LAMENT BORN FROM LOVE AND FORGIVENESS

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In Christ, Mark

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David took up this lament concerning Saul and his son Jonathan and ordered that the men of Judah be taught this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):

"Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on Your heights. How the mighty have fallen!

Tell it not in Gath, proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.

O mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, nor fields that yield offerings of grain.

For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the flesh of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, the sword of Saul did not return unsatisfied.

Saul and Jonathan — in life, they were loved and gracious, and in death they were not parted. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.

O daughters of Israel, weep for Saul, who clothed you in scarlet and finery, who adorned your garments with ornaments of gold.

How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.

How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!"

2 Samuel 1:17-27

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

The first chapter of 2 Samuel begins with bad news.

Fresh off his victory over the Amalekites and the rescue of his abducted people and livestock, David receives word that Saul and Jonathan had died in the battle against the Philistines. This report leads David and his men to mourn, weep, and fast over the loss before he pens a lament for his fallen friends…a lament that makes us the remainder of chapter 1.

Checking the dictionary, we find that “to lament” means “to express sorrow, mourning, or regret for…often demonstratively…or to regret strongly. Certainly, we feel the deep love and caring that David had for both Saul and Jonathan…surprising in a way in Saul’s case because of the way that he had relentlessly pursued David in a quest to kill him. Despite this, we should note that David doesn’t curse Saul but instead praises him.

You know, I wonder if we, put in the same circumstances as David, would have done likewise.

For it would be easy to sing the admiration of someone who was in the same spirit as you were…one who loved you as himself…one that would place himself in grave danger just to protect you. Jonathan did all these things and so it was easy to see how David could say this about him:

“Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.”

There’s probably little doubt that we would have felt the same if we had someone like Jonathan in our own lives.

But when it comes to one who has done wrong to you for no good reason…one who tried multiple times to pin you to the wall with a spear…one who pursued you persistently with murderous intent, causing you to be constantly on the run to stay alive…I think most any person wouldn’t consider saying anything nice about such an adversary, no matter how much good they may have done at some time in their life. Indeed, it would be very hard to see where praise would not be in order and no one would blame if it was withheld. Actually, it would be expected that one would feel relief and maybe even satisfaction because their enemy had met their demise and therefore would no longer be a problem.

Maybe you’ve had an enemy or two in your life, someone who never seemed to take a break from mistreating or harassing you in some way…so much so that their actions bred feelings of contempt in your heart for them.

Now, imagine that you get news that this person died.

Would you deeply mourn their passing?

Would you turn around and deliver a praise-filled eulogy at their funeral?

Most people wouldn’t…but David wasn’t like most people. For as we see in his lament, David doesn’t condemn Israel’s first king, the man he would replace on the throne. Rather, he chose to focus on the good things about Saul.

He underscored Saul and Jonathan’s bravery in battle.

He highlighted their strength and agility in vanquishing Israel’s foes during Saul’s reign.

And he exhorted others in Israel to join him in mourning them both as “the mighty ones” who had fallen…the “weapons of war” that had perished…the ones who were “loved and gracious” in life.

Yes, David could have denounced and criticized Saul…and there was plenty to charge him with…but instead he lamented. Perhaps, this is because he was a man after God’s own heart…a God that is merciful and forgiving and loving…a God who will bring the same out in us when we surrender our hearts and minds to Him…and become like-minded with Him.

Our message today challenges us to self-examine our attitudes against our enemies…and we all have them, if we’re honest.

If they were to die tomorrow, would we rejoice over their passing or feel sorrow…would we feel a sense of celebration or mourn…would we revel or sense remorse?

Before any of us try and answer these questions on our own, we need to seek our Lord first…reading His Word and seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit before we decide how to feel. For when we do, we’ll find these words from Jesus, the One we are to model our lives after as Christians:

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28

and

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15

Later, a falsely accused and convicted Jesus would utter these words while hanging crucified on Calvary’s cross while being derided and insulted by those below:

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

Truly, the scriptures teach us that love and forgiveness condition our hearts to the place where God wants them to be…to the place where Jesus’ heart was…and the place David’s heart was as well…to a place of lament over a man who wanted him dead.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

THE DANGER OF DECEPTION

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In Christ, Mark

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After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. On the third day, a man arrived from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and with dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor.

