1 Samuel 30:1-20 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 30:1-20. As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first. See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 30:1-20 (NIV)
1 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,
2 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.
3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.
5 David’s two wives had been captured–Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
6 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.
7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him,
8 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.”
9 David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine, where some stayed behind,
10 for two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine. But David and four hundred men continued the pursuit.
11 They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat–
12 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.
13 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.
14 We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”
15 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.”
16 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.
17 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.
18 David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
19 Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
20 He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”
On verses 1-20: Having been honourably discharged by King Achish from serving in the Philistine army, David and his men return home to Ziklag, only to find that the Amalekites have raided their town and captured all the women, children and elderly in Ziklag (v1-5). Devastated and looking for someone to blame for their loss, David’s men threaten to stone David (v6). But under the pressure David does the wise and best thing: he finds strength in God (v7). David inquires of the Lord and gets the go ahead from Him to go and reclaim what they had lost from the Amalekites (v8). 200 of David’s men are too exhausted to go, so David lets them stay and guard their supplies while he and his remaining 400 men go and reclaim what belongs to all of them (v9-10). They come across an abandoned and ailing Egyptian slave. They feed him and find out that prior to being abandoned he had the helped the Amalekites raid Ziklag (v11-15). The Egyptian promises to take David and his men to the Amalekites if they guarantee his safety (v16). David and his men launch a successful rescue operation against the Amalekites, not only taking back their women and children but also plundering the Amalekites (v17-20).
What can we learn from this?
1. You don’t have to fight your battles alone. When you’re facing pressure from people, like David find your strength in God. Look to Him for wisdom and direction. God is here to strengthen you and guide you in the way you should go.
2. When we were captured and held captive by Satan our enemy, Jesus the Son of David came and rescued us because we matter to Him.
3. We are also like the 200 of David’s men who stayed behind: we had no power by ourselves to reclaim or recapture what the enemy had stolen from us. But Jesus is like the 400 men who went in pursuit on our behalf. Jesus pursued the enemy, defeated him and recaptured for us all that we had lost. When we were powerless to do anything, Jesus came and did everything for us. That is God’s grace. Just as God gave David two strong and courageous men for every weak and exhausted man (400 vs. 200), God has a double portion of strength to give us for every area where we are weak.
3. Just as David came back not just with what he lost but with additional plunder as well, praise God that the restoration Jesus brings doesn’t just put you back in the same position you were in before the loss. Rather Jesus makes you whole and then some! God’s restoring power makes you better off after the loss than before. With man this is impossible but with God such restoration and then some is possible.
4. David shows grace to the Egyptian, not knowing at first that the Egyptian was part of the group that raided and kidnapped his women and children. When David found out that this Egyptian had helped to kidnap their women and children, why didn’t David strike the Egyptian down? One reason of course was because the Egyptian had important information that could lead David to the Amalekites. But perhaps there is another reason: maybe it’s because David had just come out of a season where he had committed so many mistakes himself – cutting himself from God and God’s people, allying himself with people of the world, pretending to be someone he was not, weaving a web of lies, and causing the death of many innocent people. So when David saw the Egyptian, I believe David looked at him with eyes of compassion. Seeing himself in the Egyptian, David decided to show him grace. Our biggest mistakes, struggles and failures help us to have compassion for those who struggle in similar ways.
What are some struggles, hurts, or defeats you have experienced that can help you identify with and reach out to people who experience something similar? Maybe it’s the pain of divorce, or the pain of losing someone you love. Maybe it’s losing a job or living a rebellious life before Christ rescued you. All of our experiences, even our most painful and embarrassing ones, God can use to help others in similar situations.
Thank You Lord Jesus that I was like the 200 men who were powerless to recapture what the enemy had stolen, but You are like the 400 men who went and recaptured everything on our behalf. Thank You that in every area when I am weak, You supply a double portion of strength. I claim that double portion as my own today and I thank You. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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