Friday, August 26, 2011

A Godly General

Reflections on 1 Sam. 30:7-20
Enduring setbacks while maintaining the ability to show others the way to go forward is a true test of leadership.
– Nitin Nohria
David could not have faced a greater tragedy than the one he discovered when he returned to Ziklag, and it was multiplied by 600 when including his men. They were all so overwhelmed that they wept until they lost their strength. Then, in their despair, David’s men found it easy to make him a scapegoat for what happened, and they talked of stoning David. After finding strength in the Lord, David showed the signs of godly leadership which put his men to work in the constructive effort of regaining their families.

1. DAVID INQUIRED OF THE LORD (1 Sam. 30:8). Despite David’s vast knowledge of the region, he knew it was a slim chance that he could find their families before they had been abused, sold, or killed. He needed God’s direction, and he sought it. God said to pursue, and God promised that he would overtake the Amalekites and rescue their families.

2. DAVID GAVE HIS MEN DIRECTION (1 Sam. 30:9). David’s men were talking of stoning him as if that would somehow atone for their loss, but they knew it really wouldn’t. Setting out in pursuit of the Amalekites, however, gave them real hope of recovering their loss.

3. DAVID SHOWED MERCY TO THE EXHAUSTED (1 Sam. 30:10). David did not allow tragedy to harden his heart. He did not chastise the men who could not cross the brook Besor as weaklings. He understood their exhaustion after marching more than 40 miles in less than three full days, and on the third day discovering that their families had been taken captive. He assigned them the task of guarding the luggage so that the remaining men could travel more quickly.

4. DAVID SHOWED KINDNESS TO OUTSIDERS (1 Sam. 30:11 ff.). David didn’t have time for interruptions from strangers, and it would have been quite natural to be suspicious of a foreigner in time of war. David could have isolated himself in own little group, but David remembered the Law, which commanded that the Israelites show kindness to aliens (Lev. 19:34). When he found a hungry, thirsty Egyptian in the desert, he took time to offer him food and water. When he did so, he found the guide God had sent to lead him and his men to their families. David’s leadership reminds us of Jesus. When faced with opposition, Jesus sought the will of his Father, and found strength in him (Luke 22:42-43). He gave people a new direction, a new purpose in life. He offered forgiveness to those who opposed him and mercy to those who abandoned him. Jesus showed kindness to outsiders: to publicans and sinners, to the sick and disabled, to a Roman centurion and a Samaritan woman. Those people, in turn, changed the world.

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