1 Samuel 30: On the Brink of Tragedy
1 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
Their town had been burned with fire. But this entailed the loss of material positions only, which is no tragedy. The grief of David and his men was for the the loss of their loved ones. “Tears did not seem a sufficient expression for their sorrow, and yet when a strong man weeps — a burly warrior like Joab, a rough, coarse man like Abishai, or a strong young man like Asahel — there must be deep grief.” (C. H. Spurgeon)
The enemy “’slew not any’— which was strange, considering how David dealt with them, 1 Samuel 27:9. But this must be ascribed partly to their selfish or fleshly interest; for they might reserve them, either to make sale of them for their profit, or to abuse them for their lust; or, it may be, to revenge themselves upon David and his men, by reserving them to extraordinary, and lingering, and repeated punishments [as some charge God in His coming wrath]; but principally to God’s overruling and wonderful providence, who set these bounds to their rage.” (Poole)
“They wept till they had no more power to weep.— This marks great distress; they wept, as says the Vulgate, 'till their tears failed them.'” (Adam Clarke) “But, as is often the case with those in distress, from grief they turned to anger, and sought relief for their feelings by venting their rage upon the innocent. Possibly David had not taken precautions against a danger which he had not apprehended; but, left almost friendless in the angry crowd who were calling out to stone him…”(Pulpit Commentaries)— “as the author of their miseries, by coming to Ziklag at first, by provoking the Amalekites to this cruelty, by his forwardness in marching away with Achish, and leaving their wives and children unguarded.” (Matthew Poole)
“‘But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God’— and summoned the priest to ask counsel and guidance of God by the ephod. “From the Psalm we know that David often did this by looking back on God’s past faithfulness, looking up in prayer, and looking forward with God"s promises in view.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) “He had that which supported him in the fail of outward comforts - viz., the power, promises, and fatherly providence of God; who is here called his God, as being in covenant with him, never to fail him nor forsake him. No marvel that God remembereth David in all his troubles, since David did in all his troubles thus remember his God.” (Trapp) “There is no change in the covenant security of God's love. The efficacy of this is eternally and everlastingly the same. God in Christ is an ocean that never dries, never lessens, never abates. He is a rock, His work is perfect. Lord! give me grace, that whatever leanness or barrenness there may be in me, I may, like David, encourage myself in the Lord my God.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Comm)
“‘Please bring the ephod here to me’— Ah! that’s the thing! Bring hither the old family Bible; let us go to prayer about it; down on our knees and tell the Lord the case.” (C. H. Spurgeon) “David bore it better, though he had more reason than any of them to lament it. They gave liberty to their passions, but he set his graces to work; and while they dispirited each other, he, by encouraging himself in God, kept his spirit calm. Those who have taken the Lord for their God, may take encouragement from Him in the worst times.” (Matthew Henry) “Both David and Saul are portrayed as persons in deep crises of leadership, and both are deeply at risk. What interests us is the difference of response.... Saul seeks refuge in a medium [but David inquired of his Lord]." (Brueggemann) David's questions to Yahweh “were answered in the affirmative; and the promise was added, ‘and thou wilt rescue.’” (Keil & Delitzsch)- from retribution.
1 Samuel 30: The Feast Within the Amalekite Camp
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor. 11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. 12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. 14 We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”15 And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?”So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop.” 16 And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.
“These soldiers, these fugitives and exiles, can not only weep as though their hearts would break for their wives and children, but the moment there is a prospect of recovering them, they are so eager in the pursuit, that one-third of their number speedily sink down in exhaustion. ‘They came,’ we read, ‘to the brook Besor,’ and there they ‘were so faint that they could not go over.’ But how will this operate on David? Will not his old fears now return? Shall we not see him halting and hesitating and perhaps turning back? No; a man never hesitates or turns back in the path of duty, who is making the Lord his strength... And let me say that in your journey to heaven, or in setting about any good work on that journey, you must calculate on meeting with both these things, with both discouragements and encouragements. Your path will not be a uniform one. David’s discouragement was the loss of two hundred men [to fatigue], apparently a formidable loss; it turned out nothing.” (C. Bradley, M. A.) It only showed forth Yahweh’s hand in the victory of His people.
