Taking Care of the Home Front
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week we saw the Philistines were headed to attack Israel. And we saw what was going on with Saul and the Israelite army. We saw that he went to a woman that worked with the demonic to “ conjure up ” the spirits of the dead.
In our passage today we return to the Philistine side of things where David is marching with king Achish.
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to 1 Samuel 29. Now I have to be honest, I’ve taken on a big passage so we’re not going to look at every verse in the 29th chapter. Rather, I’m going to give you the highlights.
David Is OUT!
David Is OUT!
When the all the Philistine kings joined together and saw that David was with Achish, the were not happy. Verse 4 tells us:
But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and said, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master’s favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn’t this the David they sang about in their dances: “ ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”
Obviously they have NOT forgotten about the way David killed their hero Goliath.
So Achish has a talk with David.
So Achish called David and said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives, you have been reliable, and I would be pleased to have you serve with me in the army. From the day you came to me until today, I have found no fault in you, but the rulers don’t approve of you. Now turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers.”
Achish tells David that the other kings of the Philistines do not want David to go—and even though Achish doesn’t have anything against David, he can’t fight the other rulers.
So he asks David to go in peace and not do anything to displease or upset the other rulers.
So David and his men got up early in the morning to go back to the land of the Philistines, and the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Back at Ziklag—Home Base
Back at Ziklag—Home Base
It took David and his men 3 days to reach Ziklag, look at verse 1 of chapter 30.
David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
When they come home, they found that the Amalekites had raided Ziklag.
They had burned the city. . .
And taken their wives, and everyone else captive.
KEY: They hadn’t killed anyone. This was vastly different than the way David and his men had treated everyone.
Can you imagine how they felt after a 3 day journey back home, only to find the city destroyed by fire, and their wives, sons, daughters, and everyone else gone—taken captive.
When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
David and his men are grief stricken by their loss.
Notice that it says, they “wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.” David and his men are utterly destroyed by their loss.
The writer wants us to know that David suffered loss just like everyone else. That’s why both Ahinoam and Abigail are mentioned by name.
This is where it gets dicey! Look at verse 6.
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 some ways, David was more distressed than his men—because his men were considering stoning him because of their loss.
I love the second half of this verse, because it reminds me where we need to turn when all hope is lost!
But David found strength in the Lord his God!
I chose this verse as our memory verse for this week, specifically because of the last sentence in the verse. Like David, when we face overwhelming odds, we must find our strength in the Lord our God! We find it in our personal relationship with the living God!
In fact, David is going to inquire of God. Look at verse 7.
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, “Bring me the ephod.” Abiathar brought it to him,
David tells Abiathar the priest to bring the ephod—you may remember that we know the ephod was used in discovering God’s will along with Urim and Thummim.
and David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” he answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.”
So David begins to ask the Lord:
First question: Shall I pursue the raiding party?
Answer, “Pursue them!”
Second question: Will I over take them?
Answer, “You will certainly over take them!”
I love this section because it is a direct contrast to how Saul responded to a bad situation. Saul looked to God for guidance, but then took matters into his own hands.
David looks to God for guidance, and does what God tells him to do. Look at verse 9.
David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind.
So David, and his 600 men take off in pursuit. Now remember they had just marched for three days, found their homes destroyed and their loved ones captured. They wept until they had no more strength. And then they were on the move again—marching with intensity, because they are in pursuit of the men who have their loved ones!
Now look at verse 10.
Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit.
200 of the men were too exhausted to go any farther—they are too tired to cross the valley of Besor. So they stayed there.
But David presses on with the other 400 men, to pursue the Amalekites.
They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat—part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.
As they are moving, they find this Egyptian out in a field all alone.
So, the bring him to David.
We’re told at the end of verse 12 that this man had not eaten or drunk any water for three days and three nights.
So they gave him water to drink.
And they gave him food to eat—part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins.
But in David’s kindness, he demands some answers!
David asked him, “Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?” He said, “I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago.
David wants the answers to two questions:
Who do you belong to?
Where do you come from?
The man answers both questions and gives David more than he asked.
—I am an Egyptian.
—A slave of an Amalekite.
—I was abandoned by my master because I become six three days ago. This suggests that he was no longer able to keep up.
But then he gives David even more than he asked for.
We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.”
We were raiding the Negev—territory that belonged to the Kerethites, and Judah, and Caleb.
And we burned Ziklag!
So this man was with the group that burned the town of David and his men, and captured their loved ones.
David has one more question for the man!
David asked him, “Can you lead me down to this raiding party?” He answered, “Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.”
David wants to know if the man can lead him to the raiding party?
Before the man answers, he wants a guarantee that David won’t kill him, or hand him over to his old master.
If David agrees, then the man would lead them to the Amalekites.
He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah.
David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled.
They fought from early dawn all the way through evening.
No one escaped the battle—except for 400 men who escaped on camels—literally “who rode off on camels.”
David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
David recovered ‘everything’ the Amalekites had taken.
Including his two wives.
Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
Nothing was missing!
In fact there was more than just their stuff. Look at the next verse.
He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, “This is David’s plunder.”
Back to the Other Men
Back to the Other Men
Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow him and who were left behind at the Besor Valley. They came out to meet David and the men with him. As David and his men approached, he asked them how they were.
They get back to the men who were too exhausted to continue.
And the men come out to great David and the rest of the men.
But all the evil men and troublemakers among David’s followers said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. However, each man may take his wife and children and go.”
Some of the evil me, wicked men—were telling those who stayed behind that they weren’t going to get any of the plunder.
All they could take were their own family members.
David replied, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. He has protected us and delivered into our hands the raiding party that came against us. Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.”
David tells the men that they are not going to do that because it was the Lord that gave them the victory!
Everyone is going to share in the spoils.
In contrast to Saul, who caved to his men’s “demands,” David does not! He continues to lead even when those around him don’t agree with his methods.
In fact, this was a defining moment for David. Look at verse 25.
David made this a statute and ordinance for Israel from that day to this.
Now David is going to reward all those places that helped him when he was fleeing from king Saul. He sends them part of the plunder. Look at verse 26.
When David reached Ziklag, he sent some of the plunder to the elders of Judah, who were his friends, saying, “Here is a gift for you from the plunder of the Lord’s enemies.”
Then in the next four verses, we have a list of the places that David sent gifts. But the last part of verse 31 is the key—He sent to all the places where he and his men had roamed.
So What?
So What?
I want to take us back to our Memory verse for this week.
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.
When struggles come, when you face hurts and heartaches, when you face opposition—that would like to take your life—where do you turn? Where do you get your strength?
David found his strength in the Lord his God. Today we need to find out strength in the Lord our God!
And finally, I want you to notice that David rewarded those who cared for him. He sent some of the excess (plunder, spoils, profit) to those who ministered and care for him. I want to challenge us to do the same. If God has cared for you through this ministry, I want to encourage you to consider giving to help support this church. God has always met our needs, but right now we are behind budget, and need your help to continue doing what God has called us to do.
There are two ways you can give: there is a box in the back that you can put your physical offering, or you can give on line at our website: mobcparis.com.