"Where have you come from?" David asked him.

He answered, "I have escaped from the Israelite camp."

"What happened?" David asked. "Tell me."

He said, "The men fled from the battle. Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead."

Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

"I happened to be on Mount Gilboa," the young man said, "and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and riders almost upon him. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, 'What can I do?’”

“He asked me, 'Who are you?'"

“'An Amalekite,' I answered.”

"Then he said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive.'”

"So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord."

Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the army of the Lord and the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

David said to the young man who brought him the report, "Where are you from?"

"I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite," he answered.

David asked him, "Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?"

Then David called one of his men and said, "Go, strike him down!"

So he struck him down, and he died. For David had said to him, "Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, 'I killed the Lord's anointed.'"

2 Samuel 1:1-15

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

A prevailing theme throughout the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel is the matter of deception.

In 1 Samuel, we’ve already seen Saul use it when he tried to justify his disobedience after failing to carry out God’s order to destroy the Amalekites…an act that Samuel framed as the main cause for God removing His favor from Israel’s first king (1 Samuel 28:16-19).

Then, we saw David mislead the Philistine king, Achish, when he went to Gath after running away from Saul. Afraid that he might be harmed, David acted as if he was insane during custody, prompting Achish to order him sent away (1 Samuel 21:12-15).

Finally, we saw David use it again when he lied to cover up his attacks on Philistine territories (the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites), telling King Achish (yes, the same king he duped into believing he was crazy before) that he had instead attacked the Israelites in the Negev of Judah, the Negev of Jerahmeel, and the Negev of the Kenites. Further, David doubled down on his sin by executing all the people in the territories he raided to ensure no one could report back to Achish what he had done (1 Samuel 27:8-11).

With all this, we shouldn’t be too surprised to see the matter of deception at the forefront as we being our study of 2 Samuel. Look again at those verses here:

After the death of Saul, David returned from defeating the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. On the third day, a man arrived from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and with dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor.

"Where have you come from?" David asked him.

He answered, "I have escaped from the Israelite camp."

"What happened?" David asked. "Tell me."

He said, "The men fled from the battle. Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead."

Then David said to the young man who brought him the report, "How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

"I happened to be on Mount Gilboa," the young man said, "and there was Saul, leaning on his spear, with the chariots and riders almost upon him. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, 'What can I do?’”

“He asked me, 'Who are you?'"

“'An Amalekite,' I answered.”

"Then he said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive.'”

"So I stood over him and killed him because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord."

Then David and all the men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the army of the Lord and the house of Israel because they had fallen by the sword.

David said to the young man who brought him the report, "Where are you from?"

"I am the son of an alien, an Amalekite," he answered.

David asked him, "Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?"

Then David called one of his men and said, "Go, strike him down!"

So he struck him down, and he died. For David had said to him, "Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, 'I killed the Lord's anointed.'"  2 Samuel 1:1-15

The chapter begins with David and his people already having stayed in Ziklag for two days after returning from their victory over the Amalekites who had attacked and pillaged Ziklag as David and his men were off with the Philistine army advancing to fight Israel.

You’ll remember that after being rejected by the untrusting Philistine commanders, David and his men returned to find their town in ruin and their families and livestock stolen by the Amalekites. And after consulting the Lord for His will in the matter, David and his men pursued, found, and soundly defeated the Amalekites, getting everything back that had been taken from them.

And so David, his men, and their families were reunited and trying to get back on their feet in Ziklag when a “man arrived from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and with dust on his head” on the third day after they had returned. The scriptures tell us that the man went to David and “fell to the ground to pay him honor.

After discovering that the man had come from the Israelite camp, David quickly asked about what had happened for after being sent back to Ziklag and not permitted to fight alongside King Achish, he knew that there was going to be fighting but was unaware of the outcome. So given that he had no first-hand knowledge about what really happened, David had to rely on this man’s testimony…a dangerous proposition because what if the man didn’t tell the truth? What if he was only there to try and gain something for himself and take advantage of David?

