I Samuel 30:1-19 David’s Conflict with the Amalekites
1 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,
2 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.
3 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.
4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive.
6 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.
7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8 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.”
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 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.
13 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.
14 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.”
15 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.”
16 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.
17 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.
18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.
19 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.
I felt like I had to finish the one from yesterday so here it is...In Chapters 28 and 29 Saul consulted a psychic, witch, whatever you want to call her. Then in Chapter 29 the Philistines reject David. So in Chapter 30 David came to the city of Ziklag and found out that the Amalekites had attacked the village and burned it and taken their wives, sons and daughters captive. Of course David was really upset and his men were angry with him. Everybody seemed to be against him...but...this time David asked the Lord what to do. Big difference from Chapter 27 when he listened to himself and didn't talk to God at all. This time he asked God if he should pursue them, overtake them. The Lord told him to pursue and he will surely overtake them and will not fail but recover all. That is just so good. That's what David did - he pursued them, overtook them and recovered all.
God told David he wouldn't fail and God kept his promise. This time David encouraged himself in God, talked to God. In the worst of times we can always count on God and take encouragement from Him. If we acknowledge God, talk to Him, listen to Him, He will direct our steps just like he did with David. It said in the Scripture that David and his men lifted up their voices and wept and wept until they couldn't do it anymore. God heard David and all his men cry out. God knew that they were hurting to the point where all they could do was weep. God hears us when we are down and out and the only thing we know how to do is just cry out. When you read down to Verses 21-31, it says how David shared the spoil. He was generous and kind to all his friends. Big difference from the Chapters we read yesterday.
I just love reading about David. David made a lot of mistakes but God still loved him and all David had to do was have a heart for God. That's all we need to do - just have a heart for God. God is just so awesome and wonderful! Luv ya all and have a blessed day! It's the weekend!! Yea!!
