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115 lines
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<h2><a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'1-');">1Sa 30</a> - David in Victory Again</h2>
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<p>A. David's distress.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'1-2');">1-2</a>) Ziklag is plundered by the Amalekites.</p>
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<p class="c2">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, and had taken captive the women and those who <i>were</i> there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried <i>them</i> away and went their way.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Now it happened</span></b>: It certainly <b><span class="c3">happened</span></b>, but it didn't happen by accident. God had a purpose for all of this in David's life.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. "<i>On the third day</i> indicates that David and his men covered about twenty-five miles a day on the march south from Aphek to Ziklag, where they would have arrived tired, hungry and expecting all the comforts for a welcome home." (Baldwin)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">The Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it to the ground</span></b>: While David and his men were to the north trying to join the Philistine army, their own city of Ziklag was unguarded. The opportunistic Amalekites took advantage of the defenseless city, <b><span class="c3">attacked</span></b> it, and <b><span class="c3">burned it to the ground</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. Worse than that, they <b><span class="c3">had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great</span></b>. Not only was the city burned, but all their women and children were taken away.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. There is a touch of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s poetic justice in all this. David had brought this exact calamity on other cities. <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',27,'8-11');">1Sa 27:8-11</a> says during his time among the Philistines, David made his living as a bandit, robbing cities and <i>whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive</i>. The Amalekites were being more merciful than David had been!</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. God, who is great in mercy, does not discipline us as much as we deserve. Like a compassionate father, He tempers the stroke of His hand with kindness and love.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'3-6');">3-6</a>) David and his men come upon the empty, burned city.</p>
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<p class="c2">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. Then David and the people who <i>were</i> with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. 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 <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">So David and his men came to the city</span></b>: As they came within a few miles of their city, the hearts of David and his men must have brightened. They were discouraged that they hadn't been allowed to fight with the Philistines; they are soldiers, and soldiers want to fight! But at least they knew they were coming home, and home meant all their familiar surroundings, and all their families. But that bright thought quickly turned black as night.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">And there it was, burned with fire</span></b>: Even off in the distance they could see something was wrong. Smoke rose from their city, but it wasn't the smoke of cooking fires. It was too much smoke for that, and the smoke was too black. They wondered why no one had come to greet them afar off - where were their wives and children? Weren't they glad to see them? But when they came to the city and saw it was a ghost town, a pile of burned rubble, with no voice of the survivors, it seemed that everything was lost.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "<span>May you see your self-righteousness burned like Ziklag, and all your carnal hopes carried away captive, and may you then encourage yourselves in Christ, for he will recover all for you, and give you spoil besides, and there shall be joy and rejoicing." </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep</span></b>: All had been lost. At this point, David has nothing more to support him. No one in Israel can help him. The Philistines don't want him. His family is gone; all he has owned is gone. But at least he has his friends, right? Not really; <b><span class="c3">the people spoke of stoning him</span></b>. Every support is gone, except the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. That is a <i>good</i> place to be in, not a bad place.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. David did not weep only because everything and everyone was lost. He also wept because he knew that he was responsible for it. No wonder <b><span class="c3">David was greatly distressed</span></b>. He is about as low in his backslidden state as a man can be; David is like the prodigal son who now sits in the pigpen.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">But David strengthened himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God</span></b>: It took a lot to bring David to this place, but now he is here - God is his only strength.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">David</span></b> strengthened himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God. This was backslidden David, wayward David, "fight with the Philistines" David. Why would God strengthen him? Because God is rich in mercy and grace, and because David was now completely broken, ready to be filled. Sometimes we think we have to <i>achieve</i> God's blessing or strength, but David shows us another way.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. David <b><span class="c3">strengthened</span></b> himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God. He received the strength, and felt it flow through himself, and was bold enough to ask for it and receive it from God. Before this, he didn't see himself as weak, but after coming home to a burned-out ghost town, David knew he was weak and needed God's strength.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. David strengthened <b><span class="c3">himself</span></b> in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God. He didn't wait for someone else to strengthen him. He didn't say, "Well <span class="c6">Lord</span>, if You want to strengthen me, that's fine. I'll just wait here until You do it." David knew that the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s strength was there for those who wait upon Him, so he strengthened <b><span class="c3">himself</span></b> in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God. God's strength was there for David all the time, but now he takes it for himself and will strengthen himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God.</p>
