1 Samuel 30: 1 –31
Seeking advice
30 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. 3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. 6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor. 11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water. 12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick. 14 We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?” So he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop.” 16 And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. 19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all. 20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.” 21 Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthlessmen of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.” 23 But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the LORD has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. 24 For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.” 25 So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day. 26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD”— 27 to those who were in Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the South, those who were in Jattir, 28 those who were in Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 those who were in Hormah, those who were in Chorashan, those who were in Athach, 31 those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove.
I’ve asked advice from a lot of people– and greatly benefitted from it. My belief is that I can best learn from those who have gone before me. So, I often seek such people out because I am convinced that one of the greatest ways to learn is through seeking the counsel of others. For new experiences such as the military and college I sought out advice from others who had done the same thing as I was about to undertake. Their advice helped me in more ways than I can list here.
Most of us quickly learn we need to regularly engage with certain key people (coaches, mentors, professional peers) from whom we can seek advice, encouragement, and feedback on issues we are facing in life and ministry.
The very first thing we need to do though with anything that is a concern is go to our Holy Father, Adoni Yahweh. He Is not too busy to hear from us. In fact, He encourages us to do exactly this. In addition, in seeking our Holy Lord’s counsel there is also nothing wrong with going to Godly people who we trust and ask them to pray for our situation and give us their thoughts and opinions. The bible says in book of Proverbs chapter 11 verse 14, “Where there is no counsel, the people fall; But in the multitude of counselors there is safety”. The difficulty, however, is that we are often ill-prepared when seeking advice from whom we desire to learn but do not know particularly well.
Below are a few of the things I have learned about being a good steward of time and resources when seeking out advice.
First, you should ask yourself, “What do I want out of this advice conversation?” This statement might seem at first a stupid question, but I have run into a lot of people who keep talking for hours and when I finally get the chance to ask them this point, ‘Is there a question here you want me to answer?’ As the person seeking advice, you want to be very clear and gather your thoughts beforehand so that you know exactly what you want to gain from the conversation. In some instance some may find it beneficial to show up with written questions.
If you are going to engage in an advice conversation with someone you do not know, seeing what they have written on it beforehand so that you can help to apply it is a better course of action, and a better use of time for both parties.
In seeking guidance, it is also important you’re your counselors understand the background of the situation. Then, cut that in half. There may be many details about yourself or your circumstances you can share but keep your information to what is necessary for the specific advice you are seeking– that way you can maximize the time. In other words, what does the person giving you advice need to know to effectively give you advice? That way you maximize the time and ultimately get better information and advice along the way. You are a better steward and learner.
You also need to listen. Don’t go into the conversation with a defensive posture. You may ultimately decide not to take all the advice you are given but try to avoid any knee jerk reactions and to simply receive. Hey, after all you must remember that you have asked these people because you think highly of them. If they come back with some things that you do not like, keep the best advice and cast off the rest.
Finally, act on the information received. Let me give you some information as to when you should act or not. But, do something considering the conversations. It is too easy to get into the habit of gleaning advice for what we will hopefully do someday but never make the small changes that are possible to do.
Let say you asked five couples to pray to the Lord on your behalf because you want to buy a new car. You inform them that you are thinking about buying a new SUV.
After a week you get back in touch with your Christian friends. Three say that they think it is a good decision on your part and two are not too sure you are wise in your decision. What do you do?
You tell the two couples who told you not to buy the new car that you do not like their advice and that you will never speak to them again. (I am only kidding). In this case I would not do anything for a while since the for’s are pretty close to the ‘against’ s’. Sometimes our Holy Master God wants us to wait. I would ask the five again to pray and I would get back to them in another week.
If I had a consensus of the ‘for’s or ‘against’s’ then I can pretty much come away with the answer. Don’t you agree?
The opportunity to receive counsel from others is a valuable one. I would not be where I am today if it were not for people who invested small amounts of their time to help me in their knowledge, understanding and wisdom. And even today I am grateful for people who help me to think through issues that I am facing in ministry and in life.
