1 Samuel 30

INTRO

Who do you look up to in a time of crisis?

That’s the question around every election. Who do you look up to? Who do you put your hope on to fix things?

Whether they’re called Donald or Kamala. Whether is Keir or Rishi, we’re all looking up to someone who will be able to fix things. To make things better.

But the crisis doesn’t have to be political. The truth is that we live in a world with suffering and in need of hope. Who do you look up to then?

Maybe a close friend. Perhaps it’s yourself.

Or maybe it’s God. And yet, many can’t seem to find God when we’re going through a crisis. Where is He?

Let me say - you’re not alone in asking that question. The people in our passage are asking it as well. Look at verse 4.

Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.

This is God’s own people and they’ve just lost their homes and family members. Isn’t God supposed to be looking out for them? Where is He in their moment of crisis?

Fast forward in time and the original readers of 1 Samuel were also asking themselves this question. They were back in the Promised Land after being in exile. But they were looking for hope. Hope that one day things would get better.

After all, that’s what God promised. That one day He would restore them. But where is He in their crisis?

Friends, who do we look up to in a time of crisis?

Well, here’s the answer our passage gives: In our deepest crisis, the LORD promises restoration through His generous King.

Let’s how this is the case, starting with our first heading…

1 - In our deepest crisis, the Lord promises restoration (1-8)

The passage opens with David and his army coming to a place called Ziklag.

Two weeks ago, if you remember, Luke walked us through the moment when David, the king in waiting, and his army were turned down by the Philistines and sent away. Well, Saul stills wants to kill David so David can’t bring the army home to Jerusalem.

So, what’s their new headquarters? Here’s 1 Samuel 27:6

So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day.

Ziklag, the town the Philistines gave to David, that’s the new headquarters. But there’s a problem: the Amalekites, one of Israel’s oldest enemies, they made a raid against Ziklag. And look at the atrocities they committed in verses 1 and 2.

They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.

And so, as David and his army return home, hoping to see their loved ones. To maybe sit down with the kids before having dinner together, verse 3…

“They found the city burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.”

They lost everything… What home? What loved ones?

This, my dear friends, this is a true, deep crisis. So much so that EVERYONE - including king David himself who lost his two wives! - EVERYONE wept. Verse 4 - “until they had no more strength to weep.”

They cried until they had no more tears to shed. And their suffering was so great that they even thought about taking it out on David in verse 6!

Now, put yourself in David’s shoes. He has been going through hard times since chapter 18! Lost his home. Persecuted by his own father-in-law. Forced into hiding.

I mean, this guy hasn’t had a break! And when we thought it couldn’t get any worse… it got worse. Now, even his wives were taken. And even his army wants to kill him!

We too have moments like this, don’t we? When we think that things couldn’t possibly get any worse. But then they do.

What are we to do? What does David do?

Look down with me at the end of verse 6.

But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

Last week, Luke asked us the question “Who will we listen to?” We saw how Saul listened to anyone but God.

Here, we see the complete opposite. Instead of punishing his men for treason like most monarchs would, David turns to the LORD. But David doesn’t just vent or lash out like the people did in verse 6.

He asks God “What should I do? Should I go after the people who did this?”

In other words, he is asking “What are you going to do about this LORD? Are you with me or not?”

And that’s when the LORD makes a promise. Verse 8: “Pursue, for YOU SHALL SURELY overtake and SHALL SURELY rescue.”

Friends, in their deepest crisis, the LORD promises restoration to David and his men.

When they wept until there were no more tears. When they even thought of killing their own king, the LORD promised restoration.

But hey, lots of people promise to fix things and to make things better. Our friends who say “I’ll be there when you need me”. The political candidate who promises to raise everyone’s salaries.

What if they don’t keep the promises? It will just make things worse!

So, will the LORD be like that too? Or will He keep His promise?

Let’s come to our second heading… Sorry for the spoiler!

2 - The LORD keeps His promise! (9-20)

After receiving God’s promise, David doesn’t hesitate. He grabs 600 men and goes on the hunt. But you need to understand how impossible this is for David.

First, he doesn’t know who attacked Ziklag! Yes, we READERS are told in verse 1 that it was the Amalekites. WE know that.

But David doesn’t. And they didn’t leave a calling card saying who they were and how to find them!

