JUST TURN TO THE LORD

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," He answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."

David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine, where some stayed behind, for two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine. But David and four hundred men continued the pursuit.

They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat - part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.

David asked him, "To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?" He said, "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag." David asked him, "Can you lead me down to this raiding party?"
He answered, "Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them."

He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David's plunder."

Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Ravine. They came out to meet David and the people with him. As David and his men approached, he greeted them. But all the evil men and troublemakers among David's followers said, "Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go."

David replied, "No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike." David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.

When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends, saying, "Here is a present for you from the plunder of the Lord's enemies."

He sent it to those who were in Bethel, Ramoth Negev and Jattir; to those in Aroer, Siphmoth, Eshtemoa and Racal; to those in the towns of the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites; to those in Hormah, Bor Ashan, Athach and Hebron; and to those in all the other places where David and his men had roamed.

1 Samuel 30:7-31

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As the 30th Chapter of 1st Samuel began, we found David and his men in great distress. For after being sent home from the Philistine army by King Achish, they found their town ransacked and burned…their family members and all their belongings taken by the Amalekites. The situation caused David’s men to talk about stoning him, placing the blame for what had happened on him. And we finally saw where in the midst of his hardship, David found strength in the Lord…just as we can when we find ourselves in difficult circumstances.

So what was David to do? He had been rejected by the Philistine commanders. His town had been ruined and all his women, children and possessions were stolen. His men were angry with him and wanted to stone him.

What was David to do?

He did the only thing he could do. He turned to the Lord.

For after he had his priest bring him the holy ephod, David “inquired of the Lord” asking, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" In other words, would it be wise for David to take his men and pursue the Amalekites. There’s little doubt that David and his men, if left to their own decision making, would have taken off in immediate pursuit to retrieve what had been stolen and avenge the destruction of their town. But David shows us something very important when facing an important decision. We should never rely on our own wisdom.

And so David asked the Lord what he should do and the Lord was ready with an answer. He told David to, “Pursue them…You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."

That was all David needed to hear as he gathered his “six hundred men” and began the pursuit…a pursuit that not everyone could finish for we read where “two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine” and so they remained behind while “David and four hundred men continued the pursuit”.

Not long after leaving the ravine area, David’s men “found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David” who made sure the man was given “water to drink and…part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins” to eat. The food restored the Egyptian’s strength “for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights” and David took the occasion to ask the man some questions.

First, David wanted to know who the man belonged to and where he had come from. The Egyptian told him he was a “slave of an Amalekite” who had abandoned him after he had become ill three days earlier. As we know, that was how long the man had went without food and water.

The Egyptian went on to tell David that he had been with the Amalekites when they “raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb” as well as the burning of David’s town of Ziklag. Sensing the Egyptian might assist him, David asked, "Can you lead me down to this raiding party?" and the Egyptian agreed to do so if David promised that he wouldn’t kill him or hand him back over to his Amalekite master.

So with this agreement in place, the Egyptian led David and his men to where the Amalekites were, finding them “scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah”. And David wasted no time attacking his enemy, fighting them “from dusk until the evening of the next day”, only allowing “four hundred young men” to escape on camels. After eliminating the Amalekites, we read where “David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives” bringing back all of his people as well as his “flocks and herds”.

And so all seemed well again. David and his men had their families back as well as everything else that had been taken. But things would soon become unsettled again as David and his 400 men rejoined the 200 who had remained behind…unsettled because of greed.

For we read that as “David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him…left behind at the Besor Ravine”, problems arose when “all the evil men and troublemakers among David's followers” said, "Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go." In other words, the men left behind could have their families but nothing else, as if fighting in the battle was a prerequisite for receiving reward.

But David quickly rejected the demands of the evil troublemakers saying, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike." And with that, David turned his words into a “statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this”. And he also “sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah” after arriving back in Ziklag.

And so a chapter that started with David and his men devastated by loss and their family and possessions in the hands of the enemy, finished with a happy ending. And it only ended up that way because David turned everything over to the Lord.

When he needed strength, he turned to the Lord.

When he needed guidance, he turned to the Lord.

And when he needed to combat the greediness of the evil troublemakers in his army, he reinforced the fact that everything they had been given…the plunder, protection and battle victory…had come from one source…turning the attention of his men to the Lord. With this, all would receive an equal share of the spoils.

So David shows us through his actions, that we can receive such a bounty of blessings…if we just turn to the Lord. He received strength and guidance and protection and wisdom. And we can receive the same and anything else to meet our needs as long as it is in accordance with the Lord’s will for us. All we need to do is seek Him and trust Him faithfully, knowing His ways are always perfect. When we do, the Lord will take care of the rest and, like David, lead us to victory through difficult circumstances.

Thanks be to the Lord for ever being there for us whenever we turn to Him. May we ever praise His holy name, now and forever. Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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