It is a privilege to learn at the feet of others, and one that should not be taken for granted, but should be used to its fullest potential. Today we want to take notice on how the greatest son of our Holy King Jesus Christ was wise enough to seek counsel before making any major decision.
David and his men arrived back in Ziklag after a two-day march only to discover that it had been sacked in their absence. Taking advantage of the Philistine invasion which had fully occupied the warriors of both Philistia and Israel, a confederation of tribes of the fierce and nomadic Amalekites took the opportunity to ravage the towns in the Negeb (the extreme South of Canaan). Their purpose was to obtain spoil and slaves to be sold in Egypt. The size of the spoil that they took demonstrates the large-scale nature of their invasion. This was not just one wandering tribe, but a gathering of a good number of them.
The consequence was that all the women and children of David’s men had been taken to be sold into slavery. Indeed, David’s men were so angered by the fact that they were considering stoning David. Was it not he who had persuaded them to take up residence in this vulnerable town? Was he not responsible for its defense? Why had he allowed it to be low in protectors? Things were looking very uncomfortable. David, however, in this emergency, sought to the only One Whom he knew could help him in these circumstances. He turned to Yahweh for strength and guidance.
Our Precious Holy Spirit reminds us all in this attack by the Amalekites on Ziklag, (a city which at the time contained the weak and the helpless of those who were to be the foundation of the new nation of Israel/Judah), a parallel to what had previously happened under Moses. When Moses had begun the journey through the wilderness with the new nation of Israel, and with the conquest of God’s inheritance (Canaan) in his mind’s eye, the first adversaries who had molested God’s people were the Amalekites (Exodus 17.8; Numbers 24.20; Deuteronomy 25.17-19), and they had attacked the weak and the helpless among God’s people (Deuteronomy 25.18), only to give Moses his first victory after leaving Egypt. Now the weak and the helpless of the people through whom YHWH was again shortly to deliver Israel had been molested by the Amalekites, and the Amalekites were to be defeated again, in accordance with Exodus 17.16, by the one who would then go on to take over God’s inheritance.
30 Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, 2 and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way.
After two days fast travel David and his men arrived back at Ziklag ‘on the third day’, only to discover that it had been invaded and burned with fire in their absence. For in their absence the various Amalekite tribesmen who inhabited the Sinai Peninsula, seeing their opportunity to attack the vulnerable, had gathered in a confederation and had swooped down on the Negeb, including Ziklag, and had carried off the inhabitants to be sold into slavery in Egypt. Everyone had been taken, both small and great.
3 So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.
Thus, on their arrival David and his men were confronted with a devastating scene. Their city had been burned with fire, and all their wives, sons and daughters had been taken captive. Not one remained. This was typical of Amalekite behavior and helps to explain why their destruction was seen as necessary by Yahweh with the safety of His people in mind. While Amalekites were roving around, no one was safe.
4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
The sight of their desolate city and the empty houses must have been devastating to David and his men, who had arrived with such hopes. It meant that all that they lived and fought for was lost to them. In one go they had lost everything that they cared for most. It is then no wonder that they wept at what they had lost until in the end they had no more tears. All that they loved was gone, and the situation appeared hopeless.
We are going to find out that our Merciful God made sure not one Israelite was killed. They were all just taken captives. You also have to realize that David and his men did not know this like we do.
5 And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive
Among those taken were David’s two beautiful wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, who were to be founders of his dynasty. Their separate mention emphasizes the importance attached to them. But he was not alone in his loss. All the married men among them had lost wives.
6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
When he saw the desolation of his men, and recognized their bitterness towards him as a result, David was grieved at heart, not so much because they considered stoning him, as because of why they considered doing so. It was because they saw him as having failed them. David who as their leader had, in their view, to bear the responsibility for this dreadful circumstance. If only he had left behind enough men to defend the city, or if only he had not left it in the first place when he had clearly not been wanted, this catastrophe would not have happened. (We must remember that men do not think rationally under such circumstances. They must find someone on whom to release their anger). And to a certain extent he knew that they were right. It had been his responsibility to ensure that the city could be defended, and that enough troops had been left behind for the purpose. But it is in such circumstances that combined spiritual and leadership qualities come out. Instead of despairing David promptly looked to Yahweh and found strength. He knew that Yahweh was with him and that while Yahweh Was his God there was hope, even if he himself had made a mess of it. He knew that in his difficulties Yahweh was there with him.
