Thoughts on 1 Samuel 30

Today's reading: 1 Samuel 30; 2 Corinthians 1

I mentioned yesterday in my post on 1 Samuel 29 that God uses the Philistine lords to give David and his men an out. They were essentially stuck between a rock and a hard place coming up to that battle alongside Achish, but the Philistine lords refusing to allow David to fight alongside them rescues them from that situation. But more than just rescuing them from that particular situation, I feel like this is a place we see God's sovereignty at work taking care of His people.

When David and his men return to Ziklag they find it has been sacked and burned by Amalekites. Once they get over the initial shock, they chase after the invaders, find one of their slaves who was abandoned and left to die because he fell ill, and through him are led to the Amalekite camp where they recover everything that was taken, not only from Ziklag, but also from the rest of the cities they raided. And while it never says, "God did x so that y would happen," this has God's hands all over it.

If you think about it, if the Philistine lords had not rejected David, even if he figured out what to do once the battle started, it would have likely been weeks or months before they returned to Ziklag, which would have given the Amalekites way more than enough time to be long-gone with their families and goods. In fact, I'm betting that is why the Amalekites chose to raid when they did. If they got wind that the Philistines were on the march against Israel, then they would know these cities would be largely unprotected and thus easier targets for looting, and by the time they came back from the war, it would be far too late for the Philistines to do anything. So just this first step of David and his men being rejected by the Philistine lords allowed them to return in time to do something about this raid.

Then, when they leave to chase the Amalekites, they don't know where to find them. They know they didn't pass them on their way back from the battle front, but they could have gone any other direction and they don't know how long ago it was that they left. But as they search they quickly come across an Egyptian slave of one of the Amalekites who just happened to fall ill and be left for dead three days ago. Even this timing is fortuitous in that, having been sick when he was left, and having been without food or water, this guy may very well have been dead in another day or two, but instead, after recovering a bit, he is able to lead David's men to the Amalekite camp.

Not only does all this allow them to catch up to the Amalekites, but it allows them to catch up before the Amalekites have returned to their cities where they would divy up the spoils of their raids. This means that the people, livestock, and goods are all still in one place and easy to recover in one fell swoop.

So while we could choose to read this as a sequence of very fortuitous coincidences, I think we would be better served to see the sovereignty of God at work to care for His people. He rescues David and his men from their no-win situation at the battle, and He does it in such a way that they get home in time to not only rescue their families, but also gain a lot of spoil they didn't have to work for from all the other cities that were raided. Throw in the slave getting sick, his master choosing to leave him behind, and one of David's men stumbling across him in the open field and it becomes even more clear that God was providing for David every step of the way, even before David himself knew he needed the provision.

It's important to remember that God's movement on our behalf won't always look like some big miraculous intervention in the world. Just because Jesus doesn't appear to us in a dream, or an angel doesn't show up to clear the way for us, doesn't mean God is not at work for our good. Any of those little things that happened along the way in 1 Samuel 29-30 could be chalked up to being coincidence, but all taken together, it is undeniably the hand of God at work in David's circumstances. We should never presume to know when God is or is not at work in His sovereignty. I won't pretend to know how it works, but I do know that He is good, He is faithful, and He will always keep His promises, so however His sovereignty looks (or doesn't look) in my life, I know I can trust that He is actively involved, and that is enough.