Let us read the whole chapter of I Samuel 30 to get to the
story behind the promise of the Lord “You shall surely take back (recover)
everything that was stolen from you.”
1 Samuel 30
Amplified Bible (AMP)
30 Now when David and
his men came home to Ziklag on the third day, they found that the Amalekites
had made a raid on the South (the Negeb) and on Ziklag, and had struck Ziklag
and burned it with fire,
2 And
had taken the women and all who were there, both great and small, captive. They
killed no one, but carried them off and went on their way.
3 So
David and his men came to the town, and behold, it was burned, and their wives
and sons and daughters were taken captive.
4 Then
David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no
more strength to weep.
5 David’s
two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail,
the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
6 David
was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of
them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David
encouraged and strengthened
himself in the Lord his God.
7 David
said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray you, bring me the ephod.
And Abiathar brought him the ephod.
8 And
David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake
them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and
without fail recover all.
9 So
David went, he and the 600 men with him, and came to the brook Besor; there
those remained who were left behind.
10 But
David pursued, he and 400 men, for 200 stayed behind who were too exhausted and faint to cross the brook Besor.
11 They
found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and
he ate, and water to drink,
12 And
a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins; and when he had eaten,
his spirit returned to him, for he had eaten no food or drunk any water for
three days and three nights.
13 And
David said to him, To whom do you belong? And from where have you come? He
said, I am a young man of Egypt,
servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me because three days ago I fell
sick.
14 We
had made a raid on the South (Negeb) of the Cherethites and upon that which
belongs to Judah
and upon the South (Negeb) of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag with fire.
15 And
David said to him, Can you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me
by God that you will neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands of my
master, and I will bring you down to this band.
16 And
when he had brought David down, behold, the raiders were spread abroad over all
the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they
had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
17 And
David smote them from twilight even to the evening of the next day, and not a
man of them escaped, except 400 youths who rode camels and fled.
18 David
recovered all that the Amalekites had taken and rescued his two wives.
19 Nothing
was missing, small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been
taken; David recovered all.
20 Also
David captured all the flocks and herds [which the enemy had], and the people
drove those animals before him and said, This is David’s spoil.
21 And
David came to the 200 men who were so exhausted and faint that they could not follow [him] and had been left at
the brook Besor [with the baggage]. They came to meet David and those with him,
and when he came near to the men, he saluted them.
22 Then
all the wicked and base men who went with David said, Because they did not go
with us, we will give them nothing of the spoil we have recovered, except that
every man may lead away his wife and children and depart.
23 David
said, You shall not do so, my brethren, with what the Lord has given us. He has
preserved us and has delivered into our hands the troop that came against us.
24 Who
would listen to you in this matter? For as is the share of him who goes into
the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share
alike.
25 And
from that day to this he made it a statute and ordinance for Israel.
26 When
David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to the elders of Judah,
his friends, saying, Here is a gift for you of the spoil of the enemies of the
Lord:
27 For
those in Bethel,
Ramoth of the Negeb, Jattir,
28 Aroer,
Siphmoth, Eshtemoa,
29 Racal,
the cities of the Jerahmeelites, the cities of the Kenites,
30 Hormah,
Bor-ashan, Athach,
31 Hebron, and for those in
all the places David and his men had habitually haunted.
The summary of the above Bible Passage is, when David and
his men were out of their city called Ziklag, their enemies called Amalekites
entered their city and took their wives and others who were with them both
great and small, and burned their city down.
When David and his men came to the city and saw the situation and they
were greatly distressed. David was even
more greatly distressed because of the damage caused by the enemy as well as
because the men whom he was leading blamed him for all the loss and voiced out to
punish David by stoning him to death.
David encouraged himself in the Lord and sought the Lord’s guidance and
as per the Lord’s guidance he pursued the enemies and went to their camp and
fought with them and took back all the people that the enemy had taken
as captive and along with it took a great spoil of the things that the enemies
had looted from the philistines, thus plundering the enemy and came back
victoriously. He was also magnanimous to
share the great spoil with all the people whom he knew.
