The Way
The Day Ziklag Burned
Finding strength again when there was no strength left to weep
Story
David thought to himself, “One of these days I will die at Saul's hand.” He took his six hundred men and their families and put himself in the hands of Achish, king of Gath, in the land of the Philistines. Achish gave him Ziklag. A year and four months passed there. Then one day, sent back from the Philistine camp, they walked three days to get home and found nothing but smoke rising. The Amalekites had burned the town and carried off all the wives and children.
David and his men wept aloud, until they had no strength left to weep. David's two wives had been taken too. The men who had lost their children talked of stoning David. David was in deep distress. But David found strength in the Lord his God. He had Abiathar bring the ephod and asked the Lord. The Lord answered, “Pursue them. You will surely overtake them and surely recover everything.”
At the brook Besor two hundred exhausted men stayed behind while four hundred pursued. In a field they found an Egyptian young man who had not eaten for three days; they fed him, and he showed them the way. David struck the Amalekites in the middle of their feasting and recovered everything. Nothing was missing, not the smallest thing, not a single child. Some of the men grumbled, “The ones who didn't come with us get no share.” David said, “The one who went into battle and the one who stayed with the baggage get the same share.”
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and David
Pursue them. You will surely overtake them, and you will surely recover everything.
My brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us. The Lord has protected us and given into our hands the band that attacked us.
The share of the one who went down into battle is the same as the share of the one who stayed with the baggage. All must share alike.
One of these days I will die at Saul's hand. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 1 Sam 27:1–7; 30:1–31
Background
Ziklag was a town in the western Negev that, after Achish gave it to David, belonged to the kings of Judah (1 Sam 27:6). David sent part of the recovered plunder as gifts to the elders of Judah, and sharing the spoils equally became a rule in Israel.
Pause and Reflect
When everything seems to have collapsed, where do I find strength?