The Amalekites were so confident that there would be no pursuers that they found time to stop for a period of celebration at the huge amount of their spoils. They were totally confident that by the time the invasion by the Philistines was over and David returned they themselves would have split into their separate tribes and have been long gone. What they did not allow for was the intervention of The Great God of Israel.
When David consulted his Holy God Yahweh through the ephod he received the message that there was yet time to recover all the womenfolk and children, together with all their spoils. As a result, greatly encouraged, he set out with all haste with his partly exhausted men (who had already just endured a three day march), and was able to overtake the Amalekites while they were celebrating, (and had no doubt got themselves into a drunken state), and give them a thorough defeat that was so thorough that the only ones who were able to make their escape were four camel units of young men. The remainder of the tribe were slaughtered. It should be noted that this was simply carrying out the requirements of Yahweh with respect to these merciless outlaws, predators who were a constant threat towards all civilized people. They were the terrorists of their day. Thus, while Saul was facing disaster because of his prior disobedience in respect of the Amalekites, David was obeying his Holy Father God with respect to them. He was being obedient to God’s commandments
7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
Not allowing the threats of his men to overwhelm him, David did the right thing. He sought counsel from the Holy One Who Is All Knowing. David called for Abiathar the High Priest so that he could consult Yahweh. And he called on him to bring the ephod, which incorporated the breast pouch in which were the Urim and Thummim.
Once Abiathar had brought the ephod David then submitted his questions. If it is correct that the Urim and Thummim could only answer ‘yes’, ‘no’ or ‘no answer’ he must clearly have asked two questions;
. First whether they would overtake the Amalekites, or in Philly lingo ‘go after them.’
. Second whether they would recover all.
What matters is that David obtained his Holy Ruler’s answer, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and will without fail recover all.”
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where those stayed who were left behind.
Immediately on receiving the answer David summoned his men and set off after the Amalekites, not resting until they came to the Wadi Besor, where they no doubt stopped to refresh themselves. We do not know the identity of the Wadi Besor but we can presume that they must have travelled a good number of miles. We are given minimum information about what happened there, but we must probably see that David rapidly summed up the situation, recognized that a number of his men, through no fault of their own, were too exhausted to travel quickly enough and were thus holding the whole of his army up and decided to reorganize his men into four active units of the most fit, and leave two units behind to recover themselves and guard the baggage (verse 24), while he and the four slimmed down units proceeded forward at all speed.
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred stayed behind, who were so weary that they could not cross the Brook Besor.
Now aware that they must be catching up with the Amalekite raiders David and his four units sped onwards
11 Then they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David; and they gave him bread and he ate, and they let him drink water.
David’s scouts then came across an Egyptian in the countryside, in the last stages of exhaustion and unable to communicate, and brought him to David, who arranged for him to receive the basic food and water which he clearly needed in his exhausted state. This discovery was of huge importance, for it was to identify who their enemies were, and where they had taken refuge. It was evidence that Yahweh was aiding their search.
12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. So, when he had eaten, his strength came back to him; for he had eaten no bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights.
The food that they gave him was energy producing food (as they would know by experience), easily digestible, with the result that he soon showed signs of coming back to full consciousness and eventually sat up. Their hope, of course, was that he might be able to give them some information about who had passed that way.
13 Then David said to him, “To whom do you belong, and where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man from Egypt, servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind, because three days ago I fell sick.
Seeing that the young man was now able to speak David immediately questioned him, asking him who he was and where he had come from. His answer must have quickened all their hearts, for he revealed that he was an Egyptian and that he had indeed been the slave of one of the men who had attacked Ziklag. But he had fallen sick and so had callously been left behind to die by his master, seemingly without any provision for his welfare. As a slave he was simply seen as dispensable. That had been a day or so before.