Lo there: “‘Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins.’ David’s scouts then came across an Egyptian in the countryside, in the last stages of exhaustion and unable to communicate, and brought him to David, who arranged for him to receive the basic food and water which he clearly needed in his exhausted state.” (Peter Pett)
“So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; etc.
Then David said to him, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you from?’ And he said, ‘I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. etc.’ - “You have here a lively picture of Satan’s cast off servant, ‘And they found an Egyptian in the field.’ Unable any longer go be actively employed for his master, he is left go linger out a miserable existence.” (Helen Plumptre) “Though they had booty enough, and no doubt asses sufficient to carry the invalids, yet they left this poor man to perish; and God visited it upon them, as he made this very person the means of their destruction, by the information which he was enabled to give to David and his men.” (Adam Clarke) Here again we find that they reaped what they had sown. “This cometh forth, saith the prophet upon another occasion,… from Yahweh of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. Isaiah 28:29.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)
Victory feast- “Having been three days without any pursuers, they conclude that all is now safe, and as if the world were their own, they are spread abroad upon all the earth. Do you know the set time when sinners are to be destroyed? It is just when they say, ‘Peace and safety’ (1 Thess 5:3), when they feel most secure, and in an hour when they think not. So was it with these miserable revellers. Oh! when David’s Lord comes upon His enemies like a mighty man— when He comes to recover all the spoil, when He brings the solemn charge, ‘Ye have robbed God’— when all is restored to its rightful owner, then shall judgment return to righteousness, and all the upright in heart shall follow it (Ps 94:15).” (Helen Plumptre) —> “Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled…’ being pitted for destruction by Yahweh. “Mark how providence corresponded with the oracle… They overtook the enemy on the confines of his country, when he supposed all dangers past; when he was making a feast, exulting in his success, and saying, this is David’s spoil! Ah, little did he think that this night God would execute the residue of the sentence, and blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. And little do the wicked think, during their cups and their feasts, that perhaps the long suspended strokes of insulted heaven are about to be inflicted in the severest manner, and that God will strike them as Amalek and Belshazzar, in the midst of their riot. David, poor and ruined three days ago, having no hope but in his God, was now rich and victorious. He recovered all the women and children...” (Joseph Sutcliffe), as well as cattle from the hills of Judah, that is Ziklag.
1 Samuel 30: David’s Spoil
20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.” 21 Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.” 23 But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. 24 For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” 25 So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
“David and his men not only recovered all their own property, but they recovered all the spoil which these Amalekites had taken from the south of Judah, the Cherethites, and the south of Caleb. When this was separated from the rest, it was given to David, and called David's spoil.” (Adam Clarke)— “Not that he claimed it all to himself. But the soldiers, who lately were so incensed against him that they spake of stoning him, now, upon his success, magnify him, and triumphantly celebrate his praise; and say, concerning this spoil, David purchased it by his valour and conduct, and he may dispose of it as he pleaseth.” (Joseph Benson) The flattery of man is fleeting and not to be pursued- rather the eternal.
