God Is Watching Over His Chosen - 1 Samuel 28 - 29
Prayer: Lord as we open your word this morning watch over us. Teach us your truths and lead us by the power of your Holy Spirit. As we read this account help us to see how you worked in David's life, then help us to see your hand in our own lives as well.
Quickly Form Groups and answer the following questions:
1. a. Have you ever faced a crisis where you wondered where God was in the whole thing? (for those who answer yes, answer b & c)
b. How did it feel?
c. Over time what did you discover about God's actions in the midst of your crisis?
2. How might you encourage a friend facing a crisis?
Setting the Scene: David has been living amongst the Philistines & King Achish thinks he has David under his control (but he doesn't). The Philistine forces are gathering to attack Israel, David & his army have been commanded by King Achish to join the Philistine forces. It would be an understatement to say that this was a conflict of interest for David. There are some, such as Chuck Swindoll, who believe David's lapse of faith in going to stay in Philistine territory has led to this crisis - and this is possible; however, we'll see that David continues to be shrewd & has not turned his back on his people or his God.
1 Samuel 29 v1-5: The Philistine army is gathering from the far reaches of the Philistine territories, each Prince among the Philistines presents his troops in an orderly fashion, the last to present his troops is the King & David's crew is among them. These Princes would be like Generals or Commanders of our day, when they see the enemy amongst their ranks they are not happy & confront King Achish. Achish tries to convince them that David is under his control, but the Princes don't buy it. These warriors know David's reputation, they've heard the Hebrews sing about their warrior-hero, and they don't trust David and his men among their ranks. The Princes demand David be sent back to Ziklag.
1 Samuel 29 v6-10: Achish basically tells David "I know you can be trusted, but my men just don't trust you, so you've going to have to go back home". David feigns injury, asks what he's done to deny him the privilege of fighting Achish's enemies. David is keeping up his ruse, keeping Achish convinced that he's on his side.
David had gotten himself in a bind, he was expected to harm his own people, expected to harm God's people... all because he sought refuge amongst the Philistines. I'm completely convinced he'd have never raised a sword against God's people, but would have done as the Philistine commanders suspected. If he had defected from the Philistine forces think about the danger to the families left behind in Ziklag, they'd have likely been killed or enslaved. Lucky for David that God was protecting him even as he was a refugee in enemy territory.
1 Samuel 29 v11 - 1 Samuel 30 v5: David & his men return to Ziklag, after a few days of traveling back they were probably looking forward to the comforts of home & family, but when they return all is not well. While David & his men were away their town got sacked, all their people had been taken and the town was burned. Uh-Oh, trouble had come to the families anyway despite God's protection. I think sometimes we believe that God is protecting us only when nothing bad ever happens, that's not true, bad things still happen in the lives of God's people - the difference is God turns those things into good for His people. David & his men are crying out with distress, they are inconsolable.
I was reading in the book "A Heart Like His" by Rebecca Manyley Pippert and she pointed out something interesting. Both David and Saul were in distress, each at one of the lowest points in their lives, at about the same time. We've seen how Saul responded to distress - now we'll see how David responds.
v6-8: David is such a good example here, things are about as bad as they could get because now even his own men are speaking of stoning him because their grief is so great & they feel somehow that David is responsible - after all they've been trusting in and following him, leaving their families behind defenseless. What does David do? He turns right to God, he chose to find strength in God, and he seeks out the priest in order to discern God's will for what to do next. The Ephod was brought out & the Urim & Thummim put to use - the result: David's army is to pursue the Amalekites, David is told they will overtake them and recover all.
v9-10: David & his men head out after the troop that had attacked their town, they are weary from just returning from the Philistine battle lines & some of the men just aren't up to chasing down this troop & engaging in battle. Instead of pushing them to continue David leaves them behind with the supplies (v24) at the Brook Besor. I'm sure all of them would have preferred to continue, but going into battle when weary isn't wise; also, by leaving the supplies & the weary behind the men who continued could travel lighter & faster. David is showing wisdom in taking a disadvantage (weary troops) and turning it into an advantage (unencumbered fighting men), and not putting his weary troops into a situation where they'd likely be harmed.
v11-15: David & his men are chasing down troops, but they have no idea who they're chasing or where those people have gone, then by God's providence they find a slave who was left behind to die. The slave had been sick & instead of showing compassion his master deserted him, so can you imagine his surprise that this band of warriors would bother to stop and show him compassion? When they came across the man they might not have had any idea he could give them the very information they needed, the poor guy hadn't had anything to eat or drink for 3 days & probably wasn't in any condition to give them any information. Their compassion paid off when the man regained his strength, they recieved God's blessing in the form of a new friend and an important informant who was able to provide them with both the identity and location of their foes. This got me wondering, how often do we miss the opportunity of receiving a blessing because we're too busy to slow down & demonstrate compassion?
v16-20: David was led right to the camp of his foes, the Amalekites must have been quite numerous to be described as "spread out over all the land". What are his foes doing? They are celebrating, eating & drinking & dancing, in a party-like atmosphere. It says David attacked at Twilight, after the sun had gone down, so I wonder if David waited a little while to let them get a bit drunk & tired from all their partying. An advantage David would have had with darkness was that he could clearly see his target, but he could not easily be seen approaching in the dark. David & his men attack, and the battle lasts through the night and until the next evening. David & his men are victorious, only a small group with camels were able to escape, and they recovered not only their people but all of the Amalekite plunder as well.
The Amalekites were similar to bedouin peoples & they were camel breeders. Camels were an advantage for peoples who traveled long distances, in this case they allowed a small portion of the young Amalekite men to escape.
How many men were with David in this battle? (see v10)
How many young Amalekite men escaped on camel? (see v17)
I think this is one of those times when you see God's power & faithfulness. Only a relative few Amalekites survived, and not one thing of David's was lost, despite the incredible odds. I imagine that the plunder included not only the people, livestock, and possessions taken from Ziklag, but also the plunder from other towns as well as many camels (valuable for both food and transportation). David gathers back his people and claims the plunder for them as well.
v21-25: David has some men who are being troublemakers, they don't want to share the spoils with the men who were weary and stayed with the supplies. It's interesting that they have an attitude that they've earned the spoils, in truth the spoils were given to them by God - God led them and provided His power to help them succeed. This is a good reminder to us, the good things we have are all gifts from God. How tightly do you hold on to things? How hard is it for you to share what you have with others? David sets things straight - what God has given will be shared, and those who guarded the supplies will be given an equal share. David was so resolved in this matter that he put an ordinance in place.
v26-31: David returns to Ziklag with an abundance of plunder, probably more than he could reasonably use and more than was reasonable to hold on to - after all they didn't expect to stay in Ziklag permanently, they were expecting to have to pick up and move on again some day. So what does David do with the excess? He sends gifts to the elders of Judah who've likely been suffering under Saul oppressive reign, to the elders in the regions of Israel where David and his men had been known to rove, and I'm sure this doesn't hurt David's reputation & gains him favor.
Closing Prayer: Thank you Lord for watching over David and his men, and thank you Lord for watching over us. Help us Lord to respond to your faithfulness and your protection in a manner that demonstrates our love for you. Help us Lord to live out our faith by demonstrating your love and your compassion to the world.
Quickly Form Groups Again, and answer the following questions:
3. Take a few moments to stop and think of someone or some group that could use a little compassion. What can you do to demonstrate compassion for this particular person or group?
4. What has God given to you to share with others? What will you do to make sure you are sharing what He's given?
5. Why is it difficult to be compassionate or to share with others?
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