1 Samuel 30:1–8

Now it happened, when David and his men came to Ziklag, on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the South and Ziklag, attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire, and had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great; they did not kill anyone, but carried them away and went their way. So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David’s two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had been taken captive. Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?”

And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

Paybacks baby! The Empire Strikes Back.

And David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt. Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish.. — 1 Samuel 27:8–9

While David was meeting with Achish, he left his family and their whole city unguarded. So, the Amalekites get some payback, but, amazingly, they don’t kill anyone. Maybe they don’t know what David did to their cities. Or, maybe it was divine intervention.

In any case, it’s still a disaster. The people are so upset that there’s talk of stoning David. It doesn’t come to that, but the situation is super tense. David is under great pressure. So, what does he do?

But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

It’s in moments like this that people often act like atheists. There’s no time to waste, David! Let’s go.

But David keeps his wits, checks with the LORD first, and gets a green light.

This is the spiritual version of due diligence.

The takeaway here is that no decision is so obvious that we can skip praying about it. Note well, this doesn’t have to change your decision to make a difference. You may learn things from the prayers that affect your attitude or how you interpret what happens next.

Or your decision may gain a blessing. That’s what’s about to happen to David.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe to the DEEP click here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, can be downloaded here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.