This chapter is based on 1 Samuel 29; 30; 2 Samuel 1.
(EP 500)
David and his men had not taken part in the battle between Saul and the Philistines, though they had marched with the Philistines to the field of conflict. As the two armies prepared to join battle the son of Jesse found himself in great perplexity. Should he quit the post assigned him and retire from the field with ingratitude and treachery to Achish who had protected him? Such an act would cover his name with infamy and expose him to the wrath of enemies more to be feared than Saul.
(EP 500.1)
Yet he could not for a moment consent to fight against Israel and become a traitor to his country, the enemy of God and of His people. It would forever bar his way to the throne of Israel. And should Saul be slain in the engagement, his death would be charged upon David.
(EP 500.2)
Far better would it have been to find refuge in God’s strong fortress of the mountains than with the avowed enemies of His people. But the Lord in His great mercy did not punish His servant by leaving him in his distress and perplexity. Though David, losing his grasp on divine power, had turned aside from the path of strict integrity, it was still the purpose of his heart to be true to God. Angels of the Lord moved upon the Philistine princes to protest against the presence of David and his force with the army in the approaching conflict.
(EP 500.3)
“What do these Hebrews here?” cried the Philistine lords, pressing about Achish. The latter answered, “Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?”
(EP 500.4)
But the princes angrily persisted: “Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou has appointed him, and let him go not down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?” They did not believe that David would fight against his own people. In the heat of battle he could inflict greater harm on the Philistines than the whole of Saul’s army.
(EP 501.1)
Achish, calling David, said, “Surely as Jehovah liveth, thou hast been upright, ... for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day. Nevertheless the lords favor thee not. Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.” Thus the snare in which David had become entangled was broken.
(EP 501.2)
After three days’ travel David and his band of six hundred men reached Ziklag, their Philistine home. But a scene of desolation met their view. The Amalekites had avenged themselves for his incursions into their territory, had surprised the city while it was unguarded, and having sacked and burned it, had departed, taking all the women and children as captives, with much spoil.
(EP 501.3)
Dumb with horror and amazement, David and his men gazed upon the smoldering ruins. Then as a sense of their terrible desolation burst upon them, those battle-scarred warriors “lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.”
(EP 501.4)
Here again David was chastened for the lack of faith that led him to place himself among the foes of God and His people. David had provoked the Amalekites by his attack upon them; yet, too confident of security in the midst of his enemies, he had left the city unguarded. Maddened with grief and rage, his soldiers threatened to stone their leader.
(EP 501.5)
All that David held dear on earth had been swept from him. Saul had driven him from his country; the Amalekites had plundered his city; his wives and children had been made prisoners; and his friends had threatened him with death.
(EP 502.1)
In this hour of utmost extremity, David looked earnestly to God for help. He “encouraged himself in the Lord,” recalling many evidences of God’s favor. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (Psalm 56:3), was the language of his heart. Though he could not discern a way out of the difficulty God would teach him what to do.
(EP 502.2)
Sending for Abiathar the priest, “David inquired of the Lord, saying, If I pursue after this troup, shall I overtake them?” The answer was, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and shalt without fail recover all.”
(EP 502.3)
David and his soldiers at once set out in pursuit of their fleeing foe. So rapid was their march that two hundred of the band were compelled by exhaustion to remain behind. But David with the remaining four hundred pressed forward.
(EP 502.4)
Advancing, they came upon an Egyptian slave, apparently about to perish from weariness and hunger. Upon receiving food and drink he revived. He had been left to die by the invading force. Having exacted a promise that he should not be slain or delivered to his master, he consented to lead David to the camp of their enemies.
(EP 502.5)
As they came in sight of the encampment a scene of revelry met their gaze. The victorious host were “spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.” An immediate attack was ordered. The Amalekites were surprised and thrown into confusion. The battle was continued until nearly the entire host was slain. “David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor anything that they had taken to them: David recovered all.”
(EP 502.6)
But for the restraining power of God, the Amalekites would have destroyed the people of Ziklag. They decided to spare the captives, desiring to heighten the triumph by leading home a large number of prisoners to sell as slaves. Thus, unwittingly, they fulfilled God’s purpose, keeping the prisoners to be restored to their husbands and fathers.
(EP 503.1)
With great rejoicing the victors took up their homeward march. The more selfish and unruly of the four hundred urged that those who had had no part in the battle should not share the spoils. But David would permit no such arrangement. “Ye shall not do so, my brethren,” he said, “with that which the Lord hath given us... . As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff; they shall part alike.”
(EP 503.2)
David and his band had captured extensive flocks and herds belonging to the Amalekites. These were called “David’s spoil,” and upon returning to Ziklag, he sent from this spoil presents to the elders of his own tribe of Judah. All were remembered who had befriended him and his followers in the mountain fastnesses, when he had been forced to flee for his life.
(EP 503.3)
As David and his warriors labored to restore their ruined homes, they watched for tidings of the battle fought between Israel and the Philistines. Suddenly a messenger entered the town, “with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head.” He was at once brought to David, before whom he bowed as a powerful prince whose favor he desired. The fugitive reported Saul’s defeat and death and the death of Jonathan. But he went beyond a simple statement of facts. The stranger hoped to secure honor to himself as the slayer of the king. With an air of boasting the man related that he found the monarch of Israel wounded, and that at his own request the messenger had slain him. The crown from his head and the golden bracelets from his arms he had brought to David. He confidently expected a rich reward for the part he had acted.
(EP 503.4)
But “David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: and they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.”
(EP 504.1)
The first shock of the fearful tidings past, David’s thoughts returned to the stranger herald and the crime of which, according to his own statement, he was guilty. “Whence art thou?” And he answered, “I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite. And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” Twice David had refused to lift his hand against him who had been consecrated by the command of God to rule over Israel. Yet the Amalekite had accused himself of a crime worthy of death. David said, “Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed.”
(EP 504.2)
David’s grief at the death of Saul was sincere and deep, evincing the generosity of a noble nature. He did not exult in the fall of his enemy. The obstacle that had barred his access to the throne of Israel was removed, but at this he did not rejoice. Now nothing in Saul’s history was thought of but that which was noble and kingly. The name of Saul was linked with that of Jonathan, whose friendship had been so true and unselfish.
(EP 504.3)
The song in which David gave utterance to the feelings of his heart became a treasure to his nation and to the people of God in all subsequent ages. See 2 Samuel 1:19-27.
(EP 505.1)