1 Samuel 30:1-10 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag… But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God (ver. 6). Delivered from their embarrassing position in the Philistine army, David and his men set out early in the morning, and by forced marches (evident from the exhaustion of one third of them, ver. 10) arrived at Ziklag on the third day. Instead of being welcomed by their wives and children, they found the city a smoking and desolate ruin. "When we go abroad we cannot foresee what evil tidings may meet us when we come home again. The going out may be very cheerful, and yet the coming in very doleful" (M. Henry). The Amalekites (whom Saul had failed to exterminate, and David often attacked) had been there, and, in revenge for what they had suffered, had carried off the undefended people and property, and given the place to the flames. Deeming their recovery hopeless, the strong men wept like children "until they had no more power to weep." Then their grief turned to exasperation, and seeking a victim on which to expend their wrath, they fixed on David, and "spake of stoning him" as the cause of all their misery. He was reduced to the utmost extremity, and could not fail to see in his trouble a just chastisement for his unbelief, prevarication, and cruelty. Possibly the reinforcements that "fell to him as he went to Ziklag" (1 Chronicles 12:20) rendered him valuable service. But his hope was not in man; and instead of resigning himself to despair (like Saul), he was impelled by his distress and deprivation of human help to seek help in God alone. "The long misery of the first stage of his public career seems to have reached its culminating point. When things are at the worst, as the common proverb says, they must mend. And from that moment when he believingly cast all his dependence upon the Lord his God only, whom he had found faithful in all his promises, and whose providence had never failed him in his deepest dangers, from that moment he was safe, from that moment he was prosperous" (Kitto). Concerning the confidence in God which he exhibited (therein setting an eminent example to others), observe that - I. IT SPRINGS OUT OF CONSCIOUS HELPLESSNESS. Few men have an adequate conviction of their own helplessness; and one aim of the Divine discipline is to produce it. "When I am weak," said Paul, "then am I strong" - when I feel my utter weakness under the pressure of trial, then I am constrained to depend on the Lord, and become imbued with his strength (2 Corinthians 12:10). In the exercise of "the same spirit of faith" others "out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens" (Hebrews 11:34). True faith and spiritual power have their foundation amidst the "dust and ashes" of self-abasement and self-distrust. Confidence in God began to revive in David when Ziklag was reduced to ashes. The same thing is often occasioned in others by means of - 1. Sudden and severe bereavement; wife and children, it may be, taken away with a stroke. 2. The failure of cherished plans and purposes; the loss of property through robbery by men or accidents by fire or flood, the breakdown of health, the disappointment of long expectation. 3. The falling away of friends; their unreasonable anger and bitter reproaches. It must have been peculiarly painful to David to bear the mutiny of his own men, to witness the selfishness of many of them (ver. 22), and to learn what little confidence could be put in man (Psalm 146:3). He was left almost alone. 4. The upbraiding of conscience for past sin. Trouble is a powerful means of bringing sin to remembrance (1 Kings 17:18). 5. The threatening of danger; the presence of "the king of terrors" (Job 18:14). 6. The lack of wisdom and power to deliver from distress. When we become fully aware of our utter helplessness, two courses lie open before us - either to sink into despair or to cast ourselves wholly upon God. That the latter may be taken trial is sent; it is taken by him whose heart is in the main right with God, and it is never taken in vain. II. IT LAYS HOLD OF ALL-SUFFICIENT HELP. "When David could not comfort him self in his wives, nor his children, nor his goods, nor in anything under the sun, he could in something above the sun. And the reason is at hand: God is the God of all consolation, the spring of comfort; if any water, it is in the sea; if any light, it is in the sun; if any comfort, it is in God - there it rests, there it is when nowhere else. God is all-sufficient; there the heart finds every want supplied, every good thing lodged. As God is all-sufficient to furnish us with all necessaries, so infinite in power, wisdom, goodness to help us against all evils feared or felt" (R. Harris). Faith strengthens the soul by uniting it to God and making it partaker of his strength. It has respect to - 1. His great name (see 1 Samuel 1:3). "Hope thou in God" (Psalm 42:5; Psalm 9:10; Psalm 124:8). "Hope, said I, Is of the joy to come a sure expectance, The effect of grace Divine and merit preceding. This light from many a star visits my heart; But flow'd to me, the first, from him who sang The songs of the Supreme; himself supreme Among his tuneful brethren. 'Let all hope In thee,' so spake his anthem, 'who have known Thy name'" (Dante, 'Par.' 25.) 2. His intimate relationship to his people. "Jehovah his God." 3. His past doings on their behalf. When David formerly fell into despondency (ch. 27.) he seems to have forgotten all these, and failed to receive the encouragement which they were adapted to impart. But now he remembered them and "took courage." 4. His faithful promises. "The free expressions of his goodness and beneficence," the unchangeable assurances of his almighty help in time of need. "The mistake we make is to look for a source of consolation in ourselves; self-contemplation instead of gazing upon God. He is not affected by our mutability, our changes do not alter him. When we are restless he remains serene and calm; when we are low, selfish, mean, or dispirited he is still the unalterable I AM. What God is in himself, not what we may chance to feel him in this or that moment to be, that is our hope" (Robertson). III. IT MAKES USE OF APPROPRIATE MEANS. "He encouraged (strengthened) himself," etc. by - 1. Repressing fear and unbelief. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?" 2. Directing the thoughts toward God, the ever-present, invisible, eternal Protector of his servants, and stirring up the heart to renewed trust in him. "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" (Psalm 118:6; Psalm 121:1). 3. Inquiring of the Lord. "And David said to Abiathar," etc. (vers. 7, 8). He sought him as he had not done on the previous occasion; sought him in a right spirit, and therefore (unlike Saul) received an answer: - "Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake and deliver." He was thereby further strengthened. His confidence, moreover, was expressed and perfected in - 4. Obeying the will of the Lord (vers. 9, 10), and cooperating toward the fulfilment of his promise. Despondency led him to flee from difficulty and danger, but faith and hope incited him to go into their midst, and made him "as bold as a lion." "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." IV. IT IS CROWNED WITH COMPLETE SUCCESS. By the help obtained of God fear is removed, strength renewed, and confidence inspired (ver. 9). After a brief delay and some untoward events by which faith is still further tested (ver. 10) - 1. The object which is sought is providentially discovered (ver. 11). 2. The enemy is completely defeated (ver. 17). 3. That which has been lost is recovered (ver. 19). 4. Much more than has been expected is gained (ver. 20). A few days after David's own people were about to stone him on the ruins of Ziklag the royal crown was laid at his feet. Observations: - 1. When good men transgress they must expect to be "chastened of the Lord," and wicked men are sometimes used as a rod for the purpose. 2. The wickedness of the wicked is mercifully restrained (ver. 2), often turns to the benefit of those whom they seek to injure, and returns upon their own heads. 3. The chief purpose of chastisement is to bring men to God in humility, penitence, submission, and trust, and prepare them for future service and exaltation. 4. The difference in the effects of calamity upon men (as upon Saul and David) manifests the difference of their character. 5. The more heavily trouble presses upon men, the more closely should they cling to God, that it may be rightly borne and accomplish its intended moral end. 6. God never disappoints the confidence of his children, but fulfils his promises to them more richly than they dare to hope. - D. Parallel Verses KJV: And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire; |
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