“David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and everyone else in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. When David and his men reached Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God. Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelek, ‘Bring me the ephod.’ Abiathar brought it to him, and David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?’ ‘Pursue them,’ he answered. ‘You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.’ David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Valley, where some stayed behind. Two hundred of them were too exhausted to cross the valley, but David and the other four hundred continued the pursuit. They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat—part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights. David asked him, ‘Who do you belong to? Where do you come from?’ He said, ‘I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago. We raided the Negev of the Kerethites, some territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag.’ David asked him, ‘Can you lead me down to this raiding party?’ He answered, ‘Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them.’ He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah. David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back. He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, ‘This is David’s plunder.’”—1 Samuel 30:1–20 (NIV) 

If you’ve been following along with us through this journey, then you know that David has gotten a little bit off track. He hasn’t abandoned God, but he has confused his own voice and will with the Lord’s, which led him to serve in the wrong place and play for the wrong team. While he and his men partnered with King Achish, they lived in Ziklag with their families. In the last chapter, the Philistines told King Achish they refused to partner with David and his men because of their history. This rejection; however, was actually the best thing for them because it was a wake-up call to expose the ways they had taken matters into their own hands. 

There are always consequences for assuming the position of God in our own lives, though. When David and his men left their families in Ziklag to go fight with Achish and the Philistines, it left their city unguarded. The Amalekites took advantage of this by looting the city and kidnapping their families. Not only is David now faced with rejection, but he and his men are also left empty-handed and unable to defend their families! It’s pretty obvious why the men would be upset with David to the point of wanting to stone him. At this extremely low point; however, David finally remembers to look to God for strength. He moves forward in faith and consults the priest, Abiathar, in order to ask God for clarity on what move to make next. 

As a result of this return to the Lord, David and his men were led down to the Amalekites and succeeded in fighting all of them! They rescued their families and brought everything back. There was a complete redemption! Think about the picture of the gospel we see here. David’s return to the Lord led to his victory! When we return to the Lord, we get to partake in the victory that Jesus already secured for us through His death and resurrection.

This isn’t the only picture we see here, though. In this story, we ultimately get a picture of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness. Even when we stray from true obedience and devotion, God still seeks to bring us back to Himself. Even when we confuse our own desires and motives with what God really wants, He’s both kind and bold in His loving correction and redirection. Just like a GPS will reroute us when we make some wrong turns, God will do the same when we seem to get off track. As long as the destination and desire of our hearts is to ultimately please Him and be in His will, God will be gracious and patient in our often weak and misguided attempts at doing something for Him. We must have the humility to repent and ask God for help.

Pause: Have you ever experienced God’s redirection in your life? If so, how? What was that experience like for you?

Practice: Plug a location into your GPS today and look at the different possible routes you can take to get there. Consider how God might use different situations to get you to the same destination. Take a moment to ask God to help you trust His direction more than your own.

Pray: Father God, thank You for being faithful, patient, and kind. Thank You Holy Spirit for being my guide! And thank You Jesus Christ for making it possible for me to access You at any time and in any place. I don’t want to confuse my voice for Yours, so I pray that You help me to hear Your voice telling me which way to go and how to best live for You. I’m here to serve, enjoy, and worship You. Amen.