Going back to the scriptures, we find the man give David the following report:

"The men fled from the battle. Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead."

Now, imagine the impact that had on David. You’ll remember that Jonathan, Saul’s son,  was his sworn friend who had looked after him and protected him faithfully in times of danger, even going against his own father to keep David alive. And even though Saul continuously tried to kill David, David would not do the same to Saul when the opportunity presented itself, not just once (in the cave) but twice (as Saul slept in his camp). In each incident, David exhorted Saul as being the Lord’s anointed, meaning that in his view, God was the only One who could rightfully pass judgment on Saul.

Well, after the shock of the man’s words hit home, we sense that David is in a sense of disbelief right away because he asks the man immediately:

“How do you know that Saul and his son Jonathan are dead?"

Again, the man gives David his account on what happened, saying:

"I happened to be on Mount Gilboa…and there was Saul, leaning on his spear with the chariots and riders almost upon him. When he turned around and saw me, he called out to me, and I said, 'What can I do?' He asked me, 'Who are you?'  'An Amalekite,' I answered. Then he said to me, 'Stand over me and kill me! I am in the throes of death, but I'm still alive.' So I stood over him and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive. And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have brought them here to my lord."

Now. We know that there was an obvious problem with the man’s story because we have read about what really happened in the scriptures where we see that Saul killed himself after his armor bearer refused to do it (1 Samuel 31:3-4). Unfortunately, David didn’t have that benefit and so he had to rely on the man’s word.

And so the man’s fabricated story made it sound as if he had done something noble for the critically wounded king, as if he had followed Saul’s order to finish him off since he was in the throes of death. Perhaps the man had heard Saul tell his armor bearer to kill him before the Philistines could and used that part of Saul’s words to construct his lie.

Whatever the case, the man clearly knew David was next in line to be king and through his actions, which included bringing Saul’s crown and armband, hoped to gain some kind of special favor.

Little did he know that his scheme would have an unexpected ending.

For when someone plots and concocts what they see as devious plans meant to deceive others, they forget one important thing…God sees everything and can never be deceived. In fact, His very Word promises that vile scheming done in the dark shadows of evil will be exposed and brought to light (1 Corinthians 4:5) with the motives of hearts revealed.

So would the man get away with his lie?

Well, we read where his testimony caused deep mourning for David and his men as they “took hold of their clothes and tore them” before weeping and fasting until evening.

And then David turns to the man and confronts him with a few more questions. For after asking where he was from and learning he was an Amalekite who had been living in the midst of the Israelites as an alien, he then asked him:

“Why were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed?"

Uh-oh.

Immediately, a flaw was exposed in the man’s plot. For if he had truly been living amongst the Israelites as an alien, he would have been very aware that any person would be absolutely terrified at the prospect of killing anyone who had been anointed…or specially set apart and selected .by the Lord. In the real story of what happened, Saul’s armor bearer was a perfect example of this.

The Amalekite man should have been likewise unless he actually didn’t kill Saul but it was too late for he had already confessed to doing just that. And it was because of that confession…that he knowingly killed God’s anointed one…that the man sealed his own fate, an execution that was carried out by one of David’s men upon the following order:

“Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified against you when you said, 'I killed the Lord's anointed.'"

Friends, the Lord is sending us a strong message in these first fifteen verses of 2 Samuel. For any deceitful scheming meant to get over on another person is sin…plain and simple..committed in plain sight of a God who hates sin. In fact, He hates it so much that He will judge it and correct those who decide to do it…and in the case of the Amalekite man, it cost him his life.

We too will pay a cost if we choose to do as he did.

In the end translation, my prayer is that all of us as believers will adopt and follow the words of the Psalmist who wrote the following:

“Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good…” (Psalm 34:12-14).

The bottom is that God’s word instructs us not exercise deception and He expects us to be uncompromisingly obedient to His word. He’ll always be watching to see if we comply…and that’s the truth.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

ARE YOU MISSING YOUR OPPORTUNITY?

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.

Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and run me through or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me." But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with him. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.

When the Israelites along the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the Philistines came and occupied them.

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor and they sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.