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<p class="c5">iv. David strengthened himself <b><span class="c3">in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God</span></b>. This wasn't some kind of rah-rah cheerleader kind of positive thinking mumbo jumbo. This was the strength of the living God making itself real in the life and heart of a hurting man. This was strength for recognition, strength for brokenness, strength for repentance, strength for determination to win back what the enemy has stolen. This is the same strength that would raise Jesus from the dead!</p>
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<p class="c4">e. <i>How</i> did David strengthen himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span>? </p>
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<p class="c5">i. David would have strengthened himself remembering <i>God's love</i>. At this point of total loss, David now saw the love of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> in the rejection of the Philistine leaders. If they had not sent him away, he and his men would not have returned right now, when the Amalekites had just left and the fires of their destruction were still burning. If God had not sent him back home through the rejection of the Philistines, it would have been months and months until he returned, and the situation would have been far worse. That which stung him before became sweet to him now, and the most precious expression of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s love.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. David would have strengthened himself remembering <i>God's promise and calling</i>. He could shake his head, clear the fog that had set about it for the last year or so, and say "I am a man anointed by God, called by God, and promised by God to be the next king of Israel. I have a high calling and promise from God, and He hasn't taken it away. I need to start living according to that destiny." David could thank God and see the glory of His power in this high call.</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. David would have strengthened himself remembering <i>God's past deliverances</i>. He could say, "This is a terrible spot, no doubt. But remember all the times when the <span class="c6">Lord</span> delivered me out of a bad spot before? If He did it then, He will do it now. He didn't deliver me before just to let me perish now."</p>
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<p class="c4">f. David took his only encouragement from the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. <span> <a onclick="return mV('1Ch',12,'19-20');">1Ch 12:19-20</a> gave David a reason for encouragement - men from the tribe of Manasseh came to him at this time, and stood with him when others were turning on David. But that isn't mentioned as encouragement to David at all. "God was beginning to cure his servant by a bitter dose of distress, and the evidence of the cure was that he did not encourage himself by his new friends, or by the hope of others coming; but he encouraged himself in the Lord his God." </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c4">g. What David <i>said in his heart</i> in <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',27,1);">1Sa 27:1</a> got him into this whole mess; now, what he says to himself to strengthen himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> will help bring him out. "<span>Some of the best talks in the world are those which a man has with himself. He who speaks to everybody except himself is a great fool." (Spurgeon)</span></p>
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<p>B. David wins back what was lost - and more.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'7-8');">7-8</a>) David inquires of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>.</p>
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<p class="c2">Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake <i>them</i> and without fail recover <i>all</i>."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. In <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,6);">1Sa 30:6</a>, <i>David strengthened himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God</i>. Now, it was time to <i>do</i> something with that strength from the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. First, David uses that strength when he <b><span class="c3">inquired of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. Of all the time David spent among the Philistines, this is the first time we read of him seeking God in any way. During his time of compromise and backsliding, David simply didn't inquire of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> in this way.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "Some other times, when he should, he called not for it; but proceeded only upon his own head. Now being in this great distress, though very desirous to pursue his enemies, and recover his wives, he would not go without the God's approbation and direction. We are usually best when at worst." (Trapp)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <i>How</i> did David inquire of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>? He did it the way God said to inquire of Him; David sought God with the help of the priest, almost certainly using the Urim and Thummim that were part of the priest's <b><span class="c3">ephod</span></b>. An <b><span class="c3">ephod</span></b> was a special apron that priests would wear, to cover over their clothing, so the sacrificial blood and gore would splash on the ephod, not so much on their clothing.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. It is likely that this wasn't just any ephod; this was the ephod of the High Priest, which had the <i>breastplate of judgment</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',28,15);">Exd 28:15</a>) attached to it (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',28,28);">Exd 28:28</a>). The breastplate had in it a pouch with two stones, known as <i>the Urim and Thummim</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Exd',28,30);">Exd 28:30</a>). When David <b><span class="c3">inquired of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>, he probably asked Abiathar to use the <i>Urim and Thummim</i>.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. How did the priest use the <i>Urim and Thummim</i> to inquire of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>? The names <i>Urim and Thummim</i> mean "Lights and Perfections." We aren't sure what they were or how they were used. Most think they were a pair of stones, one light and another dark, and each stone indicated a "yes" or "no" from God. The idea is that High Priest would ask God a question that could be answered with a "yes" or a "no," reach into the breastplate, and pull out the stone indicating God's answer. </p>
