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David’s Heavy Trial
443
God Is Ever at Work to Counteract Evil
With great rejoicing the victorious fighters began their homeward
march. The more selfish and undisciplined of the four hundred men
urged that those who had had no part in the battle should not share
the rewards. But David did not agree and would not permit such
an arrangement. “My brethren, you shall not do so,” he said, “with
what the Lord has given us. ... As his part is that goes down to the
battle, so shall his part be that stays by the supplies; they shall share
alike.”
David and his men had captured extensive flocks and herds be-
longing to the Amalekites. These were called “David’s spoil,” and
upon returning to Ziklag he sent presents from this spoil to the elders
of his own tribe of Judah. Everyone who had helped and supported
him and his followers in the mountain refuges when he had been
forced to flee for his life were remembered.
As David and his warriors worked to restore their ruined homes,
they watched for news of the battle fought between Israel and the
Philistines. Suddenly a messenger entered the town, “with his
clothes torn and dust on his head.” He was at once brought to David,
and he bowed before him as if David were a powerful prince whose
favor he desired. The messenger reported Saul’s defeat and death
and the death of Jonathan. But he went beyond a simple statement
of facts. He hoped to obtain honor for himself as the one who had
killed the king. With an air of boasting the man said that he found the
monarch of Israel wounded, and that at his own request the messen-
ger had killed him. Then he gave David the crown from Saul’s head
and the golden bracelets from his arms. He confidently expected a
rich reward for the part he had acted.
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David Grieved for Saul
But “David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so
did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and
fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people
of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by
the sword.”