When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul, all their valiant men journeyed through the night to Beth Shan. They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and went to Jabesh, where they burned them. Then they took their bones and buried them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh and they fasted seven days.

1 Samuel 31

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

As the Book of 1 Samuel comes to an end, we also see the story of Saul, the first king of Israel, come to a close.

Now, you may recall that Samuel’s spirit, summoned by the medium at Endor, had told Saul that he and his sons would soon die at the hand of the Philistines because he (Saul) had disobeyed the Lord and failed to “carry out His fierce wrath against the Amalekites” (1 Samuel 28:16-19). Because of this, Saul ended up making the Lord his enemy, not a place anyone should want to ever be.

Despite the prophecy from Samuel, we find Saul taking the Israelite army into battle. Perhaps he still believed that he could still triumph as we have seen his arrogance displayed in the past, especially when he decided to worship himself after erecting a monument in his own honor at Carmel (1 Samuel 15:12).

Time and time again, we saw Saul decide to do what he wanted to do, abusing the power God had given to either get what he desired or kill anyone who would get in the way of that. Point in case was the many times he tried to eliminate David as well as his attempts to kill his own son, Jonathan. And so now, Saul would face the consequences for his actions as he went up against the enemy.

For we read where “the Philistines fought against Israel” with some Israelites able to flee the onslaught while others “fell slain on Mount Gilboa”. The scriptures tell us that the “Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons”, first killing “Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malki-Shua” before critically wounding Saul after “the archers overtook him”.

Sensing his end was near, we see where Saul ordered his armor bearer to kill him before the Philistines did, once again showing he would dictate how he died and went to the grave, bucking the prophetic words of Samuel and the will of the Lord. We read where the armor bearer was too terrified to do as the king requested and so , Saul “took his own sword and fell on it”, killing himself after which the armor bearer did the same.

And so when all was said and done, the Lord’s word as spoken by Samuel’s spirit came to be. “Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day” on the battlefield against the Philistines…and Saul’s saga was over…a saga the made me stop and wonder what might have been if Saul would have just embraced the opportunity God had given him. This further had me pondering how many times people today miss their opportunity as well. For like Saul, the Lord is ready to call us to do great things in His name if we’re simply willing to surrender our lives to Him and submit everything to His will. The Bible shows us clearly that He can and will do this through anyone.

Going back to Saul, we need to remember when he first was chosen by God. He was from the smallest tribe (Benjamin) and his clan was the least of all the clans in that tribe. In fact, if someone would have been betting on which clan the first king of Israel would come from, Saul’s clan would have faced astronomical odds. Despite this, we know it was God’s will to select Saul to lead His people…a people who had insisted to have a king like all the other nations.

And so Saul rose up from the obscurity of the least clan in the smallest tribe of Benjamin to become the king of Israel and did so because he was chosen by God. What an awesome privilege and chance he had to serve the Lord at the highest possible level.

But unfortunately, Saul missed his opportunity, allowing the power of his position to get the best of him and change him from being a servant of God to a man who only serve himself. And so the Lord took away his privilege, taking away all He had given Saul while showing us that arrogant, self-fulfilling service only leads to self destruction in the end.

Friends, we can’t afford to repeat the mistakes of Saul, squandering the opportunities God gives us by choosing to be the lord of our own lives and, in doing so, walking down the road of self destruction.

We can avoid this by acknowledging and respecting His absolute sovereignty, turning our lives and all we have over to Him, and submitting ourselves totally to His will with the goal of glorifying Him in everything we do.

The world would also offer us things to do but there’s only one right path to follow…the path the Lord leads us on…and Saul walked off of it.

Let’s not do likewise.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

JUST TURN TO THE LORD

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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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 our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

At the beginning of 1 Samuel, chapter 30, we found David and his men in great distress. For after being denied the opportunity to fight alongside the Philistine army by King Achish, they were sent home to Ziklag, only to find their town ransacked and burned with their family members and all belongings stolen by the Amalekites. You’ll recall that all this angered David’s men so much that they discussed stoning him, placing blame on David.

So what was David to do now?

He had been rejected by the Philistine commanders.

His town had been ruined and all his women, children, and possessions were stolen.

