Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20020707.htm

1 AND 2 SAMUEL: GOD'S SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS IN OVERSIGHT
Part XXXV: Learning To LEARN From PAST MISTAKES
(1 Samuel 30:6b-31)
  1. Introduction
    1. Every believer sins and makes poor judgments in his experience in the Christian life: 1 John 1:10.
    2. However, what happens when he does make such an error marks the difference between long-term spiritual blessing and spiritual failure in one's walk with God.
    3. David learned from his past mistakes as 1 Samuel 30:6b-31 reveals, and his example is worth following:
  2. Learning To LEARN From PAST MISTAKES, 1 Samuel 30:6b-31.
    1. Where David had failed to trust the Lord leading to his traumatic crisis at the destruction of Ziklag, he turned to strengthen himself by trusting again in God for help in that crisis:
      1. God had originally directed David by the prophet, Gad to stay in the land of Judah, 1 Sam. 22:5.
      2. However, in spite of God's faithful repeated deliverances of David from Saul's hand there, David chose to flee Judah and live in Philistine territory to stay away from Saul, 1 Sam. 27:1 with chs. 24, 26.
      3. This choice led to David's involvement with the Philistine lord, Achish and his initial journey with Achish with his men out of Ziklag to a battle with Israel, 1 Samuel 27:2, 5-6; 28:1-2; 29:1-2.
      4. The departure of David and his men from Ziklag left it unprotected, leading to invading Amalekites capturing their families and burning their town of Ziklag to the grief of David and his men, 30:1-5.
      5. This tragedy led to David's men wanting to stone him in revenge for their loss, 1 Samuel 30:6a.
      6. Accordingly, David returned to trust in the Lord, finding strength to handle this crisis in contrast to his initial unbelief in God that had led him to flee Judah against the word of the Lord's prophet, 30:6b.
    2. Where David had neglected to follow God's direction before, leading to his current crisis at the burned Ziklag, he turned to the Lord for direction out of his crisis,
      1. As we learned, David disobeyed the prophet, Gad by leaning on his own judgment to leave Judah and live in Philistine territory, 1 Samuel 22:5 with 1 Samuel 27:1.
      2. However, at the Ziklag crisis, David reversed using his own judgment on his geographical placement to ask God's advice on whether he was to pursue the enemy or not, 1 Samuel 30:7-8.
    3. Where David had incurred heavy losses and angered his men by leaving Ziklag undefended, he learned to establish a homeland guard to avoid future losses,
      1. David and his men had left Ziklag unguarded to travel with the Philistine lord, Achish, leading to Ziklag's vulnerability to the Amalekite invasion, 1 Samuel 29:1-2 with 30:1.
      2. Hence, David changed his tactics for war, arranging for a homeland GUARD equally supported by the victor's spoils so as to avoid future mishaps like the tragedy at Ziklag:
        1. After heeding God's encouragement to pursue and overcome the enemy, David arranged for the men who had stayed to guard the possessions to share in the war spoils, 1 Sam. 30:8-9, 17-25.
        2. Though this was a new concept as seen in the initial wish of the combat soldiers to horde the spoil in 1 Samuel 30:22, David indicated he had learned from the Ziklag tragedy to protect his homeland.
    4. Where David had been tempted to enter Philistine territory due in part to tensions with traitors in Judah, he minimized those tensions by sharing the spoils of war with people in Judah:
      1. David's flight from Judah had been in part motivated by the problem of Judah's inhabitants repeatedly informing Saul on his location in southern Judah, cf. 1 Samuel 27:1 with 23:19-23; 24:1-2; 26:1-2.
      2. Well, part of the spoils taken from the defeated Amalekites who had captured Ziklag had come from their raids on the inhabitants of Judah, cf. 1 Samuel 30:13-14.
      3. Thus, David shared some of the spoils of war with Judah, reestablishing ties with them, 30:26-31.
      4. This eventually led to the people of Judah making David their king, 2 Samuel 2:1-4.
Lesson: David LEARNED from his PAST MISTAKES to trust in the Lord, to look for His advice, to protect his homeland with a rewarded guard of militia and to ease unnecessary tensions with his tribe.

Application: If we have made sinful mistakes in our past, God expects us to LEARN from them to avoid FUTURE similar mistakes and sins that we might GROW in our walk with Him, Heb. 5:11-14.