David Found Strength in His God
1Samuel 30
People say, “A good friend is like a mirror.” It is because such a friend reflects you perfectly as you are. When I read the Books of Samuel, I feel that David is a mirror on which his God is reflected vividly. Through David’s life, the Lord is presented to us as living God. In his Beatitudes as well, Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8). It is truly an inexpressible blessing to live before God and become a mirror of His glory. In this sense, Chapter 30 of 1Samuel also tells us a very meaningful story.
Previous chapters 27-29 provide a background of today’s story. In order to escape from Saul’s pursuit, David entered the land of the Philistines. And together with the 600 men following him, David settled in a village named Ziklag. The village was provided by Achish, son of Maoch king of Gath (1Samuel 27:6). Then, while David and all of his men were out of the village, the Amalekites raided Ziklag. They burned the village, and took captive of all the women and people in the village, young and old. Among the captives were David’s two wives Ahinoam and Abigail. When David and his men came back to Ziklag, nothing was left there. Out of despair and sorrow, David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength to weep anymore.
This tragic accident that took away wives and children and all the properties was a disaster unbearable to both David and all the others. Such a misfortune happens to all. This is the case to both of those who believe in God and those who don’t. Even those who believe may suffer more. In today’s text as well, David lost his two wives, and in addition to that, he faced the risk of being stoned by the angry people. Differences between believers and non-believers are in how they overcome the misfortune. And verse 6 of today’s text shows us the difference very clearly. “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.” In this stressful situation, what came upon first in the mind of the men were their children taken captive by the Amalekites. Thinking of their sons and daughters in the enemy’s hands, they fell in sorrow and panic, and then anger. And they picked up stones in order to vent their anger on David. Considering parents’ affection to their children, we may understand their behaviors. But their “unbelieving affection” led them to lose their mind and kill their leader who was like their shepherd. Instead of getting out of the problem, they were falling into deeper problems.
David was different from them. While the men were panicked in thought of their poor children, David looked up his God. And he was strengthened and encouraged by the Lord. This was the difference between David and the men. And this should be the difference between the believers and non-believers. When David found strength in his God, his way of solving the problem was also quite different from the others’. And it was so spiritual that it was pleasing to God. Through this, David turned the misfortune into a great fortune, and he revealed again that God was living and working among them. When we are in the middle of sorrow and fear, it means that we are in “darkness.” In this darkness, we cannot hear God’s voice and cannot see the guidance of his light. The only thing we can do is picking up a stone and venting anger unjustly to a wrong person. But when we are strengthened by God, we get our eyes and ears opened. We become able to hear God’s voice and follow the guidance of His light. We can break through the problem spiritually. Through this, we experience God’s intimate stepping with us and reach His glorious blessings.
Today’s text gives a detailed description of how David pursued the Amalekites, fought them, and recovered everything. In the course, David demonstrates a good example of how we rely on God and solve a problem. This exemplary story contains valuable lessons that we should not forget to live a spiritual life pleasant to God in the middle of many difficulties. The lessons are: firstly, praying to God and asking His will continuously; secondly, running near to death after the hope that God gave; thirdly, being kind to everybody; and lastly, attributing all glory to God and giving thanks to Him.
After having gained strength and courage, the first thing David did was praying to God and asking His will. David had Abiathar the priest bring the ephod and inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” Then, the Lord answered, “Pursue them. You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.” God’s reply to David is not talking about “possibility.” It is God’s promise that He will do it for David. God never disappoints those who have trust and hope in Him. God never returns in empty hands those who come to Him. He always answers, and always blesses. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” The world and people living the world always talk about “fear” and “despair.” Thus, if we seek solutions in the world and keep listening to the world, we are easily contaminated with the same fear and despair. We should close our ears to the world, and open them to God’s voice. From God, we should hear comfort, hope, and encouragement. We should believe and hold onto his promises. That is the way of life.