And now, his men were so mad that they wanted to kill him.

Well, as we see in today’s passage from the rest of chapter 30, David 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, David wanted to know if it was God’s will for him and his men to go after the marauding Amalekites.

Now, there’s little doubt that David and his men, if left to their own devices, would have easily gone out on their own to take back what was wrongfully taken from them, avenging the attack on Ziklag. But here we find David showing 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, replying:

“Pursue them…You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."

Well, we see that this 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” on.

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 advantage of the occasion to ask the man some questions.

First, David wanted to know who the man belonged to and where he had come from. He learned that the Egyptian man was a “slave of an Amalekite” who had abandoned him after he had become ill three days earlier and, as we know, that was how long the man had gone 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?"

Surely feeling that he could get back at his Amalekite master over the way he had been mistreated, we see the Egyptian agree to do what David asked if he could have the assurance that he wouldn’t be killed or turned back over to the Amalekites. We read where David agreed to these terms and with the 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”. The scriptures show us that David wasted no time attacking his enemy, fighting them “from dusk until the evening of the next day” and allowing only “four hundred young men” to escape on camels. After this, “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 with that, all seemed well again.

David and his men had their families back as well as everything else that had been taken but as we see, it didn’t take long for a dispute to happen, disrupting the joy of the victory and its spoils. 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 any further reward.

Well. We see where 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 victory in battle…had come from only one source…turning the attention of his men to the Lord and his provision. Because of this, all of the six hundred men would receive an equal share of the spoils.

Through his actions, David shows us that a bounty of blessings is possible if we only turn to the Lord and place our full trust in Him. For him, God gave him strength, guidance, safety, and understanding as to what he was to do.

The great news today is that the Lord stands ready to do the same for us, meeting our needs as long as it is in accordance with the Lord’s will and purpose for us. All we need to do is seek Him give Him our full and faithful trust, knowing that His ways are always perfect. When we do this, the Lord will take care of the rest and, like David, lead us to persevere and gain victory over our difficult circumstances.

Friends, let us all give thanks to the Lord for His willingness to always be there for us whenever we turn to Him. May we praise His holy name, now and forevermore.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

STRENGTH WHEN WE NEED IT MOST

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The Philistines gathered all their forces at Aphek and Israel camped by the spring in Jezreel. As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish. The commanders of the Philistines asked, "What about these Hebrews?"

Achish replied, "Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul, king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him."

But the Philistine commanders were angry with him and said, "Send the man back that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master's favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn't this the David they sang about in their dances:

'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?’"

So Achish called David and said to him, "As surely as the Lord lives, you have been reliable and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until now, I have found no fault in you but the rulers don't approve of you. Turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers."

"But what have I done?" asked David. "What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can't I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

Achish answered, "I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, 'He must not go up with us into battle.' Now get up early, along with your master's servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light."

So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them but carried them off as they went on their way.

When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David's two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters.

But David found strength in the Lord his God.

1 Samuel 29, 30:1-6

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

Live life long enough and you’ll see that times come that leave us disappointed and despaired…distraught and in need of comfort and peace. It’s during those times that we find Satan trying to make us feel isolated and alone…lost and without hope…confused and disoriented…numb and unloved.

Maybe you can relate. I know I can.

Well today’s scripture passage, we find David entering into this kind of circumstance and through the account, we discover the key to dealing with these kinds of matters when they come upon us.

Now, you may recall from yesterday’s message how Saul was told by Samuel’s spirit in that he and his sons were about to die in battle against the Philistines…all because he had decided to not obey the Lord…the One who had anointed and appointed him as Israel’s king. And so as chapter 29 opens, we see where the Philistines are beginning their approach on Saul and his army. The scriptures tell us that “the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands” while “David and his men were marching at the rear with Achish”. It was at this point that the Philistine commanders brought a concern to the Philistine king, Achish.

We read where these worries were centered on David and the Hebrew men who accompanied him but initially Achish rejects their concern saying:

“Is this not David who was an officer of Saul, king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him."

Still, the Philistine commanders persisted in their argument and, now angry with Achish, they made the following demand:

“Send the man back that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master's favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn't this the David they sang about in their dances: 'Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands?’"

