Join us for a journey through despair to triumph as we accompany David in one of his darkest hours. In this detailed exploration of 1 Samuel Chapter 30, we witness the emotional toll of loss and the empowering moment when David decides to place his trust in God. His strategic success in rescuing the captives and demonstrating fairness among his men offers timeless lessons in faith, leadership, and community. This episode is not just about David’s ancient world but a reflection on personal strength and belief in difficult times.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. We join Allen J. Huth as he shares Bible passages and comments from over 30 years of his personal Bible reading journals.
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Today we are in 1 Samuel chapter 30. We are coming to the close of this wonderful book. Only two chapters to go. Let’s listen in to Faith Comes by Hearings, 31 verses of 1 Samuel chapter 30.
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1 Samuel 30 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negev and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire, and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.” Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Bring me the ephod. So Abiathar brought the ephod to David, and David inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue after this band?
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Shall I overtake them?
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He answered him, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.
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So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. But David pursued he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread, and he ate. They gave him water to drink, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.
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And David said to him, To whom do you belong, and where are you from?
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He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite. And my master left me behind, because I fell sick three days ago. We had made a raid against the Negev of the Kirithites, and against that which belongs to Judah, and against the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire. And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.
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And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped except four hundred young men who mounted camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him and said, This is David’s spoil. Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David, and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people, he greeted them.
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Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.
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But David said, You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.
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and he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord. It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negev, in Jadar, in Aror, in Sifmoth in Eshtimoah, in Raquel, in the cities of the Jeremialites, in the cities of the Kenites, in Hormah, in Boratian, in Athak, in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
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David’s followers are ready to turn against him after they get turned away by the Philistine lords. They go home where their wives and kids and possessions had been taken and the town burned. After being on the run for so long, this had to be a low point in David’s life. Chapter 30, verse 6 says, You know, he strengthened himself. He didn’t look to others to help him. He acted. In the Lord, he went to someone who could help him. His God. David had made the Lord his God, personal. He could find strength from God because he had decided before the problems the Lord was his God. Do you strengthen yourself in the Lord your God? Is God personal to you? We can know about God, but do you know him personally? When you’re in trouble, when you’re facing tough decisions or difficult circumstances, do you strengthen yourself in your personal relationship with God? If you have a personal relationship with God, praise the Lord. If you don’t, you may be wondering how to have one. May I share with you how you can have a personal relationship with the Lord right now. Do you realize that God loves you? John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. And Romans 5.8 says, But God shows his love for us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So first of all, receive, accept the fact that God loves you. Next, understand we’re all sinners. Romans 3.23 says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And Romans 3.10 says, As it is written, None is righteous, no, not one. So we’re all sinners. You, me, and that separates us from God, keeps us from having that personal relationship with Him. But then step three is that God has a remedy for sin. Romans 6.23 says, For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. And John 1.12 says, And so that’s God’s remedy for sin. You’ve probably heard about Easter. You’ve heard about the cross. Well, that’s what Jesus did. He paid the price for our sins so that we can have a personal relationship with him. But knowing that and accepting that is two different things. So lastly, we can give our hearts to the Lord even right now. He invites us. In Revelation 3.20, He says, And Romans 10.13 says, For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So it’s an action step on our part. We can know about God, but at some point we have to accept His redeeming grace, His forgiveness, That price He paid on the cross for our sins. And so, the final step is that you receive that. You decide to confess your sins before God, even now, wherever you are. Confess your sins before God, pray to Him, and accept that redeeming grace, that forgiveness that He offers you. Maybe it’s a prayer like this, confessing to God that I am a sinner and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross and was raised for my justification. I do now receive and confess him as my personal Savior. Yes, you can have a personal relationship with the Lord by praying a prayer like that right now. All of the Ad Bible radio programs are available to you in writing. We transcribed all of Ad Bible into an 11-book series called Day by Day Through the Bible, and we did it in a unique way by authors of the Bible. You can get the complete set or a book at a time at our website, EzraProject.net. For example, there are the writings of Moses, the writings of Solomon, the writings of the minor prophets, and the writings of the major prophets, the writings of the Old Testament historical books, and the writings of Old Testament leaders. Covering the New Testament, we have the writings of Matthew and Luke, the writings of John, the writings of Paul, and the writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. So this 11-book series covers all 66 books of the Bible, chapter by chapter. 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If you want more from your time in God’s Word, visit EzraProject.net and try one of our day-by-day through the Bible devotional books. Any of the 11 books are a great place to start, or get the full set to use wherever you are in the Bible today or wherever you are heading in your Bible reading. I know you’re going to enjoy it. Thanks for listening to Ad Bible today. 2025 is an amazing year on Ad Bible as we cover 44 books of the Bible. That’s two-thirds of the 66 books of the Bible in just one year. If you’ve never read all the books of the Bible, 2025 is an exciting year for you. We are covering Old and New Testament books going back and forth throughout the year. On January 1, we started with the writings of the Old Testament historical books. And we started in the book of Job in January. Then we are going on to Ruth. Then we will look at the journey through 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and conclude with 1 and 2 Chronicles. You won’t want to miss any of these dramatic historical writings in the first quarter of 2025. In the second quarter of 2025, we jump into the New Testament with the writings of Mark, Peter, James, Jude, and Hebrews. This summer, we go back to the Old Testament, diving into the writings of all 13 of the minor prophets, like Daniel, Hosea, Joel, and some of the most obscure minor prophets, like Obadiah, Nahum, and Zephaniah. It will be easy to keep up with these short, powerful books in the busy summer months. In the fall and winter, we will cover all the New Testament writings of Paul, Romans, Galatians, Ephesians, and his personal letters to Timothy and Titus. You will get all of Paul at the end of 2025. 44 books on AdBible in 2025. To order the day-by-day through the Bible books we are using in 2025, visit azraproject.net and find the 2025 plan. All four books are sold separately would come up to about $85, but the set is on sale for only $59. 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