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. 20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.” 1 Samuel 30:1-20
1. They should’ve been dead. The Amalekites were supposed to have been wiped out by Saul (1 Samuel 15). Be sure that ignoring the instructions of God have ramifications beyond what you can imagine. Had Saul done as instructed by God, then the Amalekites would not have been ravaging the country side.
2. Don’t allow the opinions of others to keep you from seeking God. When David finds himself in earthly peril, he does not argue his case with the men who are angry with him. He encourages himself in the Lord. When you know that God is for you, it doesn’t matter that everyone else is against you!
3. The million dollar question, should I pursue them? shall I overtake them? The million dollar answer…“Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
What a tremendous promise! What a way to have your faith encouraged! Don’t you think that God wants and desires us to walk in the same manner?
4. The Egyptian slave
This is where David differs from most of us. The servant admits to helping the enemy and David does not kill him. He does not assault him. Rather, he enlists his help in pursuing his true enemy. In today’s society we find ourselves at war with humanity in such a way that it brings shame to the church. We attack the people instead of attacking the spirit that is behind the people. We come against people that are in sin, that need hope and we give them grieve instead. Frustration instead of freedom. The church needs to focus more on how Jesus would have us to act instead of always reacting to a situation. I’m totally against the agenda of sin. I don’t like not hearing “Merry Christmas” at Christmas time, however, to take it out on employees by telling them off is ridiculous. I stand against sin in all form, but to look at homosexuality and decide that it needs my “righteous indignation” and look at lying and say, “well, everyone does it at one point” is hypocritical! Sin is sin, but thanks be to God that Jesus saves from all sin! Don’t mistake me here, sin must stop once we begin to serve Jesus. However, the church has painted certain sins with a much harsher hue. David didn’t waste time plotting to kill the Egyptian, he fed, forgave and allowed him to join in the pursuit. We need to spend time fighting the sin problem instead of crucifying the sinner.
5. Recover all
Don’t leave anything with the enemy. The soldiers that pressed on could’ve said, “Well Joe didn’t come with us, so we are going to set his family free.” No, they recovered all. Go help your Christian family by recovering what they are unable to recover. Don’t leave anyone behind!
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