“Come on . . . keep up with the crowd!”
Maybe you have felt that you have the same problem too. Is somebody always saying, “Faster, faster!” or “Hurry up!” if you lag behind a little?
That’s how this young man of Egypt felt that day. He was a servant to an Amalekite, and it had been an exciting day for the Amalekites. They had robbed David’s city of Ziklag while he and his men were gone. They took the families as prisoners and finished up by burning the whole place down. Maybe the young man enjoyed the adventure, but they all knew they had no right to do what they had done and that David and his men would be angry when they found out. They also knew that they must get away fast! This was no time for stragglers!
But the young Egyptian did not like the running away part, because he felt sick. And finally he was just too sick to keep up with the Amalekites any longer, so they left him behind.
At the same time, David had some men who couldn’t travel any longer as they chased after the Amalekites who had taken their families as prisoners. David left those men beside the brook Besor where they could safely rest until he could return for them again. But not so with the Amalekites. They said, Just leave that Egyptian in the field. Who cares about him?
Maybe you know that feeling, when you’ve been left out because you couldn’t keep up with the gang. So who cares?
God cares. He sent this problem into your life so that you could learn about His loving heart. He understands the heartache, and He knows the cause. The trouble with that young Egyptian was that he was on the wrong side! He was not on God’s side, and God is the One who wins, because all the earth is His. He sent His beloved Son to die for sinners like you and me, because He cares!
The young Egyptian was left in the field without a drop of water or a crumb of food. Three days and three nights he lay in the field, until the sound of footsteps alerted him. David’s men had found him, and they brought him to David. They saw that his immediate problem was hunger and thirst. And they quickly gave him bread, water, raisins and figs, and then he felt much better.
David asked at once who he belonged to. And the young Egyptian told the whole truth, that he was an Egyptian and a servant to an Amalekite. He told the complete story of what they had done to the city of Ziklag, even though he knew how invaders were treated.
Can you bring me down to this company? asked David. Yes, he could do this, but he wanted to be sure that David knew that he was now on David’s side. Promise not to give me back to my old master, he pleaded.
Our God will never give you back to the slavery of the world’s service once you belong to Him. Never! Do you think that when Jesus has bought you with His precious blood shed on the cross that He will ever let you go? If you think so, then you don’t know Him. Read the Bible daily and see how much He loves you. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son [Jesus] to be the propitiation [satisfaction] for our sins” (1 John 4:1010Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)).
It is not hard to guess the rest of the story. David found the Amalekites having a party with the stolen stuff, and he rescued all their beloved wives and children and everything that had been stolen, and he destroyed the wicked invaders.
Our God has not changed. He is still waiting for you to know His loving heart. There is no need to continue to serve your old master, Satan, whom you have tried so hard to please. This world and Satan have nothing to give you except that which has been stolen from the Creator. Our God is over everything, and our Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. He lovingly still holds out His nail-pierced hands to you. Will you switch sides and come to Him now?