What God Tells us?
Now, what the Lord God is telling us is, just
like how the enemy took away David and his men’s people and burned down their
city, the enemy, satan, would have stolen our stuffs from us. Just as how David had recovered everything
back, we shall pursue the enemy and snatch back all our stuff and people and make him
run for his life leaving all his loot behind for us to enjoy. Are you getting
it? The Lord is telling us to pursue the
enemy satan and enter his camp and overcome him and make him flee for his life
leaving all our blessings right there.
Is it possible? When the Lord is saying it, then it is possible.
What exactly the Lord is meaning by saying, “you shall surely
take back or recover everything?”
Know Your Position In Christ:
All along our life, we might have played the role of
defense, defending ourselves from the attack of the enemy, being under the fear
of the attack of the enemy, crying every time the enemy attacks, calling for
help all the time. The Lord is telling
us, “enough is enough, know your power and position in me, Christ Jesus. I have conquered the enemy and I have put
satan underneath your feet.”
Ephesians 1: 18-22
18 By
having the eyes of your heart flooded with light, so that you can know and understand the hope to which He
has called you, and how rich is His glorious inheritance in the saints (His
set-apart ones),
19 And
[so that you can know and understand] what is the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His power in and for us who believe, as demonstrated in the working of His
mighty strength,
20 Which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from
the dead and seated Him at His [own] right hand in the heavenly [places],
21 Far
above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is
named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and in this world, but also in the
age and the world which are to
come.
22 And
He has put all things under His feet and has appointed Him the universal and
supreme Head of the church [a headship exercised throughout the church],
Ephesians 2:5-6
5 Even
when we were dead (slain) by [our own] shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ; [He gave us
the very life of Christ Himself, the same new life with which He quickened Him,
for] it is by grace (His favor and mercy which you did not deserve) that you
are saved ([a]delivered from judgment and made partakers
of Christ’s salvation).
6 And He raised us up together with Him and made us sit
down together [giving us joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by
virtue of our being] in Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Our Lord Jesus Christ
is risen from the dead utterly defeating the enemy satan and is seated in
heavenly places far above all rule and authority and
power and dominion and every name that is named [above every title that can be
conferred], not only in this age and
in this world, but also in the age and
the world which are to come and He has put all
things under His feet. This is the
position of Christ. Now what is the position
or place of the saints who are washed by the blood of Jesus and sanctified by
the Word and Spirit. Ephesians 2:6 says that God has raised us up together with
Jesus and has made us to sit down together with Jesus in heavenly places. So, according to this verse we are seated
with Jesus in heavenly places where Jesus is sitting, side by side. God has put everything underneath the feet of
Jesus and now if we are sitting along with Jesus, we also have everything
underneath our feet. Are you getting it?
Will you shout a hallelujah? You shall
know the truth and the truth shall set you free. If we operate in this truth, then you will
realize that satan and all his powers is underneath your feet. You have power over all the power of enemy because of Jesus Christ. We are not in
this position of authority by our own merit, but by the name and the blood of
Jesus that is upon us. Once we secure our position in Jesus, then it is easy to believe and accomplish the task of recovering all things stolen by the enemy satan. Even
spirit-filled Christians are threatened by satan because they are simply
ignorant of their position, identity, and spiritual authority in Christ Jesus. We will not say, I just want him to leave me
alone, I don’t want him to attack me again.
I don’t want to fight him and take back all the blessings that duly
belong to me. Remember, even if you say I don’t want satan to attack me and I
don’t want him to trouble me, satan, your enemy’s character is to steal, kill,
and to destroy (John 10:10). He can
never change his evil character and become good like God. So, if you have read
my series of articles on spiritual warfare, you would understand that you enter
into a conflict zone with satan once you become the child of Jesus and without
doubt he is out there to cause you trouble.
Therefore, it becomes more than a necessity to be equipped for the
combat.
Know Your Enemy:
Bible says that satan the thief
comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10). Satan’s character is to cause loss, damage,
and harm. God is never your problem. God’s thoughts and heart toward you and me is
to bless us in Christ. Satan may use
other human beings to cause harm and problems, but the source is from
satan. Satan also uses our own flesh to
cause problems in life, but if we are
submitted to God, the devil flees from us.
