1 SAMUEL 30 - STRENGTHENED IN THE LORD

1 Samuel 30

While Saul had been chasing David and trying to kill him, David had been hiding out for protection, and was cozying up to the Philistines, who normally would have been mortal enemies of Israel.  Not only that, but David had been living in their land.  This significantly reduced the ability of both Saul and David to protect Israel.  While this was going on, another mortal enemy of Israel, the Amalekites, invaded part of Israel, and took captive all the women & children, including the wives of David and his men. 

This was obviously a devastating event for them.  Not only that, but David’s own people were thinking of rebelling against him because he had let them down.  So, both of Israel’s supposed protectors were caught off guard and preoccupied with fighting each other, and the real enemy pounced.  This reminds us of several things.  First, disunity amongst the leaders of God’s people will open the people up to attack.  Second, leaders always need to be vigilant in guarding the people from attack.  And third, David should have been tending the home fire more, in order to make sure that his own wife and family were safe.

Yet, after this all occurs, we see David do something remarkable.  Rather than becoming despondent, and despairing over this terrible state of affairs, he instead turns to and seeks the Lord, and Vs. 6 tells us that there he found strength.  This was the best move that David could make, and this is the best place we can turn to after any defeat, setback, or failure, especially if it is one of our own making. 

Is. 40:31 says, “But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” 

So, strength comes as we turn to the Lord and seek Him.  As the well known praise song says “Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord.”

After being strengthened by the Lord, David then does something else quite significant.  Instead of seeking wisdom from within himself, he seeks counsel from the Lord, and the Lord tells him to go after the Amalekites.  In doing this, David was by faith submitting to the truth of Prov. 3:5-6, which tells us to

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will make straight your paths.

David then makes another wise decision, and that is to obey the counsel of the Lord.  So, he sets off with 400 of his men to pursue the Amalekites, leaving 200 of his men behind because they were too tired to join the pursuit, and so they guarded the belongings of the entire group.  Along the way, he encounters a lost servant of the Amalekites who guides David and his men to where the Amalekites are camped out.

They are able to catch the Amalekites by surprise while they are partying and celebrating all that they had taken from Israel.  In a battle lasting through the night and until evening of the next day, David and his men are able to kill all but a small contingency of the Amalekites, and are able to rescue the wives, women, and children that had been taken captive.  They are also able to take the livestock of the Amalekites.  From this, we see that when God calls us to do something, and we obey Him, He will enable us to do it.  As 1 Thess. 5:24 says,

“He who calls you is faithful; He will surely do it.” 

Then, when David and the men who went with him, returned to where they had left behind the 200 other men, some of those who had gone with David complained that it was not fair for them to have to share any of the livestock with those who had stayed behind.  In response, David decreed that all of the men would receive equal shares, because those who had stayed behind to guard everyone’s belongings were just as instrumental in the victory that had been achieved as those who had gone with David.  In the advancement of God’s Kingdom, some are goers, and some are senders, but each contribute to the harvest of souls.

In this chapter, as David turns to God, listens to Him, and obeys Him, David was able to experience God as the Wonderful Counselor & Mighty God that Isaiah 9:6 says that Jesus is to us.  His counsel is always right and good for us.  And, unlike any human counselor, He is also able to bring about what He counsels us to do.