When David heard God’s word, he, with his 600 men, immediately set out to pursue the Amalekites. Among them, 200 were too exhausted to continue the pursuit on the way. Leaving them behind, David and 400 men continued the pursuit. At last, they arrived where the Amalekites camped. David and his men engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy from dusk until the evening of the next day. Their journey was extremely intense. They ran a long distance, and then fought with a great number of enemies for two days with no break to eat or drink. This shows that David put all his strength into this rescue work. When a problem happened, people often spend a lot of time in finding whose fault it is. While they are wasting time over what has already happened, the enemies run away farther and the problem grows deeper. But David did not waste time in the past. He ran near to death ahead after the hope that God showed him. In terms of number, David’s party was no match to the Amalekites. Verse 17 says that among the Amalekites “only 400 young men” fled and escaped from David’s sword. This means that there were at least thousands of or even tens of thousands of Amalekite fighters. Despite this inferiority in number, David moved forward and fought to his best. Hebrews 10:32 says, “Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering,” and 10:38 also says, “But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” God wants us to move forward boldly by faith. Even when we look very small, He expect us to do the work God gave us faithfully with all our strength. I believe that our life-giving commitment is truly faith and prayer acceptable to God. And there are great rewards from God.
On the way to pursue the Amalekites, David met an Egyptian boy. He had been a slave of an Amalekite, but when he fell sick, his master abandoned him. For three days and nights, he hadn’t eaten or drunk anything. To this poor boy, David gave water to drink and food to eat. David was so kind to such a sick abandoned slave. When David and his party gained a lot of plunders from the Amalekites, some evil troublemakers said of the 200 men who had been exhausted and left behind, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered.” But David called the plunder “what the Lord has given us” and divided it equally even to those who had stayed behind. David also sent gifts to the elders of Judah who had helped him while David and his men were roaming around the land of Judah. David was basically a man who loved people. His love and kindness embraced the abandoned sick Gentile slave boy, and those who were weak and “useless.” He loved people more than money. God was pleased with David as such and established him as the shepherd of Israel.
Lastly, David attributed all glory to God and gave thanks to God. In Verse 23, David says, “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.” Some of those who had participated in the fight put forward their merit, saying, “we will not share with them the plunder we recovered.” But David did not forget what God had done, and put it forward. God protected them. God handed the enemies over to them. God had them recover everything, and in addition, gave them a great amount of plunder. As mentioned above, David himself fought near to death in order to attain the promise God gave to him. Some of David’s men, driving the flocks and herds taken from the Amalekites, shouted, “This is David’s plunder.” With all these, David deserved to enjoy at least “some” of the glory of this victory. However, he didn’t take any glory upon himself. He turned it to God wholly. And he didn’t monopolize God’s grace as “my own” but divided it equally. Then, all the people thanked God and praised His grace joyfully.
We may have difficulties and problems in our lives. Some of them happen unexpectedly out of nowhere as that in today’s story. When our mind is attached to things in the world (including our families), these problems drag us into the world. They put us into the darkness of fear and despair. Faced with such difficulties, however, those who believe look up God, and find strength in their God. As demonstrated by David, moreover, we keep praying to God for His will, run near to death toward the hope promised by God, love and serve people, and give glory and praise to God. Sufferings we have in the world are merely the contrast background of God’s glorious blessings. Unbelievers retreat in order to avoid sufferings, and when they cannot escape, they complain, cry, and get angry. But believers gain strength in their God to move forward. We reach and gain the blessings that God promised and prepared for us. We become God’s mirror, upon which God’s glory is shown to the world.
The world is getting more heartless. Love is drying out among people. Living this world relying on what is visible is like crossing the Pacific Ocean on a straw. Nevertheless, God is our only hope, and refuge, and the source of our strength and power as always as he was in the past and he will be in the future. God never disappoints those who trust in him and come to him with this faith. May each of us find strength in my God, and run the race to reach the blessings God promises to those who believe.