Day 83 – 1 Samuel 30:9-15

Scripture Review

1 Samuel 30:9-15

"So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed." (1 Samuel 30:9)

David does not linger over the promise. He goes. Besor was considered "the first testing place after the promise." A promise from God does not remove ravines, exhaustion, and rough ground.

"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." (1 Samuel 30:10)

Here the company gets cut down. Two hundred cannot continue. They were physically exhausted from grief, fasting, haste, and the march itself. Not all weariness is rebellion. Some men are simply faint. The text does not call these two hundred cowards. It says they could not go over.

This would be a good lesson for every christian that mistakes weakness for wickedness. A lot of God's people do not need a lecture at Besor. They need rest.

"And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;" (1 Samuel 30:11)

They are hunting Amalek, and they trip over an Egyptian servant lying out in the field. The man was likely abandoned because sickness made him useless to the raiders, and that their first act toward him was not interrogation but relief, bread and water. David's men, who have every reason to be frantic, stop to show mercy to a collapsed stranger in enemy territory. This is a good reminder that mercy and usefulness are not enemies. Sometimes compassion is the road to strategy.

"And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights." (1 Samuel 30:12)

This verse makes me hungry. Fig cake. Raisins. The old travel provisions of the land. These were concentrated foods well suited for reviving the weak. The phrase "his spirit came again to him" is said to be that he came back to himself physically. He had been run out of strength, run out of food, and nearly run out of life.

No angel appears with a glowing scroll. No thunder cracks from heaven. The providence of God here smells like dried fruit and tastes like survival. A man can be three days and three nights emptied out, and the Lord can start the whole turn with a handful of ordinary food in merciful hands.

"And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick." (1 Samuel 30:13)

Only after the man is revived does David begin the questioning. "To whom belongest thou?" is a military question, ownership-language. An Egyptian youth, servant to an Amalekite, thrown away because he got sick. Had he not fallen sick, he would still be with the raiders. Had his master shown him any shred of loyalty, David would not have found him. The enemy's cruelty becomes God's provision for David. The Lord can make even a wicked man's meanness serve His purpose. That does not excuse the meanness, it just magnifies the provision.

"We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire." (1 Samuel 30:14)

This was not a random smash and grab. The Amalekites had been moving broadly and opportunistically through exposed southern territory. Then the Egyptian names the wound directly. "we burned Ziklag with fire." Like a finger pushed back into the bruise.

Saul had failed with Amalek in chapter 15. David had raided Amalek in chapter 27. Now Amalek has burned David's city. Actions in these chapters have consequences, and one of the ugliest consequences of living backslidden is that old enemies get fresh opportunities. "What you leave alive in sin tends to come back with torches."

"And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company." (1 Samuel 30:15)

David wants a guide. The Egyptian wants safety. If the servant leads David to the raiders, he knows he could be killed as a traitor or simply handed back to his cruel master. So he asks for an oath "by God." The servant is willing to trust David's solemn appeal to the divine name even though he himself is an Egyptian and outside Israel.

In verses 1-6 David had no city, no wives, no calm men, and no clear road. By verse 15 he has a word from God, a pursuing force, and a guide secured by oath. The Egyptian is a providential "enemy leftover" God uses to fulfill His promise to David.