something grand, and have great success, or even in the small triumphs of life, remember Him. Remember that God is the source of everything good in your life. Remember to give Him credit, to give glory to whom it is due. And definitely don’t be a “glory hog”, it could be your downfall. Besides, that’s God’s job!