14 We made an invasion of the southern area of the Cherethites, in the territory which belongs to Judah, and of the southern area of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
He also identified the nature of the expedition that his master had been on. They had raided the Negeb of the Cherethites (like the Pelethites, the Cherethites were a section of the Philistines,) and the Negeb of Caleb which belonged to Judah (Caleb was a sub-clan of Judah - Joshua 21.11-12), and had then burned Ziklag with fire. This last was probably as a specific reprisal against David, because of what he had previously done to them, carried out when his back was turned, and the opportunity had thus arisen.
15 And David said to him, “Can you take me down to this troop?” So, he said, “Swear to me by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this troop.”
Then David asked the Egyptian if he would lead them to where he knew the Amalekites would go, and the young man replied that if they would swear an oath that they would not kill him or hand him over to his master (whom he clearly hated and feared), then he would show them.
16 And when he had brought him down, there they were, spread out over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil which they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
True to his word the young man led them to the Amalekite encampment which would be at a well-known oasis. And there they found the Amalekites rapturously celebrating their victories, gloating in their success and over the number of valuable slaves that they had taken, and quite content that there would be no pursuit, because all knew that David and his men were far away fighting against Saul and Israel. It had all been so easy, and they had brought back with them huge spoils, as well as the many slaves for the Egyptians to buy. They were expecting no trouble and had thus decided to have a rest stage at this oasis.
17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
They soon, however, discovered their error, for, waiting until twilight, David launched his attack catching them totally unprepared. They must have wondered who or what had hit them and would certainly have had no idea of their numbers. They would be totally disoriented. The size of the Amalekite band comes out in that even so it took a full night and day before David’s men could finally stop the slaughter, for they were determined to search out and kill every last man wherever they hid themselves, so that no other roving band would ever dare to do the same thing again. It was in accordance with Yahweh’s curse (Exodus 17.14, 15). The only ones who escaped were four camel units of young men who fled on their camels.
18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives.
The fighting finally over David took stock and discovered that they had recovered everything that had been stolen from them, and more besides, and that very importantly included David’s two wives, the future queens of Israel, and founders of his dynasty. Truly Yahweh was watching over David.
19 And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.
From hated to hero David’s obedience was as Yahweh had promised (verse 8) they had recovered everything, including their sons and their daughters whose delight and joy must have been beyond imagining. One moment they had been in a state of darkest despair and hopelessness, awaiting only life-long slavery, and the next they had realized that they were in process of being rescued and would soon be back in their fathers’ arms.
20 Then David took all the flocks and herds they had driven before those other livestock, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
At first glance this verse seems to indicate that David was doing something wrong. The idea here is presumably that ‘those cattle’ represented the cattle of their own which had been recovered, while ‘all the flocks and herds’ were those over and above what had been stolen from them, and were thus ‘David’s’ and evidences of his triumph.
The stress is on the size of the spoil and in the fact that it now belonged to David. something which was proudly and distinctly made clear by his men as they drove them before them and declared ‘This is David’s spoil’. This is in striking contrast with Yahweh’s requirement to Saul when he slew the Amalekites, that no spoil should be taken because it was ‘devoted to Yahweh’. But the circumstances were very different. That had been a solemn religious and sacred expedition, specifically carried out by Yahweh’s anointed at His command, having in view the need to deal with the Amalekites as a people as a whole, as under Yahweh’s curse because of their general behavior towards Israel and others. All had had to see in those circumstances that Saul was not seeking any benefit for himself but was acting as Yahweh’s judge and avenger. It was an act of sacred judgment being carried out as a direct result of Yahweh’s command. Here on the other hand it was aggrieved and retaliatory parties who were recovering their own spoil, along with the extra which was to be returned to its presumed owners (30.26-31), but which meanwhile could be seen as ‘David’s, their leader’s spoil’. It was not an act of judicial and sacred judgment.
David’s concern for all his men is brought out by his treatment of the exhausted men whom he had left to guard the baggage at the Wadi Besor. He insisted that because all that had been won had been given to them by Yahweh, all should be divided equally among all who had come on the expedition, both to those who had fought, and to those who had guarded their baggage and had thus ensured that they could move on swiftly and have somewhere to which they could turn if they ran out of supplies, or anything went wrong.
