What we find today is an example both of God’s providence and God’s grace in action as David’s wilderness years approach their conclusion.
David has been with the Philistine king Achish on their way to attack Saul and his army, when God intervenes in a providential way to release David from his oath to support the Philistines against the Israelites. You can imagine that David and his men were in something of a bind. They could hardly have refused to go with Achish, yet their real desire would have been to fight with the Israelites. So when the other Philistine commanders refuse to let them come along, one would assume there’d be a great sigh of relief from David and his men.
But God’s providence isn’t just directed towards saving them from a sticky situation. It’s also intended to bring them back home to do something about what’s been happening there.
They reach Ziklag, their home town, only to find that it’s been raided and sacked during their absence with the Philistine army. Their joy at their reprieve quickly turns to anger at the desecration of their homes and the kidnap of their wives and children. But, sadly, their anger turns not against the raiders but against their leader, David. He’s the one who agreed that they should go off with Achish rather than staying behind to protect their village! It’s his fault! In fact their anger is so great that they’re ready to stone him.
So what is David going to do about it? How will he deal with this distress that he and his men are feeling.
When insulted by Nabal, remember, he simply went off to do battle with hardly a thought for whether it was the right thing to do. But not this time. First he needs to deal with this crisis of leadership then he needs to check with God what to do. So how will he do it? First, notice what it says in v6. Where does David draw his strength from? "David strengthened himself in the LORD his God." He turns to God for strength.
Now lets just pause there and think about the fact that this is the final episode in what are described as David’s wilderness years. He’s spent the past few years in the wilderness, being hunted by his enemies. And now even some of his men are against him.
Time spent in the wilderness is a repeated theme in the Bible isn’t it? It’s characteristically a time of formation, a time of testing, and a time to explore the true nature of your relationship with God.
The wilderness is the place where Moses and the people of Israel are tested and in the process discover what it means to be the people of God, obedient to him and utterly reliant on him. The wilderness is the place where Jesus is tempted by Satan for 40 days and 40 nights, where he shows that he has what it takes to be the anointed king, the one who is faithful in every respect. And similarly, the wilderness is the place where David learns what it means to be a leader of Israel.
And if the parallel wasn’t great enough already, what is it that happens when Jesus’ time in the wilderness is finished? Matthew tells us that the angels came and ministered to him. Luke tells us that "Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit, returned to Galilee." It’s a striking parallel isn’t it. Look at v6: "But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God." God gives him strength to go on, to lead his people even in the face of opposition in the same way that he strengthened Jesus.
And how does he go on? Well, he asks God for guidance. At the same moment that Saul is arranging a seance with the medium at Endor, David takes the approach provided by God for his people. He asks his priest to bring the Ephod so he can enquire of God what action he should take. Should he pursue these raiders or not? And will he catch them?
Notice that this is a different situation to that of Nabal and his insult to David’s person. This is more than just a police action. Although David may not realise it as yet, there’s more to this situation than that. This involves what God has in mind for the Amalekites.
Again we find a connection, this time with the downfall of Saul. Remember that it was his disobedience in the battle against the Amalekites that was the last straw for Saul. He failed on that occasion to do what God had commanded. And here, as Saul’s time comes to an end and David’s moment approaches, David is given the opportunity to fight the Amalekites one more time.
And so the answer comes back from the Lord, "Yes! Pursue them. For you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue."
And so he tells his men to get up and get going again.
Now we need to realise that these men have just marched some 100 km in 3 days. A fair trek in their battle gear. And they haven’t had any chance to rest. So when they get to the Besor Ravine, about another 25 km, a third of his force are too exhausted to go on. So David leaves them behind with the things they don’t need and the rest of his men carry on.
And again we see God’s providence in action. Along the way they come across a dying Egyptian. It’s a bit like the story of the good Samaritan isn’t it? David could easily have ignored this man in his urgency to catch up with the raiding party, but no, they stop and tend to his needs. They give him some water and some nourishing food and wait until he’s recovered enough to speak. Then they discover that this isn’t just a random meeting. This man was actually with the raiding party. He was a slave who’s been left behind because he was too weak to keep going. Again God has provided guidance for David, this time not by supernatural means but in the person of this Egyptian slave. He obviously knows the routes his master normally takes on his raiding sorties and he’s able to lead David to where the Amalekites are relaxing, recovering from their efforts, and celebrating their success with food and drink. They’re scattered over the countryside, making them an easy target for David’s well disciplined troop. David and his men attack and after a day of fighting the Amalekites are defeated. They’re all killed, except for 400 young men who ride off on camels. It’s significant, isn’t it, or should that be ironic, that David only had 400 men with him, and yet that’s how many Amalekites escape.
