August 23,
2007
Rise up,
LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee
before thee. (Numbers 10: 35 KJV
1 Samuel Chapter 30 Author:
Unknown KJV
David
Destroys the Amalekites
(1
Samuel 30:1-2 KJV) "And it came to
pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the
Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it
with fire; {2} And had taken the women captives, that were
therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them
away, and went on their way."
Had Saul
obeyed God and destroyed the Amalekites done of this would be happening. Instead of Saul facing death as
commanded by the Lord, he would not still be king be in the pickle he is in
against the Philistines. David
would most likely be back on the farm tending sheep. If David had tried not to duck out on
Saul’s efforts to kill him and go live among the Philistines and go off to war
against his own people the Amalekites would not have captured all of the wives
and children of David’s soldiers.
Evil begets evil.
God has stepped in
and put a stop to the continuous cycle of evil. With David, he stops him from going to
war with the Philistines against Israel and is sent back to Ziklag. While David and his men were looking
forward to hugs and kisses from wives and children they come upon the town with
smoke still coming up from the burned ruins from an attack by the
Amalekites.
(1
Samuel 30:3-6 KJV) "So David and
his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their
wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. {4} Then
David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept,
until they had no more power to weep. {5} And David's two wives were
taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the
Carmelite. {6} And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of
stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his
sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his
God."
Coming home
early so far is a two-fold blessing and will be a three fold blessing
shortly. Though some of David’s men
are thinking of stoning him.
1.
David does not
fight against his own people
2.
David and his men
arrive at Ziklag right after everything happened so the chances of rescuing
their families are very much improved.
3.
David wipes out the
Amalekites
(1
Samuel 30:7-8 KJV) "And David said
to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod.
And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. {8} And David inquired
at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them?
And
he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without
fail recover all."
In the year
and four months it is not recorded that David ever sought the Lord. David pretty much did as he thought
best. Man always gets in trouble
when he does whatever he thinks best and doesn’t go before the Lord before
decisions are made. Even small
decisions should be brought before the Lord. The only thing keeping David and his men
alive while among the Philistines was the Lord’s will. David wasn’t thinking to
smartly.
After
consulting with the Lord and receiving assurances that things will go well David
is strengthened in the Lord. The
news gives David and his men the will and desire to pursue the
Amalekites.
(1
Samuel 30:9-10 KJV) "So David went,
he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook
Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. {10} But David pursued,
he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that
they could not go over the brook Besor."
Losing a third of
your forces while on a chase in combat is not a good thing, but David does not
let it get the best of him.
Instead, he leaves the 200 behind guarding the supplies and lightens the
load for the 400 who continued on.
(1
Samuel 30:11-14 KJV) "And they
found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread,
and he did eat; and they made him drink water; {12} And they gave him a
piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his
spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water,
three days and three nights. {13} And David said unto him, To whom
belongest thou? and whence art thou?
Here David
is in a rush to get the Amalekites and they come upon an Egyptian lying in the
desert. He hasn’t had food and
water for three days and David takes time to show him kindness and strengthens
him with food and water. This act
of kindness saves David a lot of trouble and time in pursuit of the
Amalekites.
And
he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my
master left me, because three days ago I fell sick." {14} We made an invasion upon
the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth
to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with
fire.
This man had been
there when Ziklag was burned and David asks him…
(1
Samuel 30:15 KJV) "And David said
to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company?
And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company."
The
Amalekites are taken by surprise.
They had figured all of the soldiers of Ziklag were off fighting with the
Philistines. When they came upon
Ziklag it was wide open with no guards or protection about the city except for
whatever fortifications that were in place. Fortifications without soldiers to man
them are useless. When David and
his men find them, they were reveling in the booty they had
taken.
(1
Samuel 30:16-20 KJV) "And when he
had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth,
eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had
taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. {17}
And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next
day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which
rode upon camels, and fled. {18} And David recovered all that the
Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. {19} And
there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor
daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them:
David recovered all. {20} And David took all the flocks and the herds,
which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is
David's spoil."
The Hebrew
for dusk or twilight refers to both sundown in the evening and sunup in the
morning. The scripture seems to
indicate that David allowed the men to drink during the night and by morning
they were all suffering hangovers.
This made it easier for David to wipe out the Amalekites. They could kill
as they came upon each man as they were spread out over the land. Having a hangover after drinking all
night does not make for good soldiering.
David recovered
everything that had been lost including all of the women and children. The flocks of the Amalekites become
known as David’s plunder and were separate from and driven ahead of the flocks
of the people.
What happens with
the 400 Amalekites that escaped on camels is not said for the
moment.
(1
Samuel 30:21-22 KJV) "And David
came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow
David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth
to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David
came near to the people, he saluted them. {22} Then answered all the
wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said,
Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil
that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they
may lead them away, and depart."
David came
back to the 200 who were too tired to go on any further. Though they did not fight in the battle,
they provided valuable assistance to those that went because they were able to
guard those things such as extra food, bedding etc. while the others went
forward. Some of David’s men felt
that the 2oo should not share in the booty but David said otherwise. Everyone shall share
equally.
(1
Samuel 30:23-26 KJV) "Then said
David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us,
who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our
hand. {24} For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part
is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that
tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. {25} And it was so
from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel
unto this day. {26} And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil
unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present
for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;"
David shared
some of the booty with the elders in Judah, and also with those who protected
him when he was hiding from Saul.
(1 Samuel 30:27-31 KJV) "To them which were in
Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them
which were in Jattir, {28} And to them which were
in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them
which were in Eshtemoa, {29} And to them which were
in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the
Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the
Kenites, {30} And to them which were in Hormah, and to
them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were
in Athach, {31} And to them which were in Hebron, and
to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to
haunt."
David is now back in the will of the Lord having been out of his will for 16 months the time he spent among the Philistines. Perhaps David has learned that one is not happy outside of the Lord’s will.
I think
back to the times I have been out of the Lord’s will. I know now that it is much better and a
blessed thing to be in His will.
Outside of the Lord’s will is total chaos without direction or
purpose.
24 The LORD bless
thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his
face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up
his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 And they shall
put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless
them.
Numbers
6 KJV
Have
a blessed day
Lee
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