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<p class="c5">iii. We don't have the Urim and Thummim today; and even if they were discovered in a miracle of archaeology, God would no more bless their use today than He would bless a re-establishment of the Old Testament priesthood. The day for the Old Testament priesthood is past for us today, being perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But in David's day it was commanded of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. The key to the effectiveness of the Urim and Thummim was that <i>God's Word</i> gave them. In seeking God through the Urim and Thummim, David was really going back to God's Word for guidance, because it was the word of God that commanded their place and allowed their use. Today, if we have the same focus on God's Word, He will guide us also.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <i>What</i> did David ask the <span class="c6">Lord</span>? David asked, <b><span class="c3">Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?</span></b> At one time, David would not have bothered to even ask these questions. He would have simply done it, because when a soldier is attacked, he attacks back. But in returning from his backsliding, David brings <i>everything</i> to the <span class="c6">Lord</span>. Nothing is done just because it was done before. He asks God about everything.</p>
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<p class="c4">e. <i>What</i> did God answer David? <b><span class="c3">Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all</span></b>. God first gave David something <i>to do</i> (<b><span class="c3">pursue</span></b>). Then, God gave David a <i>promise</i> in the doing (<b><span class="c3">you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all</span></b>). When God gives us something to <i>do</i>, He also gives us a <i>promise</i> in the doing.</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'9-10');">9-10</a>) David pursues the Amalekites who conquered Ziklag.</p>
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<p class="c2">So David went, he and the six hundred men who <i>were</i> with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed <i>behind</i>, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">So David went</span></b>: God told David to go and pursue them, and David did exactly that. Obedience to the <span class="c6">Lord</span> is often that simple.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. What is the use of calling Jesus "Lord" if we will not <i>do</i> what He tells us to <i>do</i>? Is there a single thing you have <i>done</i>, or a single thing you have <i>not done</i>, for the simple reason that Jesus told you to <i>do it</i> or not <i>do it</i>?</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">He and the six hundred men who were with him</span></b>: David's men were almost at a place of mutiny against him (<i>the people spoke of stoning him</i>, <a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,6);">1Sa 30:6</a>). But now, since he <i>strengthened himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,6);">1Sa 30:6</a>), and since he <i>inquired of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,8);">1Sa 30:8</a>), and since he did what God told him to do, his men are totally back on his side.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. When it says, <b><span class="c3">David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him</span></b>, it implies that David said, "Men, I'm going. I have a promise from God for victory, and I'm going to believe it. It doesn't matter if you come with me or not, because God is on my side, and I have to beat all the Amalekites all by myself, God's promise will not fail." But such faith in God stirred the hearts of the <b><span class="c3">six hundred men</span></b>, and they couldn't stand by and not follow David.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. What a sight it must have been! David and <b><span class="c3">the six hundred men</span></b> on the march again, this time not hoping to fight for the Philistines, or for themselves, but off again on a mission from God. There wasn't an army on earth that could beat David and his six hundred men when they walked in God's will.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">For two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor</span></b>: This might have been tremendously discouraging to David. As he pursues a significantly larger Amalekite army, he finds that one-third of his men can't continue. But David doesn't let this trial stop him. He sets the one-third to work guarding the supplies, lightening the load of the 400 who continue, and he sets out again, full of faith.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "<span>But mark this, he was not delivered without further trial...Many a leader would have given up the chase with one out of three of his troop in hospital, but David pursued with his reduced force. When God means to bless us, he often takes away a part of the little strength we thought we had. We did not think our strength equal to the task, and the Lord takes away a portion even of the little power we had. Our God does not fill till he has emptied. Two hundred men must be rent away from David's side before God could give him victory...Expect then, O troubled one, that you will be delivered, but know that your sorrow may yet deepen, that you may have all the greater joy by-and-by." </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c1">3. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'11-15');">11-15</a>) David and his men befriend a helpless Egyptian.</p>
