David’s temporary hometown of Ziklag is about 50 miles south of Aphek, a three-day walk. Rejected from the Philistine vanguard, David and his men couldn’t help but be dispirited on their way home. But when they arrive, what a distressing sight meets them! “The Amalekites had invaded…attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had […]
Read More… from November 24, 2023 — Hitting Bottom At Ziklag
Who would ever imagine that David, the giant-slayer, would try to fit in with the Philistines? Turning to 1 Samuel 29, we can see the chess pieces making their final moves to checkmate the king. “The Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped…in Jezreel” (v 1). A troop review is […]
Saul’s chickens have come home to roost—in Armageddon! Napoleon called it the cockpit of the world. “It happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel” (1 Sam 28:1). Now what will David do? Where does his loyalty lie? But Achish didn’t see a problem. Of course, […]
Me, myself, and I—three desperados that were David’s companions on his trip to Gath. Where was God? This chapter opens with David having a talk with himself. We actually hear what he’s saying in his heart! The problem with such soliloquies is that they limit a person to what is already known. When it sounds […]
How long must David be on the run? Will it ever end? “Hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Prov 13:12). In spite of his fair-sounding words, Saul’s obsession drives him to fight not just David but what he knows to be the will of God. For the second time, the Ziphites betray David’s location (see […]
Whew! I can recall when another’s wise words kept me from something I would later have regretted. David and 400 of his warriors were on the march, determined to wipe out Nabal’s entire male population (1 Sam 25:22). Perhaps David’s pent-up frustration against Saul could be released against a churlish man who wasn’t “the Lord’s […]
With Saul (chs 24 & 26), David acknowledged “vengeance belongs to the Lord.” With Nabal, not so much! Saul asked David to promise that he wouldn’t wipe out Saul’s family, for, he said, “I know indeed that you shall surely be king” (1 Sam 24:20). After David swore an oath, “Saul went home, but David […]
There’s a hair’s breadth between obsession and madness. Saul was like a kitten chasing a laser light. All anyone had to do to set Saul off was to say, “David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi” (1 Sam 24:1). As you head south along the western shore of the Dead Sea, to your right […]