“‘Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them.’ He saluted them; he spoke kindly to them, and did not blame them because they went no further with them.” (Matthew Poole) — > “Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, ‘Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.’ As good as he was, he had bad men and Belialists in his retinue: although he had done his part by them to make them better. (Psalms 34:1; 11).” (John Trapp)
But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us.,” etc “It might be fit for an Amalekite to do this, but certainly not for an Israelite.” (C. H. Spurgeon) “Never shall one of Christ’s happy servants say, ‘My master left me,’ as the Egyptian slave of the Amalekites. “The success of their venture had been due entirely to Jehovah and His blessing and could, therefore, in no way be regarded as their own achievement.” (Kretzmann Popular Comm) “Do you think David could forget his two hundred faint soldiers? Not if David had any of the mind which is in Christ. No, the first act is to return to them, and salute them, or ask them how they did. But all who follow David are not like David: they would ‘thrust the weak with side and shoulder,’ and fain have all themselves. Oh! when you feel this greedy, covetous spirit, this rising fear, and jealous eye, lest another, whom you do not think so deserving, should get as much as you, remember it is the mark of an unclean animal, it is the feature of the children of Belial. Very different is the language of David and his true followers. Then said David, ‘Ye shall not do so,’ etc. Lovely law! worthy of King David, and of David’s Lord! Yea, blessed be the God of all grace, ‘it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.’” (Helen Plumptre)
So it was from that day forward- David revived and ratified God’s law as most reasonable. “His generous policy of dividing the spoils of war so the non-combatants would receive a portion ( 1 Sam 30:24-31) was in harmony with the Mosaic Law… Having been thus enacted by him and practised during his life, no king henceforward would venture to change it.” (Dr. Thomas B. Constable) “In the war with the Midianites Moses had ordered that half the spoil should belong to the combatants and half to the congregation who remained in the camp (Numbers 31:27). This enactment of David was in the same spirit.” (Pulpit Commentary)
“The truth is, that all God’s laws are grounded upon so much good reason, that though he had never made them, yet it had been our wisest way to have lived according to them; since his will is not only recta but regula, the very rule of right.” (John Trapp) We must make them our own.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord”— 27 to those who were in Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the South, those who were in Jattir, 28 those who were in Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 those who were in Hormah, those who were in Chorashan, those who were in Athach, 31 those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove.
“Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, 'Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord’ etc. These were the persons among whom he sojourned during his exile, and who had given him shelter and protection. Gratitude required these presents.” (Adam Clarke)
“There is an impression abroad that the great rewards of the eternal world are to be given to the great heroes, the great philanthropists, the great statesmen— the great men, the great women. My text sets forth the idea that just as great rewards will come to those who stay at home and mind their own business, just as great rewards to those who are never seen in the high places of the field, just as great rewards to those who are never heard of— garrison duty as important as duty at the front. ‘As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff.’ A great many people are discouraged when they read the story of David and Joshua, and Paul and John Knox and Martin Luther.” (T. De Witt Talmage, D. D.) "I am no hero," they say. But the Word says:
"For God is not unrighteous go forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister." (Hebrews 6:10) “He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:40-42)
The greater Son of David has likewise recovered all from the Fall- "all that was lost by sin, our glorious and victorious Captain has recovered. What then shall be his spoil? It was foretold that ‘He shall divide the spoil with the strong.’ Let your hearts and mine, and all we are, and all we have, be yielded up to him, and let us say of it all, ‘This is Jesus’ spoil, [which He shares with His] and to Him be glory evermore!’” (C. H. Spurgeon)
"“Beautifully it is said of Jesus that he led captivity captive, and received gifts for men; yea even for the rebellious: for we were all rebellious and undeserving of his favour, when he came to save us from the prey of the mighty. And as the soldiers in David's army called the victory David's spoil, so we shout aloud, 'Salvation alone to God and the Lamb! It was thine own arm, dearest Jesus, which brought salvation, for of the people; in the way of victory, there was none with thee.' Isaiah 63:5...After our dear Lord returned to glory, having spoiled principalities and powers, he gave gifts to his enemies, even to the rebellious, saith the Holy Ghost, even to you and me. Yes, dearest Jesus! thy love is commended to us, in that while we were enemies, Christ died for us. Oh! matchless generosity! Oh, unequalled love! Lord be thou the first and best, and the unrivalled object of my love, as thine swallows up every other: and may I love thee for that thou hast first loved me.” (Hawker's Poor Man's Commentary)