While David and his men had been away the Amalekites had attacked Ziklag, destroyed it and taken off the women and children. The men mourned bitterly. The men were angry against David and were considering stoning him. Moses experienced the same reaction on occasions. When you are in leadership there will be times when people blame you because they are "bitter in spirit". This will happen. We will be tempted to give anger for anger, but this is not the right way. David adopted the right approach in seeking the Lord and finding strength in Him.
David then asked the priest for the ephod and sought wisdom from God, and God told him to pursue the Amalekites. Note the difference between David and Saul here, for Saul also used the ephod, but he got no answer. Why the difference? It was because of the heart of the man. David was committed to God in his heart, his whole life was geared around relying on God. Saul, on the other hand, did not really know the Lord.
So they pursued the Amalekites. Along the way some of the men became exhausted, but the rest continued the pursuit. They found an Egyptian who could help them. Then they found the Amalekites and defeated them after a long battle.
After the battle some of the men did not want to give a full share of the plunder to the two hundred who had not continued all the way, but David insisted that everyone gets the same. David knew that it was the Lord who had given them victory. When we are dependent upon the Lord and know it, it changes our attitude and approach to many things. David also send some of the plunder back to Judah.
No comments:
Post a Comment