If we yield our body, mind, soul, and spirit to be under the Lordship of
Jesus Christ, whatever the troubles, sickness, damage, harm we may face, it
will turn out for our good and the Lord makes us to be more than
conquerors. Here in the context of I
Samuel 30, the enemy that David confronted is a group of Amalekites. The descendant of Amalek is called Amalekites. The characteristic of Amalekite is described
as below in
Deuteronomy 25: 17 to 19
17 Remember what Amalek did
to you on the way when you had come forth from Egypt,
18 How he did not fear God,
but when you were faint and weary he attacked you along the way and cut off all
the stragglers at your rear.
19 Therefore when the Lord
your God has given you rest from all your enemies round about in the land which
the Lord your God gives you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out
the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens; you must not forget.
This enemy Amalek as per his
reputation his modus operandi has never changed and has been the same. His descendants attacked the Ziklag the city
of David when
David and his army were out of their city and when only women and children and
other non-warrior men were residing in that city. How cruel Amalekites are!! The enemy of Israel is an
enemy to God because the enemy does something that affects God himself,
he attacks the weak and fainted and weary ones, and attacks the people of God
deceitfully and cruelly. Even if Israel forgets this cruelty over time, God is
reminding Israel
to be careful about this enemy and to cut him off from the land they are going
to possess later.
Similarly, satan and his army are
cruel and subtle, and cunning and spineless as well. Know the strategies of the enemy,
satan, he attacks us deceitfully, he attacks us when we are weak and tired and
weary. He attacks our mind to function independently
from God, thus causing spiritual death in our lives. When
we entertain thoughts that are contrary to the Word of God, the enemy is
attacking us, thoughts conceive into attitude and then becomes an overt action. So as per the Lord's command we have to utterly
cut off the spirit of Amalek in our lives, homes, and neighborhood. This we should not forget and we should not
be careless about it, we need to follow the Lord’s Word with all diligence.
Know what the enemy has stolen:
A lot of people are not aware of the damage caused by the enemy. If your marriage is in trouble,
know that the enemy has attacked or is attacking your marriage either through
our own self or through another person.
If you’re sick with illness, it may be the attack of the enemy. God does not give us sickness or
illness. He may allow sickness, losses
caused by satan for a purpose just like we read from Job’s life, but God is not
the originator of them. If your children
is enslaved in some sin or in some substance abuse and addictions, know that the enemy has taken them as
captives. If your loved ones are not saved or have gone
astray and drifted far away from the Lord, know that they are taken captive by
the enemy. If the enemy is attacking
your ministry by any means, know that the enemy is trying to burn down your
life and ministry, and if you’re not careful you will allow severe damage to
your ministry and your life. Ponder over
this point and write them in the presence of the Lord, ask the Spirit of the
Lord to reveal to you the things that the enemy has stolen from you.
In case of David and his men, the loss was obvious, their
wives, children, and other people were taken captive by the enemies and their
properties were destroyed in fire.
Encourage Yourself in the Lord Your God:
David and his men wept bitterly lifting up their voices and
they wept until they had no more strength to weep. So much was their grief!! The strong warriors
and valiant men weeping lifting up their voices is heart breaking, isn’t
it?? David in particular was greatly
distressed because other men who were bitterly grieved for their sons and
daughters were voicing their heart to stone David to death. David as a leader is
accountable for the loss suffered by his fellowmen. He is suffering his personal loss in addition
to the corporate loss. To top it all,
his team is wanting to kill him. What did
David do?
Let us read from I Samuel 30:6
Let us read from I Samuel 30:6
6 David was
greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them
all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters. But David
encouraged and strengthened
himself in the Lord his God.