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<p class="c2">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. 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. Then David said to him, "To whom do you <i>belong</i>, and where <i>are</i> you from?" And he said, "I <i>am</i> a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. We made an invasion of the southern <i>area</i> of the Cherethites, in the <i>territory</i> which <i>belongs</i> to Judah, and of the southern <i>area</i> of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire." 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."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Then they found an Egyptian in the field</span></b>: As David and the 600 men pursue the Amalekites, they come across a man collapsed in the wilderness. It would have been easy, and perhaps logical, to ignore this man because they had a "much greater" mission in pursing the Amalekites. But David and his men show unexpected kindness to this man, and they <b><span class="c3">gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. The Egyptian was near death; <b><span class="c3">he had eaten no bread nor drunk any water for three days and three nights</span></b>. It would have been easy to ignore him, and pass him by. They could have said, "Look, this is a very sad case but this man is near death anyway. We can't do much to save him, so let's be on our way." They could have said, "We are on a mission from God and nothing can get in our way, so let's be on our way." But David and his men refused these excuses, and showed an unexpected kindness to this man. This shows that David was really walking in the heart of God.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. The fact that this was <i>unexpected</i> care and kindness is significant. We may all pat ourselves on the back for showing <i>expected</i> love to others, but what great praise is that? Jesus' question in the Sermon on the Mount rings true: <i>What do you do more than others?</i> (<a onclick="return mV('Mat',5,47);">Mat 5:47</a>)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Then David said to him, "To whom do you belong, and where are you from?"</span></b> David - the leader of these 600 men, and anointed to be the next king of Israel - didn't have to take a caring interest in this man, but he did. David did what some would have thought was a waste of time: he showed simple care and kindness to a nobody. They didn't just give this Egyptian food and water, they gave him care and kindness.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Spurgeon has a wonderful sermon on David's question to the Egyptian, <b><span class="c3">"To whom do you belong?"</span></b> (<i>A Searching Question</i>). In one section, he helps his listeners discover to whom they really belong by asking these questions: <span>1. Where were you born? 2. What company do you keep? 3. What is your dialect? 4. What have you learned to do? 5. What do the angels see you do?</span></p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite...we burned Ziklag with fire</span></b>: In showing unexpected kindness to this Egyptian, God shows David unexpected blessing. Since he knew where they came from, he knew where they would return, and he promised to guide David and his men there.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "The emphatic 'we' at the beginning of v. 14 suggests that the slave participated personally in the Amalekites' raids." (Youngblood)</p>
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<p class="c4">d. <b><span class="c3">The southern area of the Cherethites</span></b>: "<i>Ketrthi</i>, which, without the points, might be read <i>Creti</i>, were not only at this time <i>Philistines</i>, but that they were aborigines of <i>Crete</i>, from which they had their name <i>Cherethites</i> or <i>Cretans</i>, and are those of whom Zephaniah speaks, chapter <a onclick="return mV('Zep',2,5);">2:5</a>: <i>Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast, The nation of the Cherethites! The word of the <span class="c6">Lord</span> is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines: 'I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant.'</i> And Ezekiel, chapter <a onclick="return mV('Eze',25,16);">25:16</a>: <i>Therefore thus says the Lord <span class="c6">God</span>: 'I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast.'</i> In <a onclick="return mV('2Sa',15,18);">2Sa 15:18</a> we find that the <i>Cherethites</i> formed a part of David's guards." (Clarke)</p>
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<p class="c1">4. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'16-20');">16-20</a>) David routs and spoils the Amalekites, winning back everything that was taken.</p>
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<p class="c2">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. 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. So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 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. Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those <i>other</i> livestock, and said, "This <i>is</i> David's spoil."</p>
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<p class="c4">a. Catching the Amalekites in the midst of their victory celebration, David and his men <b><span class="c3">attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day</span></b>. How surprised the Amalekites must have been! They figured that all the Philistine and Israelite armies were far to the north, preparing to fight each other. They weren't expecting this army that was neither Philistine, nor among the Israelite army.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. <b><span class="c3">Twilight</span></b> is probably a bad translation here, and it should be <i>from dawn until evening of the next day</i>. "The Hebrew word <i>nesep</i>, translated 'dawn' in <a onclick="return mV('Job',7,4);">Job 7:4</a> and <a onclick="return mV('Psa',119,147);">Psa 119:147</a>, has this sense here...Having noted the situation, David and his men took some rest and attacked at first light, when the Amalekites would be suffering from the soporific effects of the feast, and least able to defend themselves." (Baldwin)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. It was wise to attack the Amalekites when they were hung over from the party the night before. "Whom they found it no hard matter to stab with the sword, who were cup-shot before." (Trapp)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away</span></b>: Everything that the enemy had taken, David took back. God gave him a complete victory, because David <i>strengthened himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,6);">1Sa 30:6</a>), David <i>inquired of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,8);">1Sa 30:8</a>), David did what God told him to do, and David showed unexpected care and kindness to others.