Unguarded

Anneta Pinto-Young 2 Minutes
“And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive” (1 Samuel 30:3).

In 1 Samuel 30, we read of a time when David and his men returned from doing battle with the Philistines. To their surprise, their camp had been raided by Amalekites and their wives, children and possessions taken and the camp was burnt. As a precursor to this incident, in chapter 27, David fled to the Philistines as a way to escape from Saul. “Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand” (1 Samuel 27:1). His strategy worked, because once Saul heard that he was in Gath, he stopped pursuing him.

David lived with his family along with six hundred men and their families who followed him. He and his men lived in Ziglag and would go out and raid other regions and take their goods. When the King of the Philistine asked David where he had raided, he would convince him that he had raided his own people in Isreal. What he did was to take out everyone among the regions that he raided, so that no one lived to inform the King. Eventually, the Philistines went to war against Saul and they refused to take David. They were afraid that he may turn against them and support Saul and his army.

David and his men went back to their camp in Ziglag and found that their families had been taken. He was distressed because the men were bitter and wanted to stone him. He sought God, strengthened himself and God told him to pursue the army to recover what they stole. They went after the army and recaptured their families and possessions along with the army’s possessions. Despite this victory, some of David’s men were so tired that they could not complete the mission with him. This created some division as the men who fought, did not want to share the spoils with them. “Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike” (1 Samuel 30:24).

This is a great story of restoration and recovery, as God helped David and his men to retake what they lost. We have to consider if the original losses could have been avoided, if the camp was not left unguarded? David and his men were busy raiding other territories, while they left their own territory unguarded. All the men went to war and left the women and children alone and unprotected. We can relate this to our homes and families. Many times we go out to do battle in ministry and in the marketplace. We cannot go to war and leave our homes unguarded. If we do, then the devil will take opportunity to come in and steal our possessions.

“lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices” (II Corinthians 2:11).

A.P.-Y.

Published by Anneta Pinto-Young

I am a trained Social Worker who currently provides professional leadership on a programme to support Social Work students and Newly Qualified Social Workers entering the Social Work Profession. Born and raised in Jamaica in a Christian family where my father is an ordained Pastor and Deacon who has served for over 50 years in the ministry. My father is also a trained musician and our family can be described as a musical family. I grew up in a small farming community in St. Peter’s, St. Andrew and my parents also have a small farm. I credit my gift of writing to my father who I watched and listened to over the years as he wrote sermons, poems and other recitals in his capacity in ministry. English has always been an easy subject for me and over the years I have developed an increased interest in writing. I am a Trainer, I sing and have a passion for worship, the spoken word and the free flow of the prophetic anointing. I am married to my best friend Andrew Christopher Young who is an advanced Musician and whose music you can find on YouTube and Facebook. I am a trained Coach and Mentor and I love experimenting with food so I love cooking. I enjoy trying cultural dishes from across the world and I view food as an