This is a devotion I recently delivered to the staff of Jews for Jesus in Los Angeles. You may feel free to copy and pass along this devotion, so long as you credit me for the writing. Enjoy!
1 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; 2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. 3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.8 David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue {all.}” 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, {where} those left behind remained. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained {behind.} 11 Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink. 12 They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago. 14 “We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.” 16 When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives. 19 But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back. 20 So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s spoil.” 21 When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.” 23 Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us.” I Samuel 30:1-23 (NASB)
When screenwriters sit down to write a movie script, they often find it useful to write what they refer to as a backstory for the characters. This is more or less a short biography of each character, which serves as a guide for what motivates the character and makes him/her who they are. As we read this passage from I Samuel, understand that we are coming into the theater in the middle of the movie, so to speak. Bear with me as I share a bit of David’s backstory, so we can best understand what we’re reading.
This episode is set during a time in David’s life before he has ascended to the throne of the united kingdom of Israel. Although the prophet Samuel had laid God’s anointing upon David, marking him as king, David’s predecessor Saul has not acknowledged this anointing. In fact, Saul has chased David the length and breadth of Israel in an effort to kill him. David and his men live the life of fugitives, hiding in caves and narrowly escaping death time and time again. David even spares Saul’s life on two occasions, showing that he honors Saul’s kingship no matter how dishonorably Saul acts.
When the pressure of this outlaw life becomes to much, David and his followers flee to the land of the Philistines — one of the many enemy nations surrounding Israel. Here David offers his services and the services of his warriors to a Philistine king, Achish. Achish accepts these services, gives David the town of Ziklag as a base, and sends David out to raid and pillage. David does indeed raid and pillage, but he only attacks the enemies of Israel: the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. By slaughtering every man, woman, and child in each settlement he raids, David manages to ensure that there is no one to challenge the deception he reports to Achish — namely, that David has been raiding against Israelite settlements!
Eventually the Philistines amass an army to attack Israel, and Achish brings the allegedly loyal David along to the battle. The other Philistine kings are apparently not so easily trusting as Acish; they object to David’s presence so vehemently that Acish regretfully instructs David to return to Ziklag. It is here that our passage begins, with a terrible disaster. While David and his men marched off to war their enemies the Amalekites raided Ziklag and burned it to the ground, taking the outlaw Israelite’s wives and children captive. Faced with this catastrophe, David’s men soon become embittered (literally, bitter in their soul) begin to blame him for everything. Amidst talk of being stoned, David demonstrates the first of three responses to this crisis. It is these responses that we can learn from.
1) David strengthened himself in the Lord. Before doing anything else, David relied on the Lord to give him strength. While the text doesn’t specify exactly how he does this, we have writings credited to David himself that give us some idea:
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Psalm 18:2 (NASB)
“Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14 (NASB)
2) David inquired of the Lord. Having strengthened himself in God, David next sought God’s guidance. He asked the Lord what his next step should be: should he pursue the Amalekites? Should he lick his wounds and accept his terrible losses? Only after receiving the Lord’s command to pursue — and His promise of victory — do David and his men move against the Amalekites. As they start tracking their enemies, 200 of David’s men (1/3 of his forces) are too exhausted from their exertions to go on. Remember, they marched off to war and then back to Ziklag without a rest before they began pursuing the Amalekites. David is forced to leave these men behind at a brook called Besor.
Soon after, David has what we might call a divine appointment. David’s army finds an Egyptian in the field to whom they give food and water. This Egyptian turns out to be the servant of one of the very Amalekites who burned down Ziklag and took the Israelites’ families and possessions! With a promise that his life will be spared and he will be protected from his former master, the Egyptian leads David to the Amalekite camp, where David and his men slaughter almost all the Amalekites and take back their loved ones and their possessions. In addition, David increases his own holdings by taking the sheep and cattle that belonged to their enemies.
3) David gave credit to God for the victory. As David and his men return to Ziklag victorious, a small wrinkle develops. As they return to the brook Besor, some of David’s men — whom the passage describes as “wicked and worthless” — object to dividing the spoils with the men who remained behind. They demand that David return only the wives and children of those who stayed behind — their recovered possessions to be divided among those who fought –and then drive them out. In a stunning display of what made David a man after God’s own heart, David refuses to heed this demand. He reminds his men that their victory was given to them by God.
As believers in Jesus, there is much for us to learn from how David dealt with disaster. Whether we’re facing the minor stresses of everyday life or some major crisis in our lives, David’s responses are a model for us. We should daily remember to strengthen ourselves in the Lord; the best way to do this is usually by staying immersed in His Word. When faced with a crisis, do as David did and inquire of the Lord. As the t-shirt a friend of mine liked to sport says: PRAY HARD. Lastly, when God answers your prayers and gives you the victory — be sure to give the credit to Him. Praise Him for what he’s done in your life, and give testimony to the victory whenever you can!
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