David at Ziklag
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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 for a little
time gazed in silence upon the blackened and 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 had
led him to place himself among the Philistines. He had opportunity
to see how much safety could be found among the foes of God and
His people. David’s followers turned upon him as the cause of their
calamities. He had provoked the vengeance of 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 were now ready for any desperate measures, and they
threatened even to stone their leader.
David seemed to be cut off from every human support. All that
he held dear on earth had been swept from him. Saul had driven him
from his country; the Philistines had driven him from the camp; the
Amalekites had plundered his city; his wives and children had been
made prisoners; and his own familiar friends had banded against him,
and threatened him even with death. In this hour of utmost extremity
David, instead of permitting his mind to dwell upon these painful
circumstances, looked earnestly to God for help. He “encouraged
himself in the Lord.” He reviewed his past eventful life. Wherein
had the Lord ever forsaken him? His soul was refreshed in recalling
the many evidences of God’s favor. The followers of David, by their
discontent and impatience, made their affliction doubly grievous; but
the man of God, having even greater cause for grief, bore himself with
fortitude. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee” (
Psalm 56:3
),
was the language of his heart. Though he himself could not discern a
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way out of the difficulty, God could see it, and would teach him what
to do.
Sending for Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “David
inquired of the Lord, saying, If I pursue after this troop, shall I overtake
them?” The answer was, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them,
and shalt without fail recover all.”
1 Samuel 30:8
, R.V.