A thousand years or so before the birth of Jesus, an Israelite army was mustering at Jezreel[i] in preparation for a great battle between King Saul and Achish and four of his fellow Philistine kings. At the same time, Achish’s finest mercenary commandos (David’s men that is) were setting off on an 80 mile trek in the opposite direction back to their base in Ziklag, for the Lord had intervened in such a way as to make it impossible for David and his men to fight either alongside their own countrymen, nor amongst those who had made them welcome in their adopted homeland of Philistia.

In a word, no-one trusted them now. Perhaps they themselves did not know whose side they were on. Were they feeling aggrieved at being rejected by the Philistine leaders – or relieved that they did not have to fight against their own kith and kin? We have no way of knowing, but we can well imagine that they were feeling edgy and insecure as they trudged back to their camp at Ziklag, far from the  devastating defeat that Saul and his army ‘s were about to have inflicted on them.

Tired and hungry, and no doubt looking forward to the nearest thing to home that their nomadic lifestyle afforded them, the nostrils of the men must have twitched in concern as they approached their camp. So far from the usual sights and sounds of exuberant children running out to welcome them, and women rushing out from their tents to exclaim over their early return, there was a terrible smell of burning in the air, and an eerie silence. Rounding the final bend of the path, they discovered the grisly reason for this as they came face to face with an utterly empty camp.

In their absence, a large band of Amalekites had attacked Ziklag and carted off every single person and animal, old and young alike – including David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. It was Abigail who had strengthened David by prophesying over him that, ‘Even though someone is pursuing you to take your life, the life of my lord will be bound securely in the bundle up of the living by the LORD your God – but the lives of your enemies He will hurl away as from the pocket of a sling.’ (1 Sam 25:29)

Abigail had spoken truly, little though David would have felt securely ‘bound up in the bundle of the living’ at such a moment. Gazing at the empty campsite, shocked and bewildered by the terrible losses inflicted on himself and his men, how could he possibly have imagined all the good things the Lord would bring about through this evil. For now, an intense grief gripped the hearts of each and every one of the men as they lifted up his voice and wept until they had no strength left to weep any more.

Extreme and sudden grief is highly volatile, and can readily goad people into acting in ways quite out of their usual character. In a flash, the men forgot David’s many years of inspiring and faithful leadership, and turned so violently against him that there was actually talk of stoning him. (1 Sam. 30:6)

Once again, David’s life was in extreme danger: this time not at the hands of his enemies, but at those of his own companions. Can anything be more painful? And yet so many great men and women of faith have endured the agonising experience of those they lead turning against them, driving them from the position that is rightfully theirs, often indeed in church history we read into literal exile. Just so had the downtrodden Hebrew slaves rounded on Moses when his God-given message to Pharoah led to that capricious king imposing still heavier burdens on their shoulders. (See Exodus 5 and particularly verses 21-23) Now it was David’s turn to suffer this soul-destroying pain, in addition to all he was already carrying for his own immediate family.

Look further, and we can imagine the watching demonic forces gloating at this opportunity to scupper the plans of God for the redemption of humankind. How better than to turn his men against the very one who God had raised up to lead them into all the Lord had promised the Hebrew people to and through their father Abraham? Not to mention destroying the Messianic line that David embodied.

Page-turning thrillers regularly end chapters with the hero on the horns of a dilemma from which no escape appears possible. Does the Lord not sometimes allow our dilemmas to get worse, and all of His promises to appear utterly impossible in our small vision before He moves to intervene in power? With no camera-ready cavalry in the vicinity to ride to David’s rescue, how would He rescue His servant this time?

David strengthened himself in the Lord

Well, we do not have to burn the midnight candle to find out! The chronicler gets straight to his central point: ‘But David found strength in the LORD his God.’ (1 Sam. 30:6) With nothing whatsoever left of his own skills and resources to draw on, David turned to God in a way he had signally failed to do during his previous sixteen months in Philistia – and God was gracious in meeting with him. Nothing is ever wasted in God’s economy; all the frustrations and backsliding in Philistia culminated in this moment when David returned to his right mind and calling to seek God.

Centuries earlier, when the Lord called Joshua to take up the leadership of the Israelite people, He had commanded that young man to meditate day and night on His word and to be strong and courageous, for the Lord would be with him wherever he went. (Josh. 1:9) Even the wayward and fickle Samson finally turned from his backsliding in the nick of time to receive one last anointing of strength – and now David rushed like a child to his heavenly Father, who had never done him anything but good, and strengthened himself in Him.[ii]

 am working on the assumption here that David’s flight to Philistia was fundamentally his own decision. (1 Sam. 27:1) There is no indication in Scripture that he either sought the Lord nor received any special signs and revelations from Him. None of his inspired psalms date from this period. To all intents and purposes, David appears to have been fully backslidden at this point – but God, however, neither slides nor backs away from those He has called to His service unless the person concerned truly definitively pushes Him away, and David had not done that . Now at this moment of utter crisis God would intervene to turn everything round again.

‘Bring me the ephod!’

It was at this critical moment that David asked Abiathar the priest to bring him the ephod. (1 Sam. 30:7) Although many of our English translations suggest that David strengthened himself in the Lord before he made this request to Abiathar, the Hebrew implies that it was integral to the whole process by which he strengthened himself. Despite neglecting his relationship with the Lord over many months, the way back lay at his fingertips – he just had to humble himself and use it!