He then also proceeded to return to neighboring friendly tribes and clans, something of what had been stolen from them, as a gesture of friendship and gratitude in return for the friendship that they had shown to him and his men when they had been hiding among them.
21 Now David came to the two hundred men who had been so weary that they could not follow David, whom they also had made to stay at the Brook Besor. So they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near the people, he greeted them.
Returning triumphantly with their spoils David and his four hundred came back to the two hundred who had had to take time to rest and recover, the ones whom they had left at the Wadi Besor to watch over the baggage that they had stripped themselves of so that they could advance all the faster. And the two hundred, now fully recovered, came forward to meet and greet their comrades, and were themselves saluted by David. He knew that they had done all that they could and did not want them to feel at all dishonored. It was the act of a true leader.
The true man of God never despises those who do what they can but are unable to reach the standard of others. He knows that very often they are the people whom God uses in His own way.
22 Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man’s wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.”
Not all were as kind as David. There were some among the four hundred who, while brave fighters, were lacking in compassion and human feeling. And these came to David and suggested that none of the spoil be given to the two hundred, apart from the returning to them of their wives and children. These should be given to them and then they should depart empty handed, made aware of their shame. They wanted all the spoil for themselves.
23 But David said, “My brethren, you shall not do so with what the LORD has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us.
David would have none of it. He pointed out that the spoil had been given to them by Father God. It was Adoni Yahweh who had preserved them and delivered the Amalekite’s who had come against them into their hand. It was Yahweh who had brought them back to Ziklag in time to be able to rectify matters. It was Yahweh Who had sent them forth with the guarantee of victory. It was Yahweh Who had arranged for them to find an Egyptian in the desert who could lead them to the marauders. It was Yahweh who had arranged for the invaders to remain at the oasis in order to celebrate, and had got them into such a condition that they were in no condition to fight. All had been of Yahweh.
24 For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.”
Then he asked them whom they thought would support them in their suggestion. He was confident that most of his men would agree that all who had taken part in the expedition should receive a fair share of the spoils because all had been necessary. They could never have left the excess baggage behind, knowing that it would be there when they came back, had it not been for those who were left to watch over it. So, all were to share alike.
25 So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
This was the ordinance and statute that he established in Israel from that day forward, and was true ‘to this day’. That those who fought, and those who watched the baggage, would all share equally.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD”—
In his victory David did not forget those who had been friends to them in their greatest time of need, the elders of Judah in the Negeb towns. Much of the spoil had been stolen from them, and so once they had reached Ziklag, he returned it to them in an act of reciprocal friendship, indicating that it was a present to them from Yahweh, and from the spoils that Yahweh had taken from his adversaries (who were His enemies because they were the enemies of His people).
27 to those who were in Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the South, those who were in Jattir, 28 those who were in Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 those who were in Hormah, those who were in Chorashan, those who were in Athach, 31 those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove.
Our Precious Holy Spirit give us a list of all the places which benefited, and their very number indicates the amount of spoil recovered (and therefore the size of the band of plunderers that they had defeated). Here we learn that all these peoples had welcomed David and his men when they had been fleeing from Saul. They were the places which David and his men ‘had been wont to haunt’, i.e. had been in the habit of sheltering near. Not all had been like the Ziphites.
There is much discussion as to David’s motives in this distribution of spoil, but there is no real reason for doubting that it mainly arose from gratitude to those who had treated him and his men well in the past. That he also did it as a prospective king of Israel, a position that had been promised to him several times in the past, we need not doubt, for he had the heart of a king, but it is only said to be to those who had welcomed him and his men in the past. It should also be remembered that he had refused to kill Saul and claim the kingship, even when he knew that he had the support of Jonathan, and that even his later approach to Hebron was only made after consulting Yahweh. Thus, while he was certainly a man aware of his destiny, he was also one who was prepared for Yahweh to bring it about when he willed. He was not just a cynical politician or a power-seeker. He was a man who was aware that Yahweh had His hand upon him, and he acted accordingly.
