More on The 12th Man

This afternoon while Luke and Katie were napping, I was doing the last day of my Bible study homework.  We have been studying David for the past 10 weeks and have read many of the Psalms that he wrote.  Today we read Psalm 110.  My new Bible (that I agonized over for a month before finding the right one) is the NIV Student Bible and includes insights on various verses as well as a list of 100 people you should know.

Anyway, the insight for Psalm 110:4 describes the football game in which E. King Gill dressed out and stood on the sidelines, ready to go in if Coach Bible (coincidence?  I think not!) needed him.  So now I am wondering what in the world this has to do with David.  Well, verse 4 mentions a man named Melchizedek that the authors of this version of the Bible describe as "the twelfth man", someone who came from "out of nowhere" but had a major impact.  He is mentioned only 3 times in the Bible:  once in Genesis as a priest of Abraham's, here in Psalms as he refers to the Messiah that the Israelites are expecting and finally in Hebrews as a leader and king who showed the kind of leader that Christ was to be.

I just can't help wondering what traditions we would have at A&M if E. King Gill had not appeared from "out of nowhere" to help.  I also wonder would have happened if Melchizedek had not had such a profound affect on Abraham, the man God chose to represent Him to the world.