David’s Victory over the Amalekites
30 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the [a]Negev and on Ziklag, and had [b]overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; 2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, [c]without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. 3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the [d]widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were [e]embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.” 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.
David went from being discharged by the Philistines to losing everything he had and being under threat of death. To say that David was “distressed” is probably putting it mildly.
But here we see the big difference between David and Saul. Though David was going through this terrible time, and life was threatening to destroy him, David found his strength in the Lord.
Not only that, but David looked to God for wisdom. He didn’t know what to do. With only 600 men, did he dare to pursue the Amalekites? Instead of leaning on his own wisdom, David asked God what he should do.
When we are in dire straights, there is only one place to turn. There is only one place we find strength and wisdom, and that is with God. Anything else is a mere substitute, and will cheat any hope we place in it. But put your trust in God, and He will be your strong fortress.