I Samuel 30
David's Thoughts
A group of Amalekites had taken him as slave, but when he became ill, they tossed him aside like garbage.
This same group of Amalekites waited until we left our city, robbed everything they could, and kidnapped our wives and children. The cowards. They didn't attempt to fight us, the men...the soldiers. No they had to pick on our helpless families.
After we fed the Egyptian, he agreed to show us where the Amalekites went if we promised not to turn him back over to the Amalekites. No problem. I had plans, directed by God, to conquer the cowards.
He took us to a hill where we could see the invaders camped. My men and I crouched low and watched the Amalekites party. Dancing. Drinking. Eating. They had our animals, and yes I saw our wives and children. Ooooo, I couldn't wait to get them.
I called my men together and discussed our plan of attack. We had to be careful. None of our families could get injured in our rescue. We crept to their camp in the shadows of the evening and attacked.
The battle lasted from twilight to evening of the next day. Not a man among them escaped except four hundred young men who escaped by camel. We chose not to chase them.
Instead, we searched and found our wives...and our children...huddled in corners. We hugged them, and squeezed them, and held them. We cried. They cried.
Our families were safe in our arms.
We packed the things stolen by the Amalekites, everything. Not even a cooking pot remained missing.
The older boys helped gather our flocks and herds. With our families, our stolen items, and our herds, we left for home.
As we approached the Brook Besor, the two hundred men who had been left behind to rest and get well came out to meet us. I greeted them as always. All my men deserved to be treated special. They ran to their wives and children weeping and hugging and squeezing them.
It seems there are always a few jealous people in every group. I had a few men who sacrificed their lives in the Amalekite battle bitten by the jealous bug. They banned together and came to me saying, "David, these men who stayed behind with the supplies didn't fight. Because they didn't sacrifice their lives like we did we will not give them anything we recovered except their wives and children."
Okay. I could see why they felt that way, but it was wrong. Those men didn't feel well. Didn't we just help the Egyptian man who had been tossed away?
This called for a kind understanding voice. "My brothers, these things won't profit you. Isn't the one who stays back and guards our supplies just as important as the man who goes to battle? What good can it be to win a battle but lose our supplies? We will share, and share alike. We need each other."
From that day forward I made it a law that all men involved in a battle share.
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1. Who did David save?
2. How did this person help David in return?
3. Who did David and his men fight and why?
4. How long did the battle win?
5. Not all of David's men fought in this battle. How did the soldiers treat the men who stayed behind with the supplies? What did they ask David?
6. What did David answer.
7. What was the new law David made?
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