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From Eternity Past
us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should
it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they
sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and
David his ten thousands?” They did not believe that David would fight
against his own people. In the heat of battle he could inflict greater
harm on the Philistines than the whole of Saul’s army.
Achish, calling David, said, “Surely as Jehovah liveth, thou hast
been upright, ... for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy
coming unto me unto this day. Nevertheless the lords favor thee not.
Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the
lords of the Philistines.” Thus the snare in which David had become
entangled was broken.
After three days’ travel David and his band of six hundred men
reached Ziklag, their Philistine home. But a scene of desolation met
their view. The Amalekites had avenged themselves for his incursions
into their territory, had surprised the city while it was unguarded, and
having sacked and burned it, had departed, taking all the women and
children as captives, with much spoil.
Dumb with horror and amazement, David and his men gazed upon
the smoldering ruins. Then as a sense of their terrible desolation burst
upon them, those battle-scarred warriors “lifted up their voice and
wept, until they had no more power to weep.”
Here again David was chastened for the lack of faith that led him
to place himself among the foes of God and His people. David had
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provoked the Amalekites by his attack upon them; yet, too confident
of security in the midst of his enemies, he had left the city unguarded.
Maddened with grief and rage, his soldiers threatened to stone their
leader.
David’s Great Temptation to Discouragement
All that David held dear on earth had been swept from him. Saul
had driven him from his country; the Amalekites had plundered his
city; his wives and children had been made prisoners; and his friends
had threatened him with death.
In this hour of utmost extremity, David looked earnestly to God for
help. He “encouraged himself in the Lord,” recalling many evidences
of God’s favor. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (
Psalm