1 Samuel 30:7-10 – Relying on God absolutely

The stark contrast between Saul and David was in the way they each approached their distress. The former resorted to the power of the dark world whereas the latter turned to his God. When confronted by problems and in distress, Saul sought a medium, more precisely a necromancer, to seek the dead Prophet Samuel for guidance. David was also in distress. His two wives were captured by the Amalekites. His property was seized, and his city razed. All the families of his men also share similar misfortune. They were beside themselves and were angry with David. They had the intention of stoning him with stones. This meant that they were seething with extreme anger and wanted to take it out on him. But their intention did not affect David. He chose a different action. He turned to the LORD his God for strength and comfort. Like David, the one clear advantage for us believers when we are in distress, we also have the LORD whom we can turn to. We can seek the advice of well-meaning friends or qualified people, but they must never be our first option. God must always be our first option. He is our best help in times of trouble. Our Lord, with whom we have a vibrant relationship, is always there 24/7 and we can trust Him. What a friend!

We are told in verse 7 that unlike Saul, David turned to Abiathar, the lone surviving member of the family of Ahimelech, the priest. He had escaped from the slaughter of the priests by Saul at Nob. David said to him, “Please bring me the ephod.” The Ephod was part of the priest’s garment that carried the Urim and Thummim. Though the passage does not tell us how David used the ephod to consult God, we guess that it was these Urim and Thummim that he used to seek guidance. David wanted to know if he should pursue the marauders and if he should do it, would he overtake them. The Lord gave the affirmative for both his questions. God’s answer was, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.” This could well be the exact same time that Saul was seeking direction from a medium in Endor. Amazingly, both had very different answers.  

David immediately obeyed. So he went with his six hundred men to pursue the raiders. Some distance away from Ziklag, they came to the brook at Besor. We are told here that 200 of his 600 men stayed there. They were tired and weary from their travel from Aphek after Achish had dismissed them. So the 200 remained behind at Besor while David and the 400 went on to pursue the raiders.

In times of trouble, the question we must ask is: how will we respond if we were in David’s shoes? Will we just sit around and resign to our despair in distraught? David here teaches us something. God is always ready to guide us in our steps. The issue is, will we turn to Him and trust Him? And when we do, He will certainly show us His ways. Then, will He find in us a person like David, who would swiftly respond and obey immediately?!