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. God's promise was proved true. When David inquired of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>, God promised <i>You shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all</i> (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,8);">1Sa 30:8</a>). The promise was fulfilled exactly, but it wasn't fulfilled as David sat back passively and said, "All right God, now You can do it." The <span class="c6">Lord</span> fulfilled His promise, but He used David's actions to fulfill the promise. God's promise didn't <i>exclude</i> David's cooperation, the promise <i>invited</i> his cooperation.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. "<span>Many who get into trouble seem to expect an angel to come and lift them up by the hair of their heads; but angels have other matters in hand. The Lord generally helps us by enabling us to help ourselves, and it is a way which does us double good. It was more for David's benefit that he should himself smite the Amalekites than that God should hurl hailstones out of heaven upon them, and destroy them. David will have their spoil for the wage of battle, and be rewarded for the forced march and the fight. Brother, you will have to work and labor to extricate yourself from debt and difficulty, and so the Lord will hear your prayer. The rule is to trust in God to smite the Amalekites, and then to march after them, as if it all depended upon yourself." </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c5">iii. "H<span>ow truly it can be said that the greater Son of David has recovered all. All that was lost by sin, our glorious and victorious Captain has recovered. What then shall be his spoil? It was foretold that 'He shall divide the spoil with the strong.' Let your hearts and mine, and all we are, and all we have, be yielded up to him, and let us say of it all, 'This is Jesu's spoil, and to him be glory evermore!'" </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">This is David's spoil</span></b>: God gave David <i>even more</i> than what was promised. He received <b><span class="c3">spoil</span></b> from the battle, beyond what had been taken from Ziklag. This was blessing straight from the grace of God.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. "<span>Now, in the great battle of Christ on our behalf, He has not only given us back what we lost, but He has given us what Adam in his perfection never had. And I want you to dwell upon that, because this part of it is peculiarly our Lord's spoil. Those good things which we now possess, over and above what we lost by sin, come to us by the Lord Jesus. Now that the Son of God has come into the field, He is not content with restoration, He turns the loss into a gain, the fall into a greater rising." </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. <span>We should come to Jesus, and by our free will give Him everything we have, everything we are. We give our lives to Him and say, "This is Jesus' spoil." We give our gifts and abilities to Him and say, "This is Jesus' spoil." We give our possessions to Him and say, "This is Jesus' spoil." We give our praise to Him and say, "This is Jesus' spoil." We give our time to Him and say, "This is Jesus' spoil."</span></p>
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<p class="c5">iii. Some wonder why David was allowed to keep the spoil of the Amalekites when Saul was expressly commanded to not keep any spoil from that nation (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',15,'1-3');">1Sa 15:1-3</a>), and was judged by God for not obeying that command (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',15,'13-23');">1Sa 15:13-23</a>). The answers are simple: First, David had no specific command from God to destroy all the spoil from the Amalekites, as Saul did. Second, David was <i>recovering</i> what the Amalekites had taken from <i>others</i>, though he recovered far beyond what was taken from his city. Third, David was not acting as the king of Israel, representing the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s nation, as Saul was. So in this case, simply put, the rules were different for David.</p>
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<p>C. The spoil from the battle is divided.</p>
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<p class="c1">1. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'21-25');">21-25</a>) The spoils are distributed equally among those who fought and those who supported.</p>
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<p class="c2">Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who <i>were</i> with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, "Because they did not go with us, we will not give them <i>any</i> of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man's wife and children, that they may lead <i>them</i> away and depart." But David said, "My brethren, you shall not do so with what the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part <i>is</i> who goes down to the battle, so <i>shall</i> his part <i>be</i> who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike." So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary they could not follow David</span></b>: Apparently, when David was in swift pursuit of the Amalekites, 200 men among his company could not continue on. So they made a camp where they were, and lightened the supply load from the soldiers who would continue. Now, David returns to the <b><span class="c3">two hundred men</span></b> who stayed by the supply camp.</p>
