I Samuel 30:1-31
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
That stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To heaven from the common soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man,
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow in ease;
The stronger wind, the tougher trees;
The farther sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength;
By sun and cold, by rain and snows,
In tree or man, good timber grows.
Where thickest stands the forest growth
We find the patriarchs of them both;
And they hold converse with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and of much strife —
This is the common law of life.
Douglas Malloch, Quoted in Resource, Sept./Oct., 1992, p. 7
Last week we saw how the Philistine commanders saw
through David’s deceit even though Achish viewed David
as loyal.
We saw how God providently removed David from the
battleground between Israel and the Philistines.
Today we are going to take a look at I Samuel 30.
In this chapter we are going to see David return to
seeking the Lord. We will once again see God’s hand of
providence working in David’s life.
Let’s take a moment to pray and ask God to open our
ears and hearts to hear what He wants us to hear this
morning.
I Samuel 30:1-6
David’s Grief
At the end of chapter 29 we read that David went back to
the land of the Philistines, to the city of Ziklag that
Achish had given him, and the Philistines went up to
Jezreel.
When David and his men got back to Ziklag they found
the city in embers. David didn’t know who yet, but
someone had burned their city and taken everyone
captive.
How did they know?
They didn’t see any bodies or evidence of bloodshed.
Why was this happening?
First of all, Saul didn’t obey the Lord when He told him
back in chapter 15 to destroy all of the Amalekites.
Second, David had raided the Amalekites earlier when he
was staying in Ziklag. Of the places he raided, he left no
survivors. But clearly there were other Amalekites
remaining.
One truth we should note here is that
People handle grief differently.
All of them wept until they had no strength to weep
anymore.
They realized
People are what’s important, not possessions.
After the weeping David’s men decided to blame him
for leaving their camp unattended and their wives and
children vulnerable.
They chose David as their scapegoat.
There was even talk of stoning him.
On the other hand,
David chose to be encouraged by the Lord.
We know that David authored many of the Psalms.
As we read them we see that he chose to run to God
rather than run from him.
It’s important that David first sought encouragement
from the Lord so he could then be an encouragement to
others.
No matter how we choose to grieve, we must seek God
for comfort and peace.
There is no comfort that can satisfy outside of God.
I Samuel 30:7-10
David Seeks the Lord’s Guidance
David wanted to know if God wanted him to pursue the
Amalekites or not, so he sent for Abiathar and asked him
to bring him the ephod. The ephod had stones in it
called Urim and Thummim. They were used by the high
priest to discern the will of God.
Once he had the stones, he asked God two questions:
Should I pursue after this band who burned our city?
Should I overtake them?
God answered yes. So, David set out to look for the ones
who destroyed Ziklag. He took all 600 men with him.
When they came to the brook Besor 1⁄3 of his men were
exhausted and could not continue on. David left them to
guard their baggage and the rest of them went on.
We should remember that God cares about the details
of our lives. He wants us to seek Him when we are
unsure what to do.
I Samuel 30:11-15
God’s Providence
While David and his men were searching, they came
upon an Egyptian in the open country. He had been left
for dead and hadn’t eaten anything or had a drink in 3
days.
They gave him some food and water and he revived.
David found out that he was a slave of an Amalekite who
had left him because he had gotten sick.
The slave told him that he and his people were the ones
who had burned Ziklag.
We see God’s hand at work here.
God used David to save this slave.
And he used this slave to bring David to the Amalekites
who He had earlier told Saul to completely destroy. God
is at work in ways we can’t always understand or see
clearly until He allows us to.
The slave agreed to take David to his master but asked
David to swear by God that he would not kill him or turn
him over to his master.
I Samuel 30:16-20
David Defeats the Amalekites and Rescues the Families
When David found the Amalekites, they were dancing
and drinking because of all the loot they had just gotten.
Then David struck them down until not a person was left
except the 400 men who escaped on camel.
Isn’t it interesting that God took 400 men away and that
is the exact number of men that David had?
It was God who allowed David to overcome the
Amalekites and bring back all of their families and all of
their possessions.
It wasn’t their own strength, but God brought the victory
for them.
We should never be going into battle with our own
strength.
Israel learned that when they attached Ai before asking if
God wanted them to fight them. And they lost 36 men.
But God allowed David success this time and not only did
he bring back the wives and families and all of their stuff,
they took the spoil that the Amalekites had stolen from
the other nations. That included the flocks and herds.
I Samuel 30:21-25
David’s Leadership/Wisdom
Notice how greed shows up after God blesses them.
Rather than being thankful for God’s protection and
provision and providence, they become greedy and want
to cut out the ones who were too exhausted to continue
on the journey. They wanted to cut them out of the spoil
and only give them their families back.
David squashed the greed right away.
He told them this is a blessing from the Lord and you
will do no such thing.
David realized that God had protected them and their
families.
David made a statute that everyone who is part of the
army will receive his share of the reward.
This reminds me of what the NT says about the body of
Christ. All are necessary. No role is unimportant. Without
one part of the body, the body will not function properly.
Everyone’s role is critical to accomplish God’s plan.
David is showing good leadership here by not allowing
division to take hold of the people.
I Samuel 30:26-31
David’s Generosity
These final verses mention several places that David had
encountered while he was on the run from Saul. He
realized that it was dangerous for them to harbor a
wanted man like himself, so he wanted to show his
gratitude by sending each site a gift of some of the spoil
they had been given by God.
What a thoughtful way to repay the kindness of those
folks.
We should remember to show our gratitude when people
go out of their way to help us.
They don’t always expect it, but they always appreciate
it.
David had strayed from God a bit by taking matters into
his own hands. In those instances he allowed his fear to
eclipse his faith, but in this chapter he returned to the
Lord and is living like the man after God’s own heart that
he truly is.
APPLICATION
There are a few lessons we can learn from today’s text.
● Seek God in Times of Distress
● Seek God in our Decision Making
● Seek God when we Stray
● Thank God for all Blessings
● Share Blessings with Others