Take courage!

Spanish version

This morning I was reading (listening to) the penultimate chapters of the first book of Samuel. And truly there are extremely interesting stories in this historical section of Scripture. As we know, David spent a good number of years on the run. Despite having shown loyalty and respect to King Saul on many occasions, Saul insisted on trying to eliminate him since he was convinced that David wanted to steal his kingdom or replace him.

In one of his many escapes with his small army of a few hundred men, David decided to go over to the Philistine territory. Yes, the Philistines. Those who he himself had faced years ago when he killed Goliath as a teenager. His hunch was that if he was sought out in his own land to be assassinated what else he could lose by going with the enemies of Israel. And this intuition paid off as Achish, king of Gath (in those days the rulers of a city or province were also called kings), opened his doors knowing that David and his men were fleeing from the Israelites and would be valuable to his plundering and conquest plans. Furthermore, he accepted their request that they be allowed to live in one of the villages of Philistia. This is how David and his 600 men, plus their wives and children, ended up living in Ziklag where they stayed for a year and four months. During that period, they spent their time attacking and looting mainly territories inhabited by the Gesureans, Guirzites, and Amalekites, who were hateful peoples for both Philistines and Israelites, offering valuable help to King Achish who, incidentally, came to highly esteem their loyalty.

Well, I related this as a context to further discuss what happened in chapter 30. The Philistines were gathering their troops to attack Israel. This caused Saul to also call his soldiers to arms. The two armies had met several times in the past. However, this battle was very special because it would be the last for Saul and his son Jonathan. David, who really wanted to show the king of Gath his appreciation for the asylum and hospitality, made his men available and they marched with the king into battle. I will not elaborate into the details of the conflict, but I will dig into the fact that David and his men, after three days, had to return to Ziklag because the Philistine generals did not trust David and his men in battle against fellow Israelites. The generals felt that David and his army were too much of a liability to their military campaign. They feared the possibility of David becoming a potential enemy in the midst of battle. Thus, David and his men had to return from the battleground to their homestead in Ziklag. That was discouraging in a way. However, upon return, they found a much worse and bleak scene before them. Smoke rising from the middle of the town as everything had been sacked and set alight. They found no trace of their families. Through witnesses, they learned that Ziklag had been sacked by the Amalekites while they were away.

I’m going to stop here for a moment. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you see your life, your work, your plans, your health, or maybe your marriage or family are adrift? Have you found yourself overwhelmed, exhausted, and desperately waiting for something that will give you a break? Have you been struggling with something for a long time and wishing to see light at the end of the tunnel only to find something far worse appearing? What David and his army found at Ziklag was truly heart-breaking. That group of men had already spent several years of their lives bravely fighting hand to hand with David, suffering the hatred and misunderstanding of their own people; they faced never-ending threat and persecution. They constantly fled from one place to another. We need not think them weak. These were battle-tested warriors, strong and courageous who faced the dangers that threatened them every single day or moment. However, this was too much for these battle-weary men. Thus, verse 4 says that they began «to cry and shout until they had no strength.»

Crying until you have no strength is neither something small nor superfluous. I think despair is a very natural and completely human reaction. And boy, we must listen and detect signs in those around us because many times that suffering is silent! Perhaps readers of this piece might be going through great suffering and desperately in need of support. We all have a breaking point. Every person has their limits; some can endure a lot, while others may not be able to endure. Everything is relative, unique to each person. As for David, he had already borne a heavy burden from a very young age. In addition to carrying the guilty feelings for being responsible for the latest misfortune, he also mourned the loss of his wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. David mourned until he was, like the others, without strength. However, there is a «but» in this narrative that significantly resonates in my mind as I read it. It is a sentence in the last part of verse 6 that says the following: «But (David) took courage and put his trust in the Lord his God.»

The fact that David had to muster up courage implies and confirms the fact that he was in fact discouraged. Who knows, he was probably even in a state of depression. Nevertheless, he made a decision (because he had to make a choice) and it was to put his trust in the Lord. And boy, what a choice that was!? There was a purpose to his actions from that point onwards. It was truly a momentous switch that changed the course of the narrative from that point on. I mean, being desperate and at a breaking point, we still have a couple of options. We can step into the abyss or we can choose the option of trusting in the Lord our God. We can break down (and take down those who depend on us along) or we can kneel and put our case in the hands of Christ. David decided to put his trust in his God and that was the beginning of the victory detailed in the rest of chapter 30. There, we read that David encouraged his men to trust that they could find their families alive and set them free. And Jehovah of Hosts allowed an immense victory after David sought the priest Abiathar and, together, consulted the Lord. In a battle that lasted two long days, David and his men completely annihilated the Amalekites and recovered all their families alive as well as valuable loot. In parallel, although unbeknownst to David at the time, Saul and his sons were succumbing in battle. This allowed the famous warrior to become the leader of his people sooner than he had anticipated. Anointed years before by the prophet Samuel, David became the famous king who managed to unite and consolidate all the tribes of Israel. One of the greatest times of Israel. Such was the result of a man who chose, perhaps in one of the hardest moments of his life, to put all his trust in the Lord, his God.