The situation David went through
was very distressing because he did not have any person alongside to share his
burden, pain, agony, and suffering. He
did not have a shoulder to cry on. He
did not have a pal to ease his emotions or to derive encouragement from. There was no outside encouragement
available. He resorted to self-help of
encouraging himself. How did he
encourage himself? What was the method he adopted? He encouraged himself in the
Lord, His God. Even though his men were
not HIS at that time, GOD was HIS even at that time. How comforting it is when we have someone as
ours? Turn not to left or right, east or west, but lift up your eyes to the
hills, heavens, from where your help comes.
Your help comes from Your God. He is
not somebody else’s God, but Your God.
This relationship you and I need to have. This sense of belongingness that I belong to
Jesus and Jesus belongs to me establishes a strong bonding between us and
Jesus. Even when things go wrong, we
will not doubt God’s love for us. We
will run to Him for help and will not be angry at Him or doubt His goodness and
love.
How to encourage yourself in the Lord?
- Establish a bonding between yourself and Jesus.
- Worship Him with songs and Psalms.
- Meditate on the Promises of God and meditate on the might, loving kindness, and power of God by reading the Word of God.
- Constant communication with God.
Seek God’s Guidance:
After encouraging himself in the Lord, David’s mind was at
ease and sought the Lord for instructions for further action. David was a leader and warrior and he could not keep quiet by merely encouraging himself and motivating himself in the Lord, he
was a responsible leader of his own family and families of other men who were
with him. He wanted God’s guidance in
this matter. He worshipped the Lord wearing
a robe, ephod, as per Hebrew culture and inquired the Lord if he can pursue the
enemies and make a rescue attempt and will it be successful. The Lord answers him to pursue his enemies
and that he will surely recover all.
I Samuel 30:8
8 And David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I
pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? The Lord answered him, Pursue, for
you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.
Many of us fail to seek God’s specific guidance. We may decide to act based on our previous
experience. David was a great warrior
leader with the experience of winning many battles prior to this incident,
however, he didn’t rise up to act based on his experience, but in stead sought
the Lord openly and earnestly for His guidance and acted based on the instructions from the
Lord. We need to seek God’s guidance when our mind is at ease. Unless we quieten ourselves in the Lord, we
cannot hear God speak to us. When we are
disturbed, we may not decipher clearly whether the Lord is speaking or not. Quiet yourself in the Lord’s presence, plead
the blood of Jesus over you and silence every voice of the enemy. Circumcise or purify your senses by the blood
of Jesus to clearly and distinctly hear only the voice of the Lord. This process will block the penetration of
voice of the enemy into your ears and minds.
Also, if the voice/vision/dream contradicts the written Word of God,
then you have to wait further upon the Lord to reconfirm it, otherwise you have
to go by the written Word of God. There
is no harm in waiting upon God, there is no harm in spending time in the Lord’s
presence, the more you spend time with Him, the more you are transformed.
Be Persistent and Persevere in God’s Way:
After receiving God’s guidance or instructions, we have to
put it into action. Ask the Lord every
step of the process to lead you and guide you.
In this story, we see David took with him 600 men to pursue their
enemies. All of them were exhausted, but
about 200 men stayed behind near a brook and the rest 400 men followed David
further. David persistently persevered and followed through.
9 So
David went, he and the 600 men with him, and came to the brook Besor; there
those remained who were left behind.
10 But
David pursued, he and 400 men, for 200 stayed behind who were too exhausted and faint to cross the brook Besor.
11 They
found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and
he ate, and water to drink,
12 And a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of
raisins; and when he had eaten, his spirit returned to him, for he had eaten no
food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.
The Christian life is like
walking in a narrow, uncomfortable path and not in a broad comfortable
way. The Lord encourages us to persevere
in Christian life. Let us look to the Word
of God on perseverance.
Romans 5:3-4 Not
only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering
produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
2 Thessalonians 1:4 Therefore, among God's churches we boast
about your perseverance and faith in all the persecutions and trials you are
enduring.
Romans 2:7 To those who by persistence in doing good
seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.
Hebrews 10:36 You need to persevere so that when you have
done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.
Matthew 10:22 All men will hate you because of me, but he
who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Hebrews 11:27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the
king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.
2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God's
love and Christ's perseverance.
James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many
kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not
lacking anything.