Then we come to what’s probably the vital moment in this story. David and his men recover all the goods that had been stolen, along with the belongings of the Amalekites and take them back with them to Besor. Now it’s interesting that the meaning of Besor is good news, or gospel, because here we actually see the gospel in action.
When they get back to Besor, there are the other 200 men fully recovered, waiting to greet them. Naturally enough they’re pleased to hear about the victory over the Amalekites and especially to hear about all the booty they’ve brought back.
But then some of David’s band step forward and object to the idea that these weaklings should share in their plunder. These men are described as corrupt and worthless fellows. They’re corrupt, or evil, because their attitude is basically self-centred. They think that they’ve done all the work, so they should get all the rewards. They’re economic rationalists. Their view of life is totally works based. But look at what David says. First he refers to them as brothers. There’s a collegiality here that they’ve failed to take account of. These men are all part of the family of God’s people. And for that reason alone they should all share equally in the plunder.
But in fact the issue is greater than that. Look at v23. How have they come by this plunder? They think they’ve won it by strength of arms. But that’s not it at all, is it? No, "The LORD has given [it to] us; he has preserved us and handed over to us the raiding party that attacked us."
Ps 127 has some very valuable advice for all those who think it’s their hard work that matters: "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain. 2It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he grants sleep to those he loves." You see it’s been by the providence of God that they were sent back from the battle against Saul when they were. It was by God’s providence that they came across that Egyptian slave. It was by God’s grace that they were able to defeat an enemy that significantly outnumbered them.
They may have thought they were great warriors; a well oiled fighting machine. But in reality their victory was given to them by the Lord. And as such the bounty belonged equally to the whole family.
Notice how David shows his wisdom in the way he expresses this: "24the share of the one who goes down into the battle shall be the same as the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike." He manages to restore the dignity of those who have stayed behind by pointing out that they too had a function in the army. An army is made up of a whole range of roles and positions. It isn’t just the front line soldiers who are needed.
You may notice an echo here of what we find in 1 Cor 12, where Paul reminds us that there are a whole range of gifts given to the church by God. And there he points out that not all are apostles, not all prophets. Some are needed to keep the place running, to supply the funds, to do the praying, to exercise their faith in God in remarkable ways. In the early days of the church the apostles realised that they couldn’t do everything. They needed to delegate some of the work to others. So they chose 7 deacons to look after the care of the widows and orphans.
Here is a basic gospel principle. All we have comes by the grace of God. And the gifts of God are many and varied. None is more important than any other. So no one can claim a priority when it comes to enjoying the benefits of God’s blessing. In fact this is such an important principle that we’re told David made it a lasting statute and ordinance for Israel.
Now, let me ask you whether you believe that this was a good statute. The reason I ask that, is that I believe it actually goes against the way we really think. You see, I think we’re a lot closer to those corrupt and worthless fellows than we are to David in the way we live out this principle.
We’re a congregation with a fairly high percentage of professionals aren’t we? We have a couple of doctors, a couple of lawyers, a couple of architects, a number of engineers, several who work in the financial and business arena as accountants or finance managers, etc. Most on fairly good salaries. And what do we think about that?
Well, the common response to any sort of question about high salaries goes something like "Well, we studied for 4 or 7 or 11 years to become whatever our profession is"; or "we work long hours; or we have such a high level of responsibility or stress"; or "we have specialist knowledge that no-one else has, so our high salaries are warranted". And we’d never even think of questioning such thinking would we? Oh, we might question some of the more outrageous examples of executive remuneration packages, but never our own.
But listen to what David says to these corrupt and worthless fellows: "The share of the one who goes down into the battle shall be the same as the share of the one who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike." That’s not a business model you’ll see in the western world today is it?
But, dare I suggest that maybe it’s a model that we should be thinking about when it comes to the Christian Church. Listen to what else God’s word says about this: "Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."(2 Cor 8:13-15 NIV)
If we were to take this seriously, how would it affect our giving, both to the work of St Theodore’s and to the missions we support? If we saw our fortnightly or monthly pay packet as something that was provided by the Lord rather than by our own effort or cleverness, that was a gift from God rather than something we were owed, how would that affect our generosity in sharing it with others?
Jesus once said: "Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes."
Notice that on a purely human level, that’s exactly what David goes on to do as this episode comes to an end. He sends some of the spoil off to the elders of Judah, both as a token of his gratitude for their friendliness towards him in the past when he was moving around among their towns, but also as a means of winning them over in the light of his rapidly approaching quest for the kingship. And the result is that when the time comes he has friends who welcome him and support him as their king.
So as we leave this period of David’s life in the wilderness, let me leave you to think (and me to think) about how we’ve incorporated this gospel principle into our thinking. All we have is what the Lord provides. So what are we doing with what the Lord has given us?
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