Most of us have developed rhythms and routines that help us maintain our relationship with Him, and places and people that we go to when we are in real need. The Lord had given Moses a pattern for worship that would stand the test not only for the forty years in the desert, but for when they were in the Promised Land. For our part, we may not surround ourselves with embroidered curtains, or keep a jar of miraculous bread handy, but most of us will have developed practices that help us to ‘strengthen ourselves in the Lord’ on a daily basis as well as during specific emergencies.

These may involve going to a special ‘trysting’ place, drawing aside at regular intervals, speaking specific prayers, wearing particular clothes . . . all manner of things can become means which help us to draw near to the Lord with urgent hearts and simple faith. As these become embedded in our lives, He is able to use even the smallest things to recall us to Himself: a familiar sound, an accustomed texture, a remembered scent, and, of course, most commonly of all, a word of Scripture lighting up to us in a fresh way.

May we strengthen rather than discard these precious habits of seeking Him! And if we have in any way neglected them, may we be quick to humble ourselves and pick them up again. God’s offer to us to ‘practise His presence’ is always there, but when we fail to take it up, we effective begin to dig a trench between us, perhaps subconsciously fearing that He will say or show us things we would much rather steer well clear of. Deeper and deeper we dig, silently refusing to dialogue with Him. As the gulf becomes ever deeper, we add to our troubles by tumbling down it into a state of unsatisfying complacency, uneasily assuming that He will still just forgive us and sort things out for us, even though we have not sought Him.

Oh, how the enemy loves to pull us this way and that – now towards complacency and indifference, and now towards feelings of failure and condemnation! How wily he is in inducing guilt and condemnation so that we lose even the will and desire to seek the mind of the Lord! How we stagger to comprehend the full depths and extent of God’s mercy, and misrepresent Him in our inmost parts even as the demons misrepresent Him to us!

David enquired of the Lord

In his moment of desperation at the Ziklag camp, David leapt to close the gulf his lack of seeking had caused returned to the ways by which God had led him for so many years. In his case, that meant seeking out Abiathar – the one and only priest he had with him who had managed to escape Saul’s massacre of the priests. [iii] Requesting the ephod – the richly woven sleeveless tunic that served as a sort of shawl or apron worn by the High Priest – David gladly donned it, just as he would on subsequent happier occasions. (See 1 Chron. 15:25-28 esp. TM). Something about even the sight of it brought the comforting memory and imprint of the many previous times of intimate worship, prayer, and revelation, and he set himself to enquire of the Lord.

This, too, was a familiar habit; the Scriptures describe at least nine occasions in the books of Samuel in which David enquired of the Lord as to how he should deal with one of the many and great crises that came his way. Praise God for the reassertion of good habits! There at Ziklag, Daivd asked the Lord a specific question: “Should I pursue these raiders? Will I overtake them?” and the Lord replied with an instruction that was as magnificent as it was merciful: “Pursue them, for you will surely overtake them and rescue the captives.” (1 Sam. 30:8)

And so he did – and quite remarkable effect, as we will see in the final part of this series. Praise God for all His mercies to us, His forgetful and neglectful children! Praise Him for the ways in which He picks up and restores us because we really do love and desire to serve Him – one more time even than we can fail or fall!

Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honour him. (Ps. 91:14-15)

For all his many faults, David really did want to honour God, and to put Him first in his life, and it was for this reason that he was able to strengthen himself in Him in a way that the far more self-centred King Saul had never been able to do.
Praise the Lord for the way in which He directs and oversees our hearts, even to the point of sending shocks and challenges to jolt us back into seeking Him more fervently.

Praise Him that He can take even our belated repentance, and synchronise it with all else that is going on in time to fulfil His purposes – for in His wonderful foreknowledge He has already taken all our detours and dead ends into account. Praise Him that, though He may not be able to spare us all the consequences of the foolish things we do, by the mercy of His blood shed on the cross, He spares us the ultimate penalty for our disobedience. Praise Him for being so willing to so generously honour our repentance.

Praise Him!

[i] For a look at battles that have been fought at Jezreel in the past, and their strategic significance, see https://www.logos.com/grow/is-the-jezreel-valley-the-stage-for-the-final-battle/]

[ii] The word the author of Samuel uses at this point is one we have considered earlier on in this series is the utterly precious one: chazaq – the imparting of strength and courageous If you want to include azar etc, perhaps do so as a footnote?

The passage reminds us of the lovely promise in Isaiah in which the Lord announces that, ‘I will strengthen you and help you.’ On that occasion the word used for ‘strengthen’ is not chazaq but a word with a similar meaning: amets, which is derived from azar: the word used for ‘help,’ (Strongs 553 and 5826) and which means to surround, protect, and aid.

God pledges Himself here not so much just to lend a quick helping hand in passing, but to support us fully from beginning to end, and to uphold us with His righteous right hand. (Is. 41:10) The word for ‘uphold’ is another precious one: tamak – to support, sustain, and hold us fast. (Strongs 8551) I wonder what issues you may be in need of His sustaining support and strengthening? May the Lord send His transforming empowering as we call on Him, and turn our disappointments around for His glory.

[iii]Fittingly, Abiathar’s name means ‘Father of plenty,’ or ‘My father excels.’