Day 85 – 1 Samuel 30:20-25

Scripture Review

1 Samuel 30:20-25

"And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil." (1 Samuel 30:20)

David not only recovered what Amalek had stolen from Ziklag but also took additional livestock from the raiders' wider plunder, and the men drove it before them with the shout, "This is David's spoil." He is not suddenly turning pirate after asking counsel of the LORD. He is acting like a captain who has just broken the enemy and now leads the train of victory home. There is still a little thunder in the phrase. After the ashes of Ziklag and the muttering about stones, David's name is once again attached to triumph instead of disgrace.

"And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them." (1 Samuel 30:21)

David comes to the two hundred faint men at Besor, and when he gets near them, "he saluted them." Cambridge notes simply that these were the men too exhausted to cross the brook. He does not treat them as deserters. He greets them. David could have ridden past them hot with victory and left the tired men to feel the sting of being the ones who stayed back. He does the opposite. He meets them like brothers.

"Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart." (1 Samuel 30:22)

The flesh is wonderfully blunt here. "wicked men and men of Belial." It does not call them strategic thinkers. It does not flatter them as hard chargers. Once the battle is won, greed comes creeping out of the baggage like a rat after grain. Notice how these men talk. "They went not with us." That is the whole argument. Not God gave. Not God preserved. Not God answered. Just us. It is the oldest infection in victorious people, acting like the LORD's deliverance was their private hustle.

"Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand." (1 Samuel 30:23)

David's reply is masterful because it is both firm and brotherly. "Ye shall not do so, my brethren." He corrects them without disowning them. Then he yanks the whole conversation upward to the only place it can be settled rightly. "that which the LORD hath given us." Those who consider the Lord as the Giver of their abundance will dispose of it with fairness and liberality. David shows prudence here in preventing serious consequences.

The great turn in the speech: us becomes the LORD hath given us. The men of Belial see spoils of war, David sees gifts of provision. And once that is settled, greed loses its footing.

"For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike." (1 Samuel 30:24)

Here David moves from rebuke to ruling. He enacted a standing ordinance by an "equitable rule" that all the soldiers should share alike. David's decision is no sentimental impulse but a principle fit for Israel. In other words, he is not merely being nice to tired men. He is governing.

And the phrase "tarryeth by the stuff" has more dignity in it than a modern reader may feel at first glance. These men were not lounging under a tree polishing excuses. They were too faint to continue and were left with the baggage, which is still part of the operation. The strong won the battle, yes but the whole body shares the gift because the LORD gave the victory to the whole body. Not everybody crosses every brook. Not everybody swings the sword in the same hour. But if they are truly part of the company, the captain does not let the strong devour the weak.

The same chapter that begins with weeping and threatened stoning now produces shared spoil and ordered mercy. That is what happens when a man quits talking to his own fearful heart and starts inquiring of the LORD.

"And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day." (1 Samuel 30:25)

It does not remain a one off act of battlefield kindness. David makes it "a statute and an ordinance for Israel." The decree that those who for good reason tarry with the stuff should share alike with those who go down to battle became a settled rule. David was generous and kind to all his friends and that what God gives us is meant to be used fairly and liberally.

David turns a crisis at Besor into a law for the nation. The men wanted to settle the matter by appetite and advantage. David settles it by righteousness and memory of God's gift. And that, frankly, is one of the marks that Saul never really learned. Saul could win moments and lose the kingdom. David, even after dreadful compromise, learns in the ashes how to rule. David's fairness here helps explain why angry, grieving, rough edged men could one day call him king and mean it.