A Blessing In Disguise

I Samuel 30:1-20

“And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.  So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.” (I Samuel 30:1-3)

The third day after being sent home, David and his men arrived in Ziklag to learn that in their absence the Amalekites had raided Ziklag, kidnapping the women and children and burning the city.  An Amalekite band had taken advantage of the Philistine fight with Israel to attack while the men were elsewhere.

“Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.  And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.  And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” (I Samuel 30:4-6) 

The people blamed David for their loss since if they hadn’t gone ot help the Philistines they would have been there to prevent the kidnapping, ignoring the fact that he had lost as much as any of them.  Hurting people tend to lash out and blame others without considering who was actually responsible.  Demagogues often play on this tendency to stir up anger and conflict.  It reached the point where they even talked of stoning David. Because of their hurt.   While the others focused on the hurt, David turned to the Lord for comfort.

“And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. 

And David inquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them?

 And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.” (I Samuel 30:7-8)

David prayed and asked God for direction as to how to deal with the problem.  God promised success if they would overtake the kidnappers and get everyone back.  He didn’t need to worry about what would happen.

“David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.  But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.” (I Samuel 30:9-10)

With a plan of action, David’s men forgot about blaming him and set out to recover theie wives and children.  The best way of getting over depression is to get up and do something.  Having just made a quick trip from Aphek to Ziklag, some of David’s men were exhausted and had to quit at the brook Besor.  David left two hiundred with the packs and equipment and took the remaining four hundred to pursue the Amalekites.

“And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. 

And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? 

And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick.  We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.” (I Samuel 30:11-14)

Finding a young Egyptian man unable to escape, they fed him and began to interrogate him.  He had been taken as a slave by the Amalekites.  Three days before, they had raided Ziklag and burned it, kidnapping the women and children.  Fearing Philistine pursuit, when he had gotten sick, they had left him behind to die, without food or water.

“And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company?

 And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.” (I Samuel 30:15)

David asked him if he knew where they were going and would help them.  His experience as an amalekite slave had not been good, and he agreed to help them if they would promise not to turn him back over to the Amalekites, or kill him.  He had a reason for wanting to get even.

“And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.” (I Samuel 30:16)

The former slave brought them right to where the Amalekites had stopped for the night.  Confident that they had escaped any pursuit, the Amalekites had stopped to celebrate.  They were scattered out and off guard, just about the time the sun went down.

“And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.  And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.  And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.” (I Samuel 30:17-20)

Catching them off guard, David was able to pin down the Amalekite army for about twenty four hours and kill all but four hundred who escaped on fast camels.  They were able to recover everything that had been taken including a lot of things that had been taken from other people.  David claimed all the extra cattle and sheep for himself.

Had the Philistines not sent David and his men back, They probably would not have discovered the loss of their families in time to get them back, and they would have been further estranged from Israel because they had helped the Philistines.  Bad as it seemed at first to David, it was actually a blessing.