When David and his band of 600 men returned to their Philistine base of Ziklag, they found nothing but a burned-out city. Signs of human life were non-existent. Their wives and children had been taken captive by Amalekite invaders.
The people wept – then those teardrops solidified into stones as they turned on David and determined to kill him. Little wonder we read that David was “greatly distressed.”
1. THE REASONS BEHIND THIS SITUATION.
David was in this situation because of his own sin. That sin centred on:
(a) An Absence of Direction. David, who claimed, “He leadeth me,” had never been told by God to take shelter in enemy territory!
(b) An Abundance of Deception. David was living a lie (cf. 1 Samuel 27:8-12).
(c) An Avalanche of Disgrace. The Lord's enemies are always the first to decry the inconsistent walk of God's child (cf. 1 Samuel 29:3-5).
2. THE RESPITE IN THIS SITUATION.
Spurgeon said: “The hardest blow that our God ever strikes, if it puts us right and separates us from self and sin, and carnal policy, is...a blow of love.”
This “blow of love” threw David back upon the Lord:
(a) His Encouragement in the Lord, and (b) His Enquiry of the Lord should be noted.
3. THE RESOLUTION OF THIS SITUATION.
Attention is drawn to the (a) Completeness of this Recovery, and to the (b) Conclusiveness of the Rout of the enemy.
This incident is a stirring commentary on the necessity for God's guidance - and the breadth of His grace.
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Ian Brown succeeded Dr Ian Paisley as minister of Martyrs Memorial in August 2013. Prior to this he pastored the Free Presbyterian congregation in Northern Ireland’s Maiden City, Londonderry, from 1987 to 2013. He is the author of several books, notably: “Belfast Boat – Titanic,...