1 Corinthians 13:6-7 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices
with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always
perseveres.
1 Timothy 4:16
Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you
do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such
a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked
out for us.
2 Peter 1:5-7 For this very reason, make every effort to
add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge,
self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,
godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness,
love.
Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we
profess, for he who promised is faithful.
James 5:11 As
you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of
Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord
is full of compassion and mercy.
Hebrews 2:1 We must pay more careful attention,
therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Revelation 2:2-3 I
know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot
tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but
are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured
hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
Christian perseverance is walking steadfastly and
continually with the Lord and in His ways.
May the Lord strengthen us to persevere in our daily walk with Christ to
inherit both earthly and heavenly blessings of the Lord!!
When we persevere in what we are to do, God sends us help to
accomplish the task. In case of David
God sent help in the form of an Egyptian who became a guide to reach the enemy’s camp. Hallelujah!!
Fight the Good Fight:
This fight refers to the good fight of faith and engaging in
spiritual warfare. As a child of God,
you have to fight the good fight of faith, you cannot please God without faith
and without faith you cannot obey God, and without obedience to God you cannot fulfil
the purposes of God or fight the enemy. Without obedience you cannot inherit the blessing. Without faith, you
cannot pray with authority.
David fought the good fight and defeated the enemies and some of them
fled for their lives.
I Samuel 30:17 And David smote them from twilight even to the evening of the next day,
and not a man of them escaped, except 400 youths who rode camels and fled.
I recommend you to read my series on spiritual warfare for
weapons of warfare and method of warfare.
This is based on the Word of God Ephesians 6: 11 - 18. We need to use the Word of God the sword of
the spirit to every situation caused by the enemy. When you are affected with sickness, say
loudly with faith in heart, “By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed.” When you
are in debt, open up your mouth and voice out “I will not borrow but I shall
lend to many nations in the name of Jesus.”
Every Word of Promise we inherit through the blood and name of Jesus
because through Jesus is redemption, deliverance, and salvation. Like wise, whatever be the requirement of the
situation use the appropriate Word of God to fight the enemy. Using the Word of God is like actively
smiting the enemy. This is the one of
the few weapons of offense. Praying with
authority is also another weapon of offense.
Praying in tongues is a powerful weapon that we can use as your spirit communicates
to God in secret, which is unknown to the enemy.
Now, you have fought to the point that the enemies have to
flee from you leaving behind your health, wealth, your loved ones, your property, and all that
belongs to you for you to enjoy taking them back to your possession. You do get bonus blessing like David and his
men got on that day of battle, they got all the stuff that were looted by Amalekites
from philistines. We will be able to possess even the wealth of the world when we utterly
defeat the enemies in our lives.
Celebrate Your Victory:
After the victory, after
possessing back your blessings, make sure that you celebrate the victory by
giving God the glory for the victory He has given you through your generous
action towards people and sharing your joy with the other people in many
possible ways. People close-by may have watched your ways, how you sought the
Lord, how you encouraged yourself in God, how you besought God for His guidance
and instructions, how you diligently and persistently persevered in His ways,
but it is important that you are not stingy but generous and magnanimous
towards other people in sharing the joy of your victory you have received from
the Lord and proclaiming the kindness, the might, and the Glory of God far and
wide.
23 David
said, You shall not do so, my brethren, with what the Lord has given us. He has
preserved us and has delivered into our hands the troop that came against us.
24 Who would listen to you
in this matter? For as is the share of him who goes into the battle, so shall
his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.
25 And from that day to this
he made it a statute and ordinance for Israel.
26 When David came to
Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to the elders of Judah, his friends, saying, Here is
a gift for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord:
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you with this prophetic
word of promise from the Lord and enable you to inherit the victory in Jesus!!
Prayer: Dear Lord,
empower me as I meditate on the victory of David You gave to him. Lord, help me to fight my life’s battles in
your way and to take back all that the enemy has stolen from me. In Jesus Mighty Name I pray, Amen!!
Please feel free to share with us your comments and
thoughts on this post.
God Bless!!
God Bless!!
