I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 28-31.

The Philistines mustered their armies to attack King Saul in what appears to be greater numbers than on any previous occasion.  Or perhaps King Saul was unable to muster as large of an army as he had previously.  It seems likely that David was not the only war chief whom Saul had alienated.  In any case, the King of Gath ordered David and his men to join him as they went to war.  The King of Gath was convinced that David had alienated the Israelites to such a degree that he could never return to living among them.  However, the other Philistine kings remembered how their Hebrew auxiliaries had switched sides in their first battle with King Saul and insisted that David and his men not be part of their order of battle.  David appears to have sincerely wished to join the Philistines in battle, but he may have just been putting on appearances as he did with the stories he had told the King of Gath abut attacking Judean towns.

In any case, this worked out for the best for David and his men.  When they returned to the town out of which they were based they discovered that it had been attacked and burned to the ground.  All of their property and their wives and children had been taken by the raiders.  If they had joined the Philistines in battle, the trail would have been long cold by the time they got back.  I will also note that David’s men considered stoning him for what had happened.  This suggests that they were angry because he had left none of the men behind to protect the town (a thought to revisit in a few minutes).  However, David convinced them that they could still chase down the raiders and get their families back (or perhaps they were more concerned with their goods).  David did this by having Abiathar, the priest, use the ephod to ask God if they should chase after the raiders and if they would catch them.  One could interpret this as a cunning move on David’s part, and it was, but it was also consistent with David’s reliance on God going back to his confrontation with Goliath.  David’s appeal to God’s guidance worked with his men because he had demonstrated time and again that he had faith in God and sought God’s guidance before taking action.

Now I want to touch on the thought I said I would get back to in a few minutes.  While pursuing the raiders some of the men became too tired to continue.  Reading between the lines, we can conclude that the problem was transporting their supplies.  David left his supplies and 200 men behind so that the rest could be faster in pursuing the raiders.  After they defeated the raiders and rejoined the men left behind, those who had defeated the raiders did not want to share the plunder with the men left behind.  David pointed out that that was what got them into this problem in the first place.  All of the men had wanted to join the Philistines in battle because those who stayed behind to guard their town would not have shared in the plunder.  There is one final point I want to make.  David benefited in two ways from the Philistine kings rejecting him joining them in battle.  First, he did not have to fight against his fellow Israelites, with the bad feelings that would have generated. Second, he gained plunder from the raiders which he was able to distribute to various leaders of the tribe of Judah with whom he was friendly.  This further cemented their support for him when they learned of the death of King Saul and his sons.