March 12, 2024

Have you ever received God's chastisement? If so, you can sympathize with David. David and his fighting men left to help the Philistines go against Israel but were sent home by the king. When they got back to Ziklag, the Amalekites had taken everything, including all their wives and their belongings, and then burned the city. David and his men were distraught and enquired of the Lord through the ephod, and God told him he would be successful in retrieving all of their possessions and family. They went after them, but some men were so distraught and weak that they couldn't make the trip, so they stayed behind and watched over the belongings. They stopped along the way to help a man that the Amalekites had left behind, and he helped David find the army that had ravaged Ziklag. They caught them off guard because they were partying with everything they had stolen. David destroyed all of them except for a few who rode away on donkeys and camels. He recovered everything they had lost and then some. David shared the bounty with the men left behind and then sent gifts to many of the cities in Judah. This gesture would help him once he became king.  

Why didn't the Amalekites kill all of David's people? God was in on it. He didn't want David to lose but wanted to teach him not even to attempt to ever go against him again. David is about to become king, and it is noteworthy that things can get a little rough right before a breakthrough or a blessing. God puts us through trials to encourage us to appreciate his blessing. Don't get discouraged when you are suffering; maintain your faith, and God will pull you through it and bless you.

And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD; 1 Samuel 30:26