A God Who Can

The story of David and Ziklag comes from 1st Samuel 30 in the Bible. It is a powerful moment in David’s life that shows us leadership under pressure, emotional resilience, and trust in God during a deep crisis.

When we look at the summary of this story, it focuses on how the people reacted when their families were taken:

The record is that David and his men had been living in the city of Ziklag, which had been given to him by Achish, a Philistine king.

David and his 600 men were away from Ziklag for a few days, preparing to go to battle, but they were sent back.

The reason David and his men were sent back to Ziklag was because: The Philistine commanders didn’t trust him to fight with them. They feared that David might turn on them in battle. The commander felt that if David had fought against Israel, he would’ve been fighting his own people and possibly even against Saul and Jonathan. So, he sent them back.

We must understand that David wasn’t just a leader; he was a man in transition. He was anointed, but not yet crowned. He was on the run from King Saul, living among enemies, and trying to survive. Ziklag had become his temporary refuge. But even that place of safety was not secure.

When David and his men returned to Ziklag, they found the city had been burned to the ground by the Amalekites. Even worse: they found out that all of their wives, their sons, and daughters had been taken captive.

Their city burned to the ground.

Their families taken captive.

Their hearts crushed by grief, and to top it all off their loyalty is shaken, even his own men wanted to stone him.

No one was killed, but everything was gone.

They survived the attack, but lost everything they owned.

Not a single life was lost, but everything they held dear was gone.

Lives were spared, but their world had been stripped bare.

The enemy took everything leaving them nothing.

So the Bible said in vs 4, that David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.

In their crying, the Bible also said that the people turned against David. The grief was so overwhelming that David’s own men turned on him. They blamed David for what happened.

The Bible says they even talked about stoning him because they were so bitter over the loss of their families.

This story shows that even strong leaders face moments of crisis and betrayal.

The people who were once loyal to David were ready to kill him.

Have you ever been there? The ones that were once your friend, your bff, is now your arch enemy

The ones that you help the most, turn their backs on you.

Wait a minute, I’m talking about the ones that say they loved you the most, and they can’t do without out you, the ones that you pray for, the ones you care for, the one that you will give your lives for, and every time you turn around they have an attitude, they are not talking to you, everything that you do is wrong, they are never wrong and are always right. I wish I had some real people, up in here.

I know that they might be sitting next to you, and if you can’t say amen, just wink your eye.

His friends, his running buddies, his battle buddies turned on him, but David turned to God, instead of giving in to fear or anger David turned to the Lord.

Let me drop this in someone spirit this morning. It does not matter what they say about you, turn to the Lord.

When people question your path, trust the One who ordered your steps.

When people talk bad about you. Their doubt doesn’t cancel God’s calling, stay close to the Lord. Their affirmation doesn’t disqualify your purpose.

Let them talk, your strength comes from the one who never changes.

It doesn’t mean that it won’t bother you sometimes, but you must look to the hills from whence cometh your help.

The point here is: Even Leaders Get Broken

They wept until they had no strength left to weep. v. 4

This wasn’t just sadness, but it was soul-deep despair. David, who had slain giants and led warriors, was now face-to-face with the possibility of total loss.

Here is the Context: No matter how strong we are or how much faith we have, there are moments in life when we’re brought to our knees.

Here is a nugget. In crisis, blame looks for a target, and often, leaders carry the weight. Understand, these were the same men David had trained, fought beside, and led. Now, they saw him as the reason for their suffering.