1 Samuel 30:1

DAVID PURSUED THE AMALEKITES AND DEFEATED THEM;

DAVID AND HIS MEN RETURNED TO ZIKLAG

"Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid upon the Negeb and upon Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag, and burned it with fire, 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. 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. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept, until they had no more strength to weep. David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God."

"David and his men came to Ziklag" (1 Samuel 30:1). Young stated that, "From the probable site of Aphek to the probable site of Ziklag is about seventy miles, so David and his men must have returned by forced marches."[1] Regarding the distance between those two places, scholars do not agree. Willis gave it as 80 miles; Cook estimated it at "about fifty"; and Philbeck's "guess" was "nearly 60." Whatever the distance, it is clear enough that David and his men had covered the mileage as rapidly as possible.

"Women, sons and daughters ..." taken captive (1 Samuel 30:2-3). It seems to be an unqualified miracle that the Amalekites "killed no one." In David's many raids against them, he had exterminated whole populations, sparing no one; and now, that the Amalekites had an opportunity to do likewise to David, they did not do it. Willis explained this as, "Yahweh at work, guarding the relatives of David and his men."[2] "No reason can explain this except that God restrained the Amalekites."[3] The carnal and selfish motive for the Amalekites not killing anyone might very well have been their intention of selling all those captives into Egypt as slaves. Both Young and Willis pointed this out. "Probably the Amalekites killed no one because they intended to sell their captives on the Egyptian slave market. The fact that an Amalekite had an Egyptian slave (1 Samuel 30:13) suggests that the Amalekites traded slaves on the Egyptian market."[4]

The providential watchfulness over David is also evident in the fact of his having been dismissed by the lords of the Philistines, releasing him to come to the rescue of Ziklag just in the nick of time.

"The people spoke of stoning him" (1 Samuel 30:6). This was a threatened mutiny among David's own men, and it indicates the irresponsible and lawless nature of some of David's followers. As Caird said, "How slender was David's hold on his outlaw followers; his authority depended upon the sheer force of his character"![5]

As for the reason why they wanted to stone David, Dummelow thought that it was because, "They probably thought he had been negligent in leaving Ziklag unguarded."[6]

DeHoff pointed out that, "When things go wrong, people generally turn on their leaders. Kings, presidents and governors have often become the objects of scorn due to matters over which they had no control. Faithful ministers of the gospel have many times been pushed aside due to events that neither they nor anyone else could have prevented."[7]

"David strengthened himself in the Lord" (1 Samuel 30:7). Here is the true magnificence of the character of David. When things went wrong, he always turned to the Lord. And how does one do that? The next paragraph tells us how. One does so by consulting God's Word and trusting it.