Daily Bible Reading: 1 Samual 30

David left Achish on the battlefield and returned to Ziklag, where he had been staying with his two wives. Ziklag was listed as one of the 29 towns in Negev and was assigned to the tribe of Simeon (Josh 15:31; 19:5). It was apparently controlled by the Philistines during King Saul's rule, and was given by King Achish of Gath to David when he was running from Saul. David used it for a home base for raids against various groups who threatened the southern borders of Judah (1 Sam 27).

When he got there, he found that the city had been destroyed by the Amelekites, and all the people had been taken captive, including his two wives.

The people that were with David were upset that they had left their families there and followed David, and threatened to stone David, which made David even more upset. But David comforted himself by seeking out God's purpose in this. So David used the Ephod to communicate with God as to whether or not he should go after the Amelekites.

When they got to the brook "Besor, 200 of Davids men were too tired to go any further, so they decided to stay there while he and the other 400 continued their pursuit.

A servant of the Amelekites fell sick and the Amelekites left him behind. David's men found him in a field and brought him to David, who nursed him back to health. He asked the servant to take him to where the Amelekites were going, and the servant agreed, providing David would not kill him.

David killed all but 400 of them, who fled on horseback away from David, in about a day and a half of fighting. Then he returned to Besor with their spoils, where the 200 men greeted them.

Some of the men that travelled with David thought the 200 men that didn't go shouldn't get any of the spoils for pay. David said, "No. They stayed and watched over our stuff while we went to battle. They kept watch at home, therefore they deserve their portion." So, it became a law from that day forward that when there were spoils, everyone would get a piece of the pie.

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The lesson I got out of all this was that when you are being persecuted for things that are beyond your control, you should seek out God's purpose, enlist the persecuters to help you, and fix the problems together, giving credit to everyone involved when you are victorious.

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