1 Samuel 30:1-3 (ESV)
1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire
2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way.
3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.
The setting is that David is leading a band of brothers, but not King. He's been on the run from King Saul for almost 15+ years. The prophet Samuel had told him he would be King one day, but at this point he's a man leading a renegade group of followers. He's living in Philistine country, a long way from home, when this band of Amelikites had struck their camp and took their wives and children captive. They were four days away when they returned to their camp to discover what had happened. David rallies his men and they take action.
1 Samuel 30:9-10 (ESV)
9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed.
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.
After four days, 200 of David's men were too exhausted to carry on, so they stayed behind - at this Brook called Besor - and the others continued on. Exhausted, tired, broken...these two hundred just could not go on. Sometimes people just get tired. They have faith, they love God, they care about others; but they just don't have anything more to give at the moment, and that was these two hundred.
To make a long story short, David found the camp where the women and children had been taken to and they routed the Amalekites and took everything that had been taken...the women, children, cattle, and the rest of the spoils...back to the 200 left behind - at the Brook Besor.
1 Samuel 30:21-25 (ESV)
21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them.
22 Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.”
David has division within his ranks. The four hundred who had gone with him did not want to share with the two hundred who had stayed behind.
Logical?
Reasonable?
Fair?
They didn't go, they don't get...
And then there is this BUT...
23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.
24 Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.”
25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day.
It's a remarkable thing David does. He puts the victory not in the hands of their skill, or their valor and courage, or even in their stamina - because these four hundred had gone on when the other two hundred, too exhausted - had stayed behind. David recognizes that the victory had come from the Lord.
AND,
He makes Grace the rule..."they shall share alike".
That's Grace....not based on performance...not on works...not on skill...nor on popularity or power.
Grace operates in our weakness as well as our strength.
Grace meets us in our tiredness and brokenness because that's what Grace is - the riches of God given freely to us to meet our needs.
Walk through this day and look for it...Grace just find you at your own Brook Besor.
Peace
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