And that’s the other difficulty. How is David supposed to find the attackers if he doesn’t know where they went?

As one commentator puts it, trying to find a roaming army like the Amalekites in the desert is like looking for a needle in a haystack!

But wait, it gets even harder! Have a look at verse 9 again.

So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor… But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

So, here’s the full picture.

David doesn’t know who to pursue. He doesn’t know where to go. And he just lost a third of his army.

Make no mistake, the guys staying behind are still important! If David had to retreat from a fight, these guys would be the ones making sure they could escape.

Still, it’s a huge loss!

Beloved, all hope seems lost. This is impossible! How is God going to keep His promise?

Verse 11 - “They found an Egyptian in the open country”. Well, that’s a bit random.

They give him food and water because the guy hadn’t eaten anything in 3 days. And David asks about the man’s story. Verse 13:

And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”

Wow! What a coincidence!

a) David finds a random person

b) Turns out this random person served an Amalekite

c) He got sick and was left to die but didn’t

d) The Amalekite he served just so happened to be part of the army that attacked Ziklag

e) He’s even willing to cooperate

Gosh, how lucky is David, right?! Except… it’s got nothing to do with luck. None of it is a coincidence.

This is God’s doing! The LORD is keeping His promise to David! And we see even that even more as we keep going.

Look at verse 16 where David finally spots the army.

There they were. The attackers who kidnapped women and children, who burned a city to the ground… having a nice party. Women and children in shackles - probably scared out of their minds. But hey, raise another glass for Ziklag burning up like a pyre!

And look at the description again - the Amalekites were spread abroad over all the land. This wasn’t just a small force. There were enough soldiers to cover all the land David and his men were looking at. Must have been a huge force!

So sure, David and the men found the enemy. But they’re unbeatable! Will God keep His promise? Verse 17:

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

This rugged band of 401 men just defeated this huge Amalekite army. And, with David at the helm, they recovered EVERYTHING.

Did you notice how verse 19 almost seems to go on and on? In the original language, that’s how you build intensity. Same as when we say “Not one, not two, not three…”

And the point is clear: EVERYTHING and EVERYONE was restored.

And who was it that promised that this would happen? That’s right - the LORD!

This is His doing! All of it! This was the LORD keeping His promise!

In their deepest crisis, the men of Israel were looking for hope. Looking for someone to make things right. To restore them.

That is what the LORD promised to do. And that’s what He did for them!

And so, as God’s people read this after returning from exile, they too can have hope.

God will one day restore His people! He will keep His promises!

And we too can have hope! In our deepest crisis, whatever that may be, the LORD will restore us too! He will keep that promise!

But how? Let’s look at the last few verses and see that…

3 - The LORD restores us through His generous King (21-31)

Have you noticed an interesting detail about these last few chapters of 1 Samuel? I’ve put it there on the screen to help us see.

We hear about David. Then Saul. And then back to David. And next week we’re shifting back to Saul and then go back to David.

Why all this back and forth between Saul and David?

Well, it’s because the author wants us to compare the two. More than that - he wants us to see that God keeps His promises through a king like David, not Saul!

But what is David like as a king? There’s one particular quality that’s highlighted here.

End of verse 20 - as the army defeats the Amalekites and recovers what they lost, the people say “This is David’s spoil”.

In other words, David is the hero!

Later, as the army returns to the camp where the other 200 men were, this triumphant return quickly turns sour! Verse 22:

Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.”

Those who didn’t fight can get their families back but that’s it! They don’t deserve anything else!

Now, this is how our world works, right? It’s all about merit. We find it hard to share things with people who we don’t think deserve it!

After all, why should I give my hard-earned money to help those who don’t work? Isn’t the saying “God helps those who help themselves?” I worked hard, I helped myself. Others need to do the same!

But here’s the problem. Did you notice how the men are described as wicked and worthless fellows?

As I was preparing this sermon, those words sounded familiar. I was sure we had seen them before in 1 Samuel.

And if you go through 1 Samuel, you’ll see that these words - wicked and worthless - are used to describe 3 people: Eli’s sons (2:12), the people who opposed Saul when he was made king (10:27) and Nabal (25:17, 25).

And what do they all have in common? They rejected the LORD. They don’t know Him.

