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1 Samuel 30 Commentary
by Brad Boyles
David returns to Zikleg, where he had fled from Saul only to find that while he and his men were gone, the Amalekites had come and raided their city. They burned the place to the ground and took all the women, their sons, and their daughters captive. They had all just lost their families.
1 Samuel 30:6 GNB David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the LORD his God gave him courage.
In Chapter 29, David was sent back home by the Philistines who didn’t trust him to fight on their side. That event was already discouraging. To add insult to injury, his family has been taken and he’s about to get stoned to death! This is what it would take to shake David from his complacency. The Lord needed to crumble David’s kingdom to see the Lord’s kingdom move forward.
This is so powerful and impactful. At this critical moment in David’s life, he is weakened and he needs to be able to stand firm. Everything has fallen apart. And the very next verse… right away… Scripture says He strengthened himself in the Lord. God gave him courage.
He thought about the sovereignty of God. He thought about the provision of God. He thought about His faithfulness to him time and time again. He thought about the fact that this event did not surprise God. He thought about how God had allowed this to happen. He thought about the fact that God’s promises are true and that God loves David as a son. He thought about the fact that God had chosen him to lead these men before him. He probably also remembered of how God faithfully delivered him in his battle against the mighty Goliath.
After he thought about these things, he was made strong. But don’t miss this. He was made strong in his weakness. He was made strong to stand firm and begin to lead again, but it occurred during one of the lowest moments of his life.
Scripture says he put together a plan right then and there. He and his men went out to pursue the Amalekites in battle. Two paragraphs later we read that David and his men caught up with the enemy and utterly destroyed them. In fact, Scripture specifically says, David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken. Why? Because he made an intentional effort to go to God in his weakness. David made up his mind that he wasn’t going to give up. He believed and he acted.
Sometimes life throws us all kinds of curveballs and it’s easy to get hung up on the negatives. It’s so easy to focus on the problems, throw our arms up in the air, and complain about life. David is a great example of what a Biblical response can do for us in our lives. We must remember that God does great work in lowly places. His strength and inspiration are just a few small steps away.