Tuesday February 23rd, 2021
Memorize: Psalms 40:1 New King James Versions (NKJV)
« I waited patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, And heard my cry. »
Read: 1 Samuel 30:1-19
1 Two days later David and his men arrived back at Ziklag. The Amalekites had raided southern Judah and attacked Ziklag. They had burned down the town
2 and captured all the women; they had not killed anyone, but had taken everyone with them when they left.
3 When David and his men arrived, they found that the town had been burned down and that their wives, sons, and daughters had been carried away.
4 David and his men started crying and did not stop until they were completely exhausted.
5 Even David’s two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail, had been taken away.
6 David was now in great trouble, because his men were all very bitter about losing their children, and they were threatening to stone him; but the Lord his God gave him courage.
7 David said to the priest Abiathar son of Ahimelech,
“Bring me the ephod,” and Abiathar brought it to him.
8 David asked the Lord,
“Shall I go after those raiders? And will I catch them?”
He answered,
“Go after them; you will catch them and rescue the captives.”
9 So David and his six hundred men started out, and when they arrived at Besor Brook, some of them stayed there.
10 David continued on his way with four hundred men; the other two hundred men were too tired to cross the brook and so stayed behind.
11 The men with David found a young Egyptian out in the country and brought him to David. They gave him some food and water,
12 some dried figs, and two bunches of raisins. After he had eaten, his strength returned; he had not had anything to eat or drink for three full days.
13 David asked him, “Who is your master, and where are you from?”
“I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite,” he answered. “My master left me behind three days ago because I got sick.
14 We had raided the territory of the Cherethites in the southern part of Judah and the territory of the clan of Caleb, and we burned down Ziklag.”
15 “Will you lead me to those raiders?” David asked him.
He answered, “I will if you promise me in God’s name that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master.”
16 And he led David to them.
The raiders were scattered all over the place, eating, drinking, and celebrating because of the enormous amount of loot they had captured from Philistia and Judah.
17 At dawn the next day David attacked them and fought until evening. Except for four hundred young men who mounted camels and got away, none of them escaped.
18 David rescued everyone and everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives;
19 nothing at all was missing.
David got back all his men’s sons and daughters, and all the loot the Amalekites had taken.
Message:
Every believer should understand and practise waiting on the Lord.
In our Bible reading for today, we see that during David’s travails and exile, his base was raided while he was away with his men. All their property, wives and children were raided without mercy.
On arrival, they were overwhelmed with grief so much so that they wept.
Any other person would have automatically pursued the perpetrators of such an act immediately, but as we had noted in an earlier study, David sought the face of God for direction and waited on Him even though that did not seem like the smartest thing to do at the time.
The smartest and bravest move that would have been expected of valiant soldiers like David and his men would have been to ensure that they did not waste any further time in going after the enemy.
Ordinarily, the more time they wasted, the slimmer their chances of ever catching up and recovering their loved ones and belongings.
David however, decided to wait patiently upon God and receive His instructions, approval and blessing before making any move.
The Bible records that upon getting God’s word on the matter, they swung into action. Verse 19 NKJV of the same chapter reads:
“And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them; David recovered all.”
Your recovery in life, ministry, career and business might just be dependent on you waiting on the Lord for instructions before taking decisions.
Waiting on the Lord includes prayer, fasting and usually, patience which is where most believers miss it.
God is the all-in-all who knows the end from the beginning.
There is no risk in waiting on the Lord.
As David found strength to recover all by waiting on the Lord, this season may you also find strength for exploits in the mighty name of Jesus.
As David pursued after his enemies and recovered all they had stolen, so will you recover every lost opportunity and blessing, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Put God first always and wait patiently upon Him in every area of your life. He will never disappoint you.
Action point: Wait on the Lord. You will surely testify, in the mighty name of Jesus.
Author: Pst E. A. Adeboye.
Text edited by Naomie
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