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CHAPTER 10
KING DAVID'S FAITH IN ACTION
Introduction
Two days later David and his men arrived back
at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern
Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down
the town and captured all the women; they had not
killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them
when they left. When David and his men arrived
they found that the town had been burned down and
that their wives, sons, and daughters had been
carried away. David and his men started crying
and did not stop until they were completely
exhausted. Even David's two wives, Ahinoam and
Abigail, had been taken away.
David was now in great trouble, because his
men were all very bitter about losing their
children, and they were threatening to stone him;
but the LORD his God gave him courage. David said
to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech, "Bring
me the ephod," and Abiathar brought it to him.
David asked the LORD, "Shall I go after those
raiders? And will I catch them?"
He answered, "Go after them; you will catch
them and rescue the captives."
So David and his six hundred men started out,
and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them
stayed there. David continued on his way with
four hundred men; the other two hundred men were
too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind.
The men with David found an Egyptian boy out in
the country and brought him to David. They gave
him some food and water, some dried figs, and two
bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his
strength returned; he had not had anything to eat
or drink for three full days. David asked him,
"Who is your master, and where are from?"
"I am an Egyptian, the slave of an
Amalekite," he answered. "My master left me behind
three days ago because I got sick. We had raided
the territory of the Cherethites in the southern
part of Judah and the territory of the clan of
Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag."
"Will you lead me to those raiders?" David
asked him.
He answered, "I will if you promise me in
God's name that you will not kill me or hand me
over to my master." And he led David to them.
The raiders were scattered all over the
place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because
of the enormous amount of loot they had captured
from Philistia and Judah. At dawn the next day
David attacked them and fought until evening.
Except for four hundred young men who mounted
camels and got away, none of them escaped. David
rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had
taken, including his two wives; nothing at all was
missing. David got back all his men's sons and
daughters, and all the loot the Amaleties had
taken. He also recovered all the flocks and
herds; his men drove all the livestock in front of
them and said, "This belongs to David!" (1 Samuel
30:1-20, Today's English Version).
As a young shepherd boy, King David came to know God.
God helped him defeat a lion and a bear while he protected
his father's sheep. David continued to walk with God and
grew stronger in his faith. He later met and defeated an
even greater enemy, Goliath.
King Saul was rejected as King of Israel because of his
disobedience. However, he stubbornly held on to power and
refused to turn the reigns over to David, who was God's
choice to succeed him as King of Israel. Seeing David as a
threat, Saul set out to kill David.
David ran to Achish, a Philistine ruler, in order to
escape Saul. David feigned friendship with Achish and
Achish gave David and his men the city of Ziklag.
The time came when the Philistines were preparing to
attack Israel. This placed David in a difficult position.
In order to continue to play the friend of Achish, he would
be forced to fight his own countrymen. David accompanied
Achish to Aphek where the Philistines were to gather for
battle. Fortunately, the other Philistine leaders did not
trust David, so Achish sent him and his men back to Ziklag.
David's Problem
David now faced the greatest crisis of his life. David
"stepped out of the frying pan into the fire." When David
and his men arrived home at Ziklag, they found their fami-
lies, animals and possessions missing and the city in ruins.
As far as they knew at this time, their families could have
been killed; their animals were gone and they were wiped
out materially.
David and his men were griefstricken. In their bitter-
ness and anger, the men turned on David. Immediately, David
faced the potential loss of (1) his followers, (2) becoming
king of Israel and (3) his own life.
The Bible then says that David. . ."popped a pill!"
"No!"
"Got drunk?"
"No!"
"Saw a psychiatrist?"
"No!"
"Ran from his problem?"
"No!"
"Well, what did he do?"
David's Action
David allowed his problem to drive him TO GOD and not
AWAY from God. One will find himself "between a rock and
a hard place" at times. If one learns the principle of being
driven to God by problems or moral failure and not giving
up, he will emerge victorious.
David asked God what to do in this circumstance. This
step is absolutely essential. One must know the will of God
before he can believe or exercise faith, since faith is
based on the will of God alone. The believer simply does
not know what is best--he must rely on the Word of God and
the leading of the Holy Spirit:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not
on your own understanding; in all your ways
acknowledge him, and he will make your paths
straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).
God told David to pursue the Amalekites and that he
would recover everything. David received the Word of God
into his heart, which he wrote concerning later:
The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives
understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130, NIV).
If David had not received God's Word, it probably would have
been over for him at that point.
David did very well up to the next step. Would David
then act on God's Word? If not, history would have been
rewritten, with a different king of Israel taking David's
place. However, David did act on God's Word, as we shall
soon see.
Now, the story takes an amazing supernatural turn.
The battle no longer is David's. Since God's will was
being done, the battle now becomes God's battle. David
had learned this important lesson earlier when doing battle
with Goliath:
"All those gathered here will know that it is not
by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the
battle is the LORD's and he will give all of you
into our hands." (1 Samuel 17:47, NIV).
There is a rest for the believer. However, this is not
a rest of inactivity:
Now we who have believed enter that rest. . . .
(Hebrews 4:3, NIV).
There is a heart-peace, an inner-knowledge and rest when
one is trusting God.
For David to pursue the Amalekites, having such little
knowledge of the enemy (their strength,location,etc.) could
have been disastrous. David and his men pursued the
Amalekites. By God's providence they found an Amalekite
slave left to die in the field, who led them to the
Amalekite camp.
David and his four hundred men killed all the
Amalekites EXCEPT four hundred who escaped on camels.
Every family member was rescued plus every animal (and
more). God abundantly fulfilled his Word as David acted in
line with it. In fact, the spoil was so great that David
was able to share some with the elders of Israel (1 Samuel
30:26). God also spared David the grief of seeing Saul
and Jonathan killed by the Philistines.
Conclusion
Every victory the believer experiences will (1)
strengthen his faith in God and (2) raise his own self-
esteem.
Note that David did not face his toughest battle first.
He began with exercising faith in small matters. Then, the
LORD presented him with more difficult battles. Likewise
we cannot go from "A" directly to "Z" in our faith exploits.
Take it one step at a time, as David did. David began with
the defeat of animals that would kill his sheep. Next, he
defeated Goliath. Then, he defeated the Amalekites. At that
point in his faith development, he became qualified to serve
as King of Israel.
ASSIGNMENT: ASK THE LORD, "WHAT MISSION IN LIFE DO YOU
HAVE FOR ME?" THEN COOPERATE WITH THE LORD AS HE PREPARES
YOU FOR THAT MISSION.
END