Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Samuel 30:8, 16

Today's Favorite Verse: 1 Samuel 30:8, 16
"And David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah."

I pondered on timing. How it does works for our advantage when we trust in the Lord. David first went off to battle with the Philistines to fight against Israel. A tender mercy of the Lord is that the Philistine leaders sent him back to the land he had been given. When David arrives at home he finds the town burned and their families taken captive. David then turns to the Lord and inquires on what to do. He is told to pursue and all would be recovered. Then he happens upon a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite. He had been left behind 3 days prior because he became ill. From this encounter David is able to learn it was the Amalekites that raided their town and took their families captive. The servant then leads them to where they are camped. Upon arrival they find the Amalekites in the middle of celebrating. They are eating, drinking and dancing. Not really good activities prior to being attacked. With this advantage David and his men are able to slay the Amalekites and recover their families and all the spoils of their enemy.

If David hadn't been sent back from going to battle with the Philistines, his family would have been long gone and probably not recoverable upon his return. He wouldn't have meet the person that could tell them who had burned the city and taken their families captive. He also wouldn't have meet the enemy when they had full bellies, drunk with wine and energy spent with dancing.

I pondered on why the Lord couldn't have sent David back home in time to protect their family and city. Then I realized he would have meet the enemy in their prime and might not have been victorious over defending them. Neither would he have benefited from the enemies spoils of war gathered from raiding other towns.

No, the timing of this was perfect. As hard as this whole situation was for everyone involved, it showed that the Lord would still bless them in the end.  


Day 841