David’s Wives Are Captured

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 30:26-31

26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.”
27 It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir,
28 in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa,
29 in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites,
30 in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach,
31 in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.

In our last post, we see David healing a very real split amongst his men. Those vocal “wicked and worthless” men of David were on the edge of dividing David’s men, diminishing greatly the unity and camaraderie developed through all the strain and struggle they had experienced together.

David wisely reacted to the threat within his army!

In our post here, we find David doing the exact same thing, that of healing relations, but in this passage he is seeking to heal relations with his nation. Surely they thought of him as a traitor, for had he not “abandoned” them as he lived and pillaged in Philistia? Surely this sentiment is at least part of David’s motivation for distributing spoils to the elders of Judah.

Now before I go on, there is an assumption that I think we need to make in this short passage.

This assumption is that the spoil sent to his friends, those of the elders of Judah was of the Amalekites and not of the recovered spoils of his men.

If the cities of Judah were to receive of the spoils of his men, this would have only aggravated relations between David and his men.  I can hear the rumors flying throughout the ranks that he was seeking to buy others favor at the expense of his own army! We know this is a common action of some in power, even in todays political world, but I believe David is in the healing business in this passage.

This decision to send to the elders of Judah also effectively addresses the greed of those wicked and worthless men among his soldiers.

Can you imagine those wicked and worthless men returning from their victory, just “licking their chops”, thinking they could gain from not only their brothers at the Brook Besor, but all the spoils of the Amalekites. This was to be a great bounty for those wicked and worthless men. Wow, so much stuff!

David is in this action, providing the soldiers an opportunity to consider their future. This action laid the groundwork for the long term goals of the future king of Israel. They who had been faithful throughout all of David’s trials, temptations and threats, are on the cusp of becoming the future king of Israel’s core fighting men, as the ascension of David to the throne is on the horizon!

As David ascends, the soldiers will benefit in their association with the king. The spoils are a distraction, a short term gain with a long term loss for these soldiers!

David was the rightful king from the day of his anointing. Though estranged from his people, David had a small group of Israeli men who had developed into a rag tag fighting force that stuck with him. Through trial and trouble, these men had developed into David’s men, saw God work miracles and followed David’s leadership into numerous battles they humanly shouldn’t have won, little lone survived.

Jesus also is the rightful King, and though His fighting force is but a fraction of the population of his potential Kingdom, those of us who have followed Him while He has been defamed and ridiculed by the world, need to look long term also.

David was about to become king, at least of Judah, but he is on his way to find the recognition he richly deserved by the people he was intended to reign over. The soldiers needed to see this future and not be driven by the immediate acquistion of booty and spoils.

Jesus will be recognized by all as the King soon. As those who have followed Jesus before His revelation to the world, we also need to look long term.

My friend, if you are beginning to fall into the wicked and worthless mindset, seeking good for yourself, even at the expense of your brothers things, repent and think long term!

More importantly, think of Him who lived His life as an example for us, to think of others and not ourselves only. He is coming, and our hearts are to be for Him and not of others possessions.

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