Now, I’m sure that the Philistine commanders well knew the history that David had with their nation. After all, in his youth, David had killed the mighty Philistine giant Goliath because he had Israel’s God with him. What if they were being set up for a repeat performance for as the song portrayed, David had only grown stronger in his battle prowess and war successes. It was obvious that he still had the Lord on his side. And so the commanders wanted to play things safe and eliminate any possibility that David might turn on them in the midst of the fighting, siding with his native Israelites.

Well, seeing that the commanders were not going to back down, Achish gives into their request and calls David to him saying:

“As surely as the Lord lives, you have been reliable and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until now, I have found no fault in you but the rulers don't approve of you. Turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers."

We see where David didn’t take this news well for the scriptures reveal his sheer disappointment as he asks Achish:

“But what have I done?…What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can't I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?"

Despite this plea, we read where Achish had his mind made up as he knew his commanders weren’t going to change their stance. And so he answers David’s question while attempting to quell his disappointment saying:

“I know that you have been as pleasing in my eyes as an angel of God; nevertheless, the Philistine commanders have said, 'He must not go up with us into battle.' Now get up early, along with your master's servants who have come with you, and leave in the morning as soon as it is light."

Achish had made his decision and wasn’t going to change his mind and so we read where David and his men returned to Ziklag “early in the morning”.

Now we know that David was already disappointed at being rejected by the Philistine commanders and this had to really weigh on his heart and mind as he made the three day journey back to Ziklag, the town Achish had given him and his men. But this disappointment from rejection wouldn’t compare to the anguish and despondency that he and his men felt when they reached home.

This is because they found their town ravaged and burned by the Amalekites who “had raided the Negev and Ziklag”. And the enemy forces didn’t just destroy the town, they also took everyone captive, including the “women and all who were in it, both young and old”. The only positive was that the Amalekites had not killed any of their family members but instead “carried them off as they went on their way”.

Despite this, we read where David and his men were greatly distressed, weeping “aloud until they had no strength left to weep” but this grief soon turned to anger as David’s men began to blame him for what had happened. This escalated to the point where they were “talking of stoning him” because “each one was bitter in spirit because of (their) sons and daughters”.

And so David, who had lost his two wives - Ahinoam and Abigail, had reached a real low point in his life…a point that left him greatly upset. It was at this place…in the valley of gloom at a time when everything seemed to be coming apart at the seams…a time when he fell weak under the burden of his troubling circumstances…that David found a source of strength…the only true source of strength that could pull him through his situation.

That strength…a strength that came when he needed it most…came from the Lord his God.

Friends, this is the good news for us today…that David’s Lord is the same Lord we serve today…a Lord who is always willing and ready to grant us the strength we need at just the right time in the midst of any circumstances we may face.

Indeed, when we feel we are falling within hardship because of our weakness, He is there to lift us up, set us back on our feet, and empower us to walk ahead, meeting the challenges we face through His strength and guidance.

And that’s the only way we can make my brothers and sisters. None of us has the strength to persevere and handle difficulties on our own.

Now, I don’t know what you might be going through today but I can probably say with some confidence that you probably haven’t been rejected to fight against a Philistine army and sent home to a town that was ravaged and burned with your family carried off by marauders. Still though, you might be going through something that makes you be able to relate to David, experiencing a trial or trials that are bringing you some sort of angst.

If you’re aren’t, rest assured that you will eventually.

Whenever those troubles come, we see in our scriptures today how we can always turn to the Lord for strength when we need it most. And if we’re honest, we need that strength each and every day as we live this called life and the circumstances it brings.

One thing is certain, without the Lord in our lives, we are destined to fall into discontentment and even possibly hopelessness. Conversely, with Him, we can do all things because His strength is ever present (Philippians 4:13)…always there when we need it most…a perfect strength that reminds me of the lyrics of a great Christian song, “His Strength is Perfect”…lyrics that I’ll close with today:

His strength is perfect when our strength is gone

He'll carry us when we can't carry on

Raised in his power the weak becomes strong

His strength is perfect

His strength is perfect

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.