Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag; 2 Samuel 1:1
Our text refers to two great events that had a dramatic impact on the future of David. The first is the death of King Saul during a battle with the Philistines, although David does not know about it until the next day. The second is the slaughter of the Amalekites that David and his men had accomplished as they rescued family members and plunder from the wicked raiders. From these we learn two things that were true of David that ought to be true of us as Christians.
The death of Saul opened the way for David, who the Lord had already anointed king of Israel, to claim the throne that was rightfully his, although he had to wait another two years to complete the claim. But Saul’s death brought no joy to David, in fact, he lamented that death and wrote a beautiful eulogy for Saul and Jonathan. He also ordered slain the man who claimed to have taken Saul’s life, and greatly praised the men who had given Saul and Jonathan decent burials. This lovely attitude should be ours when we benefit from the failure of others. Such benefits should never be viewed as victories but as causes for us to lament the failures and those who suffer from them.
The slaughter of the Amalekites was fully justified. These ruthless raiders were bloodthirsty and cruel, and had captured the families of David and his men, stealing all their belongings. Not only that, but they also should not have been in existence. Years before, Saul had been ordered by the Lord to destroy all the Amalekites, but had failed to complete the task. So David and his men were actually cleaning up part of a mess that Saul left behind. We need to be willing to do that too, by times. We face situations where somebody has created a disaster that directly affects us. So we need to do what is right to resolve the situation, even if the solution is painful and hard.
Many of David’s many victories were because of a right attitude before the Lord. So will ours. – Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/PyaMxi4JPtM