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<p class="c4">b. <b><span class="c3">Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said</span></b>: When David returned, these men of the supply camp saw their own possessions among the spoils of battle, and they wanted them back. The <b><span class="c3">wicked and worthless men</span></b> (apparently, there were some among David's men) protested, and said they could only have back <b><span class="c3">every man's wife and children</span></b>, but none of their possessions.</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">My brethren, you shall not do so with what the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has given us...But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies, they shall share alike</span></b>. David declares an important principle: the supply lines are just as vital as the soldiers are and God will reward both "soldiers" and "supporters" properly.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. Many people serve the <span class="c6">Lord</span> in invisible, behind-the-scenes ways, often supporting a much more visible aspect of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s work. God will support the hidden servant with the same reward as prominent servant.</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. The <b><span class="c3">wicked and worthless men</span></b> looked at the spoil and said, "We fought for this spoil and it is ours." David looked at the spoil and said, "Look at <b><span class="c3">what the <span class="c6">Lord</span> has given us</span></b>." When you looked at it that way, how could you not share? When the <span class="c6">Lord</span> had given David such a great victory, he really saw it as the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s victory more than his own.</p>
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<p class="c4">d. This principle was so important that it was declared to be <b><span class="c3">a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day</span></b>. The principle should be declared and believed among God's people today.</p>
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<p class="c5">i. There is encouragement for the <b><span class="c3">weary</span></b> here. "<span>You Little-Faiths, you Despondencies, you Much-Afraids, you Feeble-Minds, you that sigh more than you sing, you that would but cannot, you that have a great heart for holiness, but feel beaten back in your struggles, the Lord shall give you his love, his grace, his favor, as surely as he gives it to those who can do great things in his name." </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c5">ii. Poole on why those who stayed back were worthy of a portion of the spoil: "The reason of it is manifest, because they were exposed to hazards as well as their brethren, and were a reserve to whom they might retreat in case of a defeat; and they were now in actual service, and in the station in which their general had placed them."</p>
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<p class="c1">2. (<a onclick="return mV('1Sa',30,'26-31');">26-31</a>) David mends strained relationships.</p>
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<p class="c2">Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent <i>some</i> of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, "Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the <span class="c6">Lord</span>"; to <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Bethel, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Ramoth of the South, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Jattir, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Aroer, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Siphmoth, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Eshtemoa, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Rachal, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in the cities of the Kenites, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Hormah, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Chorashan, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Athach, <i>those</i> who <i>were</i> in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove.</p>
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<p class="c4">a. <b><span class="c3">When David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends</span></b>: David knew that his time among the Philistines had strained his relationships with God's people. Now he knows he must do whatever he can to put things right again, so <b><span class="c3">he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah</span></b>.</p>
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<p class="c5"><span>i. "David became rich and able to send presents to his friends; but he was also the better man, the holier man, the stronger man, the more fit to wear that crown which was so soon to adorn his brow. Oh, brothers and sisters, the deeper your trouble the louder will be your song, if you can but trust in God and walk in fellowship with Jesus." </span>(Spurgeon)</p>
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<p class="c4">b. This is the final step in David's getting things right after his time of backsliding among the Philistines.</p><ul class="c6"><li>David <i>strengthened himself in the <span class="c6">Lord</span> his God</i>.</li><li>David <i>inquired of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></i>.</li><li>David believed God's promise.</li><li>David did what God told him to do.</li><li>David showed unexpected care and kindness to others.</li><li>David saw it as the <span class="c6">Lord</span>'s victory.</li><li>David shared the reward with others.</li><li>David did what he could to mend relationships.</li></ul>
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<p class="c5">i. Baldwin says well, "David's genius was his spiritual resilience. He expected to find the resources he needed in the Lord his God, and he was not disappointed."</p>
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<p class="c4">c. <b><span class="c3">Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the <span class="c6">Lord</span></span></b>: David sent spoil from the battle to more than 13 cities. Obviously, there was <i>spoil to spare</i> from the battle. In this, David is a picture of his greater Son, Jesus Christ. When Jesus triumphed on the cross, He won the greatest battle, and He had "spoil to share." He shared the spoil with His people, as it says in <a onclick="return mV('Eph',4,'7-8');">Eph 4:7-8</a>: <i>But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men."</i> Jesus has spoil from His victory to give you!</p>
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<p class="c4">d. David is a remarkable picture of Jesus in this chapter. Note these five points of association:</p><ul class="c6"><li>We are like David's men, David is like Jesus.</p><li>We are like the weary ones left behind, David is like Jesus.</p><li>We are like the Egyptian slave, David is like Jesus.</p><li>We are like the spoil David recovered, David is like Jesus.</p><li>We are like the elders of Judah, and David is like Jesus.</p></ul>
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