That’s why these people with David are saying this. They are all about merit because they don’t know or believe in God. If anything, they think God is all about merit too!

But how does David respond? Look at verse 23.

But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us.

David sees this not with the eyes of the world but as it really is. All this only happened because the LORD kept His promise!

David is not saying “Let’s share because that’s a nice thing to do”. David is not portraying himself as the hero and the good guy.

David is saying “Let’s share because this comes from the LORD! And He is the kind of LORD who shares!”

David’s generosity comes from the LORD’s generosity. Because the LORD is generous, so is David! And so should the Israelites…

Beloved, we must learn from this. We who claim to know and trust the LORD - we need to imitate our generous LORD and be generous ourselves!

The difference here between greed and generosity is not how much money we have or how stable our situation is or what education we received. The difference is: do we know and trust the generous LORD or not?

Brothers and sisters, if we do, then let’s be generous like Him. Let’s not be afraid to share what He has given us - be it time, money or anything else!

It doesn’t matter if people deserve it or not. Our LORD doesn’t work on merit. And neither should we. Let’s be generous because He is generous!

But hey, does David actually put his money where his mouth is? He does!

Verse 25 - he passes his first law as king. Everyone gets a share of the spoil, not just the fighters!

Verse 26:

When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.”

And all those places mentioned in verses 27 to 31? Those are the places that received David and his men when they were running from Saul.

As the text says, they are the friends of king David. And those who are friends with the LORD’s king - who choose to follow him - they too receive part of the spoil and benefit from the LORD’s generosity. From His promise to restore His people!

How? Through David, the generous king. And this is what brings us to the original readers of Samuel and ultimately to us.

After the exile, as the Israelites look around and long for a better future, in that moment of crisis and doubt, who would they rely on?

Themselves? Maybe the right political alliance? Perhaps another god?

No, they could look at a passage like this and be reassured by the LORD!

“Yes Israel, I WILL keep my promises. I WILL restore you! One day, I WILL send my promised king who WILL do all this!”

And years later, in a town called Bethlehem, that promised King came. But He wasn’t just any king.

He was the LORD Himself, stepping into His own world. Being born as a weak and fragile baby. Why? To keep His promises!

To restore His people. To restore you and me.

That’s why the Lord Jesus came. That’s why Christmas truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Because it’s the time when we remember how the LORD kept His promise. How He sent His own Son, our King Jesus, to restore us and the whole world in our moment of deepest crisis! To save us!

And if you think that king David was generous, he’s got nothing on King Jesus. After all, King Jesus is the one who said…

John 15:13 (ESV)

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

King David gave his friends material things. But King Jesus gave His own life to give His friends something even better: paradise.

Not a place in the clouds where we can play the harp dressed in white.

No, a perfect world with no more tears, no more suffering, no more crisis. A world with all the wonderful things that we can and can’t imagine! And not just for a while but forever!

That is what King Jesus gives His friends!

The question then is: are you a friend of King Jesus? Have you put your trust in Him?

Who do you look up to in a time of crisis?

Perhaps you’ve been relying on yourself. Perhaps it’s a friend. Maybe you think that the solution to everything is the right government.

Dear friend, people and systems may help. They may give you hope.

But they won’t fix the world. There will always be another crisis.

And what if they fail you? Who do you rely on then?

Let me invite to come to Jesus! To rely on Him instead!

He is the real King of the world - the One with real power to fix everything!

And He’s never too busy for you. He really will be at your side when you’re going through whatever crisis comes your way!

Come to Jesus and receive the restoration, the salvation God promised AND delivered!

And if you’ve done that already, then don’t let go of Jesus.

Like David, when crisis comes, turn to the LORD. Ask Him for strength to keep going. Ask Him to use these brothers and sisters to help you.

And ask with confidence. Not in yourself but in Him! He has promised to see you through. To make sure you get to the finish line. You can bank on those promises.

And yes, there will be times when we will have to endure. Crisis that will last a long time or that maybe will only end when we see Jesus face-to-face. But every crisis - no matter how big or small - WILL come to an end.

Who do you look up to in a time of crisis?

Well, remember that in our deepest crisis, the LORD promises restoration through His generous King.

So trust that promise and rely on King Jesus.

Let’s pray.

Last song is a prayer that the Lord would be our focus not just for today, this week but forever! Let’s stand and sing.