1 SAMUEL 30
OPENS WITH....DAVID'S DISTRESS OVER THE ATTACK OF THE AMALEKITES ON ZIKLAG.
Verses 1-2 tell us Ziklag is plundered by the Amalekites.
"Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way."
It CERTAINLY HAPPENED, but it didn't happen by accident. God had a purpose for all of this in David's life.
ON THE THIRD DAY...indicates that David and his men covered about twenty-five miles a day on the march south from Aphek to Ziklag, where they would have arrived tired, hungry and expecting all the comforts for a welcome home.
While David and his men were to the north trying to join the Philistine army, their own city of Ziklag was unguarded. The opportunistic Amalekites took advantage of the defenseless city, attacked it, and burned it to the ground.
FAR WORSE...the Amalekites had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great. Not only was the city burned, but all their women and children were taken away.
There is a touch of the LORD's poetic justice in all this.
WHY?
David had brought this exact calamity on other cities. 1 Samuel 27:8-11 says during his time among the Philistines, David made his living as a bandit, robbing cities and whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive. The Amalekites were being more merciful than David had been!
THINK ABOUT THIS...
God, who is great in mercy, does not discipline us as much as we deserve. Like a compassionate father, He tempers the stroke of His hand with kindness and love, AMEN?!
Verses 3-6 tells us David and his men come upon the empty, burned city.
"So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God."
As DAVID AND HIS MEN came within a few miles of their city, the hearts of David and his men must have brightened. They were discouraged that they had NOT been allowed to fight with the Philistines; they are soldiers, and soldiers want to fight! But at least they knew they were coming home, and home meant all their familiar surroundings, and all their families. But that bright thought quickly turned black as night.
Even off in the distance they could see something was wrong. Smoke rose from their city, but it was NOT the smoke of cooking fires. It was too much smoke for that, and the smoke was too black. When they came to the city and saw it was a ghost town, a pile of burned rubble, with no voice of the survivors, it seemed that everything was lost.
THEY ALL WEPT...
All had been lost. At this point, David has nothing more to support him. No one in Israel can help him. The Philistines do not want him. His family is gone; all he has owned is gone. But at least he has his friends, right? Not really; the people spoke of stoning him. Every support is gone, except the LORD. That is a good place to be in, not a bad place.
AND DAVID WEPT because he KNEW that he was responsible for it. No wonder David was greatly distressed. He is about as low in his backslidden state as a man can be; David is like the prodigal son who now sits in the pigpen.
But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God...
It took a lot to bring David to this place, but now he is here - God is his only strength.
This was backslidden David, wayward David, "fight with the Philistines" David. Why would God strengthen him? Because God is rich in mercy and grace, and because David was now completely broken, ready to be filled. Sometimes we think we have to achieve God's blessing or strength, but David shows us another way.
HOW?
David RECEIVED the strength, and felt it flow through himself, and was bold enough to ask for it and receive it from God. Before this, he did NOT see himself as weak, but after coming home to a burned-out ghost town, David KNEW he was weak and needed God's strength.
David ALSO STRENGTHENED HIMSELF in the LORD his God.
He did NOT wait for someone else to strengthen him. He did not say, "Well LORD, if You want to strengthen me, that's fine. I'll just wait here until You do it." David KNEW that the LORD's strength was there for those who wait upon Him, so he strengthened himself in the LORD his God. God's strength was there for David ALL the time, but now he TAKES IT for himself and will strengthen himself in the LORD his God.
MAKE NO MISTAKE, this was NOT, as some teach and preach, a MASS POSITIVE AFFIRMATION THERAPY SESSION. There was NO PEP RALLY, NO REPETITIVE mantras of I AM GREAT, I AM WORTHY, I AM SPECIAL, IT IS ALL GOING TO BE OKAY.
THIS WAS COMPLETE HUMILITY.
This was the strength of the living God making itself real in the life and heart of a hurting man.
This was strength for recognition, strength for brokenness, strength for repentance, strength for determination to win back what the enemy has stolen.
This is the same strength that would raise Jesus from the dead!
SO HOW DID DAVID STRENGTHEN HIMSELF IN THE LORD?
David REMEMBERED THE LOVE AND CARE OF THE LORD. At this point of total loss, David now saw the love of the LORD in the rejection of the Philistine leaders.
THINK ABOUT THIS:
1. If the Philistines had not sent him away, he and his men would not have returned right now, when the Amalekites had just left and the fires of their destruction were still burning.
2. If God had not sent him back home through the rejection of the Philistines, it would have been months and months until he returned, and the situation would have been far worse.
3. That which stung him before became sweet to him now, and the most precious expression of the LORD's love.
David also REMEMBERED GOD'S promise and calling. He could shake his head, clear the fog that had set about it for the last year or so, and say "I am a man anointed by God, called by God, and promised by God to be the next king of Israel. I have a high calling and promise from God, and He has NOT taken it away. I need to start living according to that destiny." David could thank God and see the glory of His power in this high call.
David REMEMBERED GOD'S past deliverances. He could say, "This is a terrible spot, no doubt. But remember all the times when the LORD delivered me out of a bad spot before? If He did it then, He will do it now. He did not deliver me before just to let me perish now."
David TOOK ENCOURAGEMENT from the LORD.
David AGAIN SEEKS THE LORD for the first time in 16 months.
Verses 7-8 tells us David inquires of the LORD.
"Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all."
DAVID'S FIRST STEP...ASK THE LORD WHAT HE IS TO DO.
Of all the time David spent among the Philistines, this is the first time we read of him seeking God in any way. During his time of compromise and backsliding, David simply DID NOT inquire of the LORD in this way.
David SOUGHT God with the help of the priest, almost certainly using the Urim and Thummim that were part of the HIGH PRIEST'S priest's ephod. An ephod was a special apron that priests would wear, to cover over their clothing, so the sacrificial blood and gore would splash on the ephod, not so much on their clothing.
EXODUS 28:15 & 28...tells us the High Priest ephod, had the breastplate of judgment attached to it. The breastplate had in it a pouch with two stones, known as the Urim and Thummim (Exodus 28:30). When David inquired of the LORD, he probably asked Abiathar to use the Urim and Thummim.
We do NOT have the Urim and Thummim today; and even if they were discovered in a miracle of archaeology, God would no more bless their use today than He would bless a re-establishment of the Old Testament priesthood.
The day for the Old Testament priesthood is past for us today, being perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, Amen!?
But in David's day it was commanded of the LORD. The key to the effectiveness of the Urim and Thummim was that God's Word gave them. In seeking God through the Urim and Thummim, David was really going back to God's Word for guidance, because it was the word of God that commanded their place and allowed their use.
Today, if we have the same focus on God's Word, He will guide us also.
What did David ask the LORD?
At one time, David would not have bothered to even ask these questions. He would have simply done it, because when a soldier is attacked, he attacks back. But in returning from his backsliding, David brings everything to the LORD. Nothing is done just because it was done before. He asks God about EVERYTHING.
What did God answer David?
Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all. God first gave David something to do (pursue). Then, God gave David a promise in the doing (you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all). When God gives us something to do, He also gives us a promise in the doing.
Verses 9-10 tells us David pursues the Amalekites who conquered Ziklag.
"So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor."
God told David to go and pursue them, and David did exactly that. Obedience to the LORD is often that simple.
What is the use of calling Jesus "Lord" if we will not do what He tells us to do? Is there a single thing you have done, or a single thing you have not done, for the simple reason that Jesus told you to do it or not do it?
He and the six hundred men who were with him...
David's men were almost at a place of mutiny against him (the people spoke of stoning him.
But now, since he strengthened himself in the LORD his God, and since he inquired of the LORD, and since he did what God told him to do, his men are totally back on his side.
When it says, David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, it implies that David said, "Men, I am going. I have a promise from God for victory, and I am going to believe it. It does not matter if you come with me or not, because God is on my side, and I have to beat all the Amalekites all by myself, God's promise will not fail." But such faith in God stirred the hearts of the six hundred men, and they couldn't stand by and not follow David.
What a sight it must have been! David and the six hundred men on the march again, this time not hoping to fight for the Philistines, or for themselves, but off again on a mission FROM God. There was NOT an army on earth that could beat David and his six hundred men when they walked in God's will.
For two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor...
This might have been tremendously discouraging to David. As he pursues a significantly larger Amalekite army, he finds that one-third of his men can NOT continue. But David does NOT let this trial stop him. He sets the one-third to work guarding the supplies, lightening the load of the 400 who continue, and he sets out again, full of faith.
Verses 11-15 tells us David and his men befriend a helpless Egyptian.
"Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. Then David said to him, "To whom do you belong, and where are you from?" And he said, "I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire." And David said to him, "Can you take me down to this troop?" So he said, "Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop."
As David and his men pursue the Amalekites, they come across a man collapsed in the wilderness. It would have been easy, and perhaps logical, to ignore this man because they had a "much greater" mission in pursing the Amalekites. But David and his men show unexpected kindness to this man, and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water.
But David and his men refused these excuses, and showed an unexpected kindness to this man. This SHOWS US that David was really walking in the heart of God.
The fact that this was unexpected care and kindness is significant. We may all pat ourselves on the back for showing expected love to others, but what great praise is that? Jesus' question in the Sermon on the Mount rings true: What do you do more than others? (Matthew 5:47)
AND this young Egyptian slave confirmed EXACTLY who had attacked Ziklag, where they came from, where they would return, and the young man promised to take them STRAIGHT to them.
DID YOU KNOW...The southern area of the Cherethites: "Ketrthi, which, without the points, might be read Creti, were not only at this time Philistines, but that they were aborigines of Crete, from which they had their name Cherethites or Cretans.
Zephaniah speaks of them in chapter 2:5: "Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the Cherethites! The word of the LORD is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: 'I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant.'"
Ezekiel speaks of them also in chapter 25:16: "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.'"
Verses 16-20 tells us David routs and spoils the Amalekites, winning back everything that was taken.
"And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, "This is David's spoil."
Catching the Amalekites in the midst of their victory celebration, David and his men attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. How surprised the Amalekites must have been! They figured that all the Philistine and Israelite armies were far to the north, preparing to fight each other. They were NOT expecting this army that was neither Philistine, nor among the Israelite army.
ALL were partying and celebrating...no sober guards posted around them. No defense ready to defend. Arrogance, pride, and stupidity defeated them first.
YOU NOTICE...EVERYTHING that the enemy had taken, David took back. God gave him a complete victory.
WHY?
Because David...
1. Strengthened himself in the LORD his God
2. Inquired of the LORD
3. Did what God told him to do.
4. Showed unexpected care and kindness to others.
AND REMEMBER...God's promise was fulfilled exactly, but it was NOT fulfilled as David sat back passively and said, "All right God, now You can do it." The LORD fulfilled His promise, but He used David's actions to fulfill the promise. God's promise did NOT exclude David's cooperation, the promise invited his cooperation.
God GAVE David even more than what was promised. He received spoil from the battle, beyond what had been taken from Ziklag. This was blessing straight from the grace of God.
Some commentators of 1 Samuel, queston and wonder why David was allowed to keep the spoil of the Amalekites when Saul was expressly commanded to not keep any spoil from that nation (1 Samuel 15:1-3), and was judged by God for not obeying that command (1 Samuel 15:13-23).
The answers are simple...
1. David had NO specific command from God to destroy all the spoil from the Amalekites, as Saul did.
2. David was recovering what the Amalekites had taken from others, though he recovered far beyond what was taken from his city.
3. David was not acting as the king of Israel, representing the LORD's nation, as Saul was. So in this case, simply put, the rules were different for David.
Verses 21-25 tells us the spoils are distributed EQUALLY among those who fought and those who supported.
"Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man's wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart." But David said, "My brethren, you shall not do so with what the LORD has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike." So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day."
Apparently, when David was in swift pursuit of the Amalekites, 200 men among his company could not continue on. So they made a camp where they were, and lightened the supply load from the soldiers who would continue. Now, David returns to the two hundred men who stayed by the supply camp.
When David returned, these men of the supply camp saw their own possessions among the spoils of battle, and they wanted them back. The wicked and worthless men (apparently, there were some among David's men) protested, and said they could only have back every man's wife and children, but none of their possessions.
David declares an IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE FOR CHRISTIANS: the supply lines are just as VITAL as the soldiers are and God will reward BOTH "soldiers" and "supporters" properly.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Many people serve the LORD in invisible, behind-the-scenes ways, often supporting a much more visible aspect of the LORD's work. God who sees all, and is an EXCELLENT ACCOUNTANT, will support the hidden servant with the same reward as prominent servant.
The wicked and worthless men looked at the spoil and said, "We fought for this spoil and it is ours."
David looked at the spoil and said, "Look at what the LORD has given us."
When you looked at it that way, how could you not share?
When the LORD had given David such a great victory, he really saw it as the LORD's victory more than his own.
DID YOU KNOW...This PRINCIPLE was so important that it was declared to be a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. The principle should be declared and believed among God's people today too.
Verses 26-31 tells us David MENDS strained relationships.
"Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD"; to those who were in Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the South, those who were in Jattir, those who were in Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the Kenites, those who were in Hormah, those who were in Chorashan, those who were in Athach, those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove."
When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends.
WHY?
David knew that his time among the Philistines had strained his relationships with God's people. Now he knows he must do whatever he can to put things right again, so he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah.
This is the FINAL STEP in David's getting things right after his time of backsliding among the Philistines.
1. David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
2. David inquired of the LORD.
3. David believed God's promise.
4, David did what God told him to do.
5. David showed unexpected care and kindness to others.
6. David saw it as the LORD's victory.
7. David shared the reward with others.
8. David did what he could to mend relationships.
Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD: David sent spoil from the battle to more than 13 cities.
Obviously, there was GREAT SPOIL to spare from the battle.
In this, David is a picture of his greater Son, Jesus Christ. When Jesus triumphed on the cross, He won the greatest battle, and He had "spoil to share." He shared the spoil with His people, as it says in Ephesians 4:7-8: But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." Jesus has spoil from His victory to give you!
David is a remarkable picture of Jesus in this chapter. Note these five points of association:
1. We are like David's men, David is like Jesus.
2. We are like the weary ones left behind, David is like Jesus.
3. We are like the Egyptian slave, David is like Jesus.
4. We are like the spoil David recovered, David is like Jesus.
5. We are like the elders of Judah, and David is like Jesus.
This chapter in David's life...shows us in the EYES OF OUR TRIUNE GOD what it REALLY means to be a man or woman after GOD'S own heart.
Are you backslidden...Jesus waits for you to call on him.