This is an example of the God-given wisdom David used in a difficult circumstance, showing kindness and justice. Often the decisions we make today have future sweeping consequences. This decision of David’s was more far reaching than he ever realized in that moment, which is actually true about much of David’s life. Many decisions he made were defining moments in both his life and the life of the nation of Israel. At this crossroads, David had a decision to make. Should he give in to these men, and let them divide the spoils only among the 400 men who fought, or should he follow his sense of fairness and make the faithful men who stayed behind to guard their supplies also be included? This young leader again went against the tide and chose to stand for what was right. In the process, he established a principle that outlived him. When he decided to stand against the giant Goliath because it was the right thing to do, he had no idea it would lead to Israel\u2019s victory over their enemies.<\/p>\n
The decisions we make today, right now, set a precedent for the future, which may have a far greater impact than we ever suspected on those around us. It is possible to become weary of choosing the right thing when it seems so many don’t and then receive immediate rewards. But often the results of good decisions made today are deferred, and not seen for a long time. God will reward those who remain faithful to walk with Him. Yes, the rewards are deferred, but they are also out of this world.<\/p>\n
“LORD, keep us securely on Your path today, in every decision we face.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Samuel 30 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And had taken the women captives, that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried\u00a0them<\/em>away, and went on their way. 3<\/sup> So David and his men came to the city, and, behold,\u00a0it was\u00a0<\/em>burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0Then David and the people that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And David\u2019s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the\u00a0LORD\u00a0his God.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech\u2019s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And David enquired at the\u00a0LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake\u00a0them<\/em>, and without fail recover\u00a0all\u00a0<\/em>.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0So David went, he and the six hundred men that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. 11<\/sup>\u00a0And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk\u00a0any\u00a0<\/em>water, three days and three nights.\u00a013<\/sup>And David said unto him, To whom\u00a0belongest\u00a0<\/em>thou? and whence\u00a0art\u00a0<\/em>thou? And he said, I\u00a0am\u00a0<\/em>a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0We made an invasion\u00a0upon\u00a0<\/em>the south of the Cherethites, and upon\u00a0the coast\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0belongeth\u00a0<\/em>to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. 16<\/sup> And when he had brought him down, behold,\u00a0they were\u00a0<\/em>spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.\u00a0\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any\u00a0thing\u00a0<\/em>that they had taken to them: David recovered all.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And David took all the flocks and the herds,\u00a0which\u00a0<\/em>they drave before those\u00a0other\u00a0<\/em>cattle, and said, This\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>David\u2019s spoil. 21<\/sup> And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0Then answered all the wicked men and\u00a0men\u00a0<\/em>of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them\u00a0ought\u00a0<\/em>of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>away, and depart.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>that goeth down to the battle, so\u00a0shall\u00a0<\/em>his part\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And it was\u00a0so\u00a0<\/em>from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the\u00a0LORD;\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0To\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Beth-el, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in south Ramoth, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Jattir,\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0And to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Aroer, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Siphmoth, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Eshtemoa,\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Rachal, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in the cities of the Kenites,\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0And to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Hormah, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Chor-ashan, and to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Athach,\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0And to\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>which\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is an example of the God-given wisdom David used in a difficult circumstance, showing kindness and justice. Often the decisions we make today have future sweeping consequences. This decision of David’s was more far reaching than he ever realized in that moment, which is actually true about much of David’s life. Many decisions he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6555"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6555"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16185,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6555\/revisions\/16185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}