Lessons from David : 1 Sam 30
Main Scripture Reading : 1 Samuel 30
We will quote selected verses as we go.
All Bold emphasis on scriptures is mine
Introduction and Background
In 1 Sam 30, we encounter the story of David at Ziklag. David and his men had left Ziklag and gone to war. While they were away, the city that they were dwelling in, Ziklag, was attacked by the Amalekites and they took sons, daughters and wives and everything else that David and his men owned. As if that was not enough, they burned the city with fire!
When David and his men came back from war, they came straight into this devastating situation. The Bible says the people wept until they had no more strength to weep. They also spoke of stoning David. David, however, encouraged himself in the Lord and enquired of the Lord on whether he could pursue the invaders. God assured him that he could pursue, overtake and recover all and that is exactly what happened. Hallelujah!
There are many lessons to learn from the life of King David and we cannot exhaust them in an hour or so.
I have specifically picked 1 Sam 30 in this instance.
There are several eye openers in this passage of Scripture.
Are you ready to explore with me…
Lesson 1 : HE PAID THE PRICE!
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, *which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.*
1Sam 30:10
Humans on their own, will always faint!
If you faint in the day of battle, your strength is small (Prov 24:10)
Humans on their own, can never be perfect.
So 600 men set out to go for war. I can pick that they all wanted to go and recover what had been lost. Rightfully so, they had to stand as men and recover what was rightfully theirs.
This shows me that their *intentions were good*, however there was a group of able-bodied men, possibly trained for war, but they could not go for war because ‘they were so faint’, possibly from the depression that came with their lost families and belongings, or due to other factors. The bottom line is that they failed to do that which was necessary at this point, no matter how much they desired to. The heart was indeed willing but the flesh said no!
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isaiah 64:6
So 200 could not make it over the brook Besor.
Family, there are so many righteous acts that we could perform out of our good intentions to obtain salvation, but all these are classified as ‘filthy rags’. We would still fall short and remain at Besor, no matter how much we wanted to cross over and get victory and right standing with God by ourselves.
We sin everyday (or does someone want me to say almost every day or every other day or at times?) whichever way we say it, despite our good intentions we still see ourselves sinning at some point. (fainting!)
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 3:25
We thank God for the Lamb who paid the price for our sins on the Cross of Calvary. There is therefore no condemnation to us, not because we have good intentions and we are trying to be good, but because He paid the price, when we could not.
There is a song that mentions that He paid a debt that He did not owe, we owed a debt that we could not pay. How so true! We were parked at Besor, unable to help ourselves.
Thank you Father for the blood of the Lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Pet 1:18) He paid the price in full. Hallelujah!
______________________________________________________________
LESSON 2: GOD, AN UNFAILING SUPPORT SYSTEM
The inability to go for war can also be taken as a weakness that was revealed in these men. Where they were expected to be strong they were found fainting but David was their strong support system. Hallelujah!
I can imagine words of assurance coming from David to these men ‘Stay here at Besor, you are unable to fight but we will go and fight for you.’
There are some weaknesses that we see in us because of the body of the flesh. We can work on them and we can ask God for strength. However, when we fail, it is comforting to know that God helps us in our weaknesses, even in prayer, despite our good intentions, we know not what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit of God helps us in our weaknesses.
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Romans 8:26
We have different capabilities. If I say here let us go on a 100 day fast, some will run away very fast. Some can do it, some can’t. Don’t worry God knows you very well. He knows what you can and what you cannot do. Praise God, He’s got you covered.
__________________________________________
Lesson 3: THERE IS FULL VICTORY IN CHRIST
While this may sound commonplace, sometimes we appear not to fully comprehend this.
19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: *David recovered all*
1Sam 30:19
In other words, David had full victory against the Amalekites. His purpose on this pursuit was completely achieved. There was not even one goat or cow left behind with the Amalekites. Hallelujah!
Consider this passage…
After this, Jesus, [a]knowing that *all things were now accomplished,* that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. 30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, *“It is finished!”* And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
John 19:28-30
‘It is finished’ Nothing was left as business for another day.
Here is another one…
Having wiped out the [i]handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:14-15
The work of the Cross was complete. We cannot make this work more perfect. There is nothing to add or subtract from it. All that we ever needed was satisfied on the Cross of Calvary. Hallelujah!
We can tell from the passage that David and his men had their families and possessions in place before the Amalekites came.
The Amalekites saw a gap (the absence of men in the camp) and came to steal. Similarly, Adam and Eve had glory, they were clothed with glory. They had a garden to tend which lacked nothing.
The serpent saw an opportunity and approached the woman, and took what they had been given by God and they were ushered into a life that was lower than what God had originally intended for them.
1 Cor 15:45
The Lord Jesus, the second Adam, recovered all that was lost in the garden of Eden.
The peace that we needed with God came through only Jesus (Isaiah 53)
On the Cross, there was full restoration of all the things that God had initially given us freely and that is all that the enemy (like the Amalekites in this case) had come to take. Hallelujah!
____________________________________________________
Lesson 4: VICTORY IS ACCOMPANIED BY A GREAT PACKAGE
Can we talk about ‘spoil’ a bit?
What makes up ‘spoil?’
Let us look at what the lepers got when they went into the camp of the enemy…
8 And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did *eat and drink*, and carried thence *silver, and gold, and raiment*, and went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.
2Kgs 7:8
20 And David took all the *flocks* and the *herds*, which they drave before those other *cattle*, and said, This is David's *spoil*
1Sam 30:20
Spoil could be anything…food, drink, garments, silver, gold, flocks, herds etc
In other words, spoil is a whole assortment of goodies/goodness- and certainly the stuff you need and find useful-usually obtained after victory over the enemy.
In our package of salvation, God has given us a whole assortment of goodness which we can never exhaust or run out of.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with *all spiritual blessings* in heavenly places in Christ:
Eph 1:3
We have also received numerous gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:8-9).
My challenge question to you: Have you walked in and exhausted all these gifts?
Let us look at the 9 mentioned here (There are others in Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:28)
· Word of knowledge
· Word of wisdom
· Faith
· Gifts of healing
· Speaking in tongues
· Interpretation of tongues
· Healings
· Working of miracles
· Prophecy
· Discerning of spirits
The full package is at our disposal, what have we explored so far and what have we left out? (and why?)
I can imagine someone returning from battle, having a bag full of spoil, the person will certainly sit down and explore all that they have brought from the battle.
‘let me see which outfit fits this coming Sunday!’,
‘let me see what type of car I can buy with this gold’ etc
Jesus qualified us to walk in any of these gifts in the package as long as we receive Him and are baptised in the Holy Spirit.
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as *God hath dealt to every man* the measure of faith.
Rom 12:3
You decide how to or what to use but all is given already!
It is all up for our taking and use in the kingdom of God.
What did we get? (Is 53, John 3:16, Col 1:13, Eph 1:3, Eph 1:12)
1. 1. Redemption
Consider this…
Surely He has borne our [g]griefs
And carried our [h]sorrows;
Yet we [i]esteemed Him stricken,
[j]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded[k] for our transgressions,
He was [l]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes[m] we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord [n]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Is 53:4-6 (NKJV)
Isaiah 53:4-12 illustrates in detail the redemptive work of the cross.
He paid the price in full for our Forgiveness of sins, transgressions and iniquities
Consider this from John…
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3: 16
As long as you receive Him and believe in Him, you will not perish but have everlasting life.
And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
1 John 2:2 (NKJV)
He died for the sins of the whole world!
Sadly, not everyone has accepted Him as Lord and Saviour.
2. Reconciliation of our relationship with God
Of particular reference again is Isaiah 53…
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
Isaiah 53:5 Extract
The chastisement of the peace that we had lost in the garden of Eden was upon Jesus.
What else did we lose?
Our relationship with God , Glory, Dominion etc
3. 3. Healing
By His stripes we were healed. Hallelujah!
Is 53: 5
4. 4. Eternal life
John 3:16
What is eternal life?
The Lord defines eternal life …
And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 17: 3
5. 5. Direct Access to God
Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split,
Matthew 27:51
Again others haven’t received this!
The work of the Cross was a doorway for us to receive the Holy Spirit and the endowments therefrom (the gifts of the Holy Spirit) plus the gifts in the form of people (Eph 4:11) for our perfection.
There is so much more that we have received and I may not be able to fully exhaust everything here but I believe from the scriptures mentioned above we were able to pick some of these.
The similarity of the work of the Cross with David bringing spoil to Israel is quite interesting.
_______________________________________________
Lesson 5: DO NOT DISCREDIT THE FINISHED WORK
22 Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.
1Sam 30:22
So there was a group of men that had gone to war and these did not want the faint men that remained at Besor to get the spoil. They were saying at the very most, those that did not go to war were to get only their sons and daughters and ‘depart’.
This seemed like a fair approach. You eat what you kill, right? The Bible however calls these men, wicked men and men of Belial.
The point here is that when David recovered all, Israel was to receive all that was obtained as part of the victory from the war.
Nothing was to be lacking of what David brought. They were to receive, not just sons and daughters but even the spoil. All things were theirs. How sweet was the victory!
Beware of these preachers!
Some preach a gospel that lacks the full truth of the work of the cross.
For instance, some say, if you get a lot of money and become rich you will not be able to worship God! Of course, the Bible warns against the love of money but it never said get poor in your pocket and deserve salvation.
What do we say?
Wicked men and men of Belial!
This is wickedness standing on the pulpit, with an amplifier.
Some say that the demonstration of power is not real.
As long as the Holy Spirit is moving, we want to receive and to experience of His fullness.
Why allow Him in bits and pieces?
What do we say?
Wicked men and men of Belial!
I am not coming to the throne of the Most High God and leaving with any leprosy in my life! Never! I want the full package.
Lesson 6: THE GRACE MESSAGE
23 Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.
1Sam 30:23
In other words brethren, what did we pay to get what we got? Nothing.
8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Matt 10:8
Look at the package that the disciples got?
Heal the sick: How much can you pay to get the power to heal the sick?
Cleanse the lepers: Where else can you get the cleansing powers and at what cost?
Raise the dead
Oh Hallelujah!
What a mandate!
Technology has moved so fast and people have gone to the extent of creating robots that look like human beings but clearly, they are far from human beings. Is what the robots know processed the same way the human brain works? Just imagine the complex system of the human body! No one has been able to reproduce that.
Here, the Lord says ‘Raise the dead!’ The power of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is in us brothers and sisters and all that power, dunamis, could never be bought at any price that we could afford!
Freely you have received, freely give!
Cast out devils
Truly, we have treasure in earthen vessels and we did not need to pay any cent for it. Hallelujah!
Again, consider this,
24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.
1 Sam 30: 24
What David is simply saying here is that the victory and all that accrues to that victory is available for everyone regardless of whether they sweated for it or not. In other words, it is unmeritedly available.
________________________________________
Lesson 7: GOD, THE GREATEST EQUALISER!
Let me extract from 1 Sam 30: 24…
…but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike…
KJV
As per the NIV…
“Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.”
1 Sam 30:24
My imagination wanders and starts thinking of the actual families that were in Israel at that time. So imagine if Betty’s father was strong enough to go to war, yet Susan’s father could not go because he was too faint. (How embarrassing for Susan, right?)
When the spoils came, Betty’s father would have felt that he deserved the spoils because he went to war. That would have meant that if the spoils included gold, new clothes and food, Betty would have received these from her father but Susan would have gone without!
Not so with King David!
Betty and Susan shall enjoy the spoils equally the same. When Betty and Susan are walking out there, you could not tell the difference. David equalised them. Hallelujah!
So what if your biological parents could not give you everything you ever needed?
So what if you come from a disadvantaged background?
Rejoice in this that when you are saved you are an heir of Him who owns the world and all that dwell therein.
You are co-heirs with Christ.(Rom 8:17)
Family, God is the greatest equaliser!
Additionally,
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:28
So before the Father, the privileges that were given to the Jew were also extended to the Greek through faith in Jesus Christ.
Oh how the Father loves us!
________________________________________________
Lesson 8: SALVATION: A SURE SYSTEM
25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.
1Sam 30:25
The statute that even those that did not go to war were to receive in just the same way with those who went to war was not just for this particular battle with the Amalekites but it was made an ordinance forever.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Acts 4:12
The work of the Cross was accomplished way back, 2,000 + years ago, but until this day, this work is still applicable.
The system of salvation still works the same way to this day. Hallelujah!
___________________________________________________
Lesson 9: GRACE IS AVAILABLE TO ALL WHO CAN PARTAKE
26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord;
27 To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,
1 Sam 30:26-27
I have only extracted a small portion but the list goes on and on of those that received from David.
David sent the spoil to so many others apart from the people whom he was leading. So may other people who were probably not even aware that David had gone to war, let alone expect any spoil to come to them.
When the Lord Jesus was crucified on the cross of Calvary, it was not just for Israel, but he was crucified for the sins of the whole world.
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
1John 2:2
David’s victory became others’ victory as well.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.
Matthew 27:51
The curtain was rent from top to bottom, showing us all that we now have access into the Holy of Holies where we previously could not access. Therefore, His victory on the cross of calvary was for the whole world and redemption has been offered to the whole world, *whosoever believes* can and will receive salvation.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, David is one very interesting character in the Bible. We have so many things that we can learn from his life. Here I cherry picked from 1 Sam 30 and I believe there is a lot more we could still learn from this passage. What fascinates me the most is the shadow of Christ, salvation and grace that we get from 1 Sam 30. I pray that this was a blessing to you Saints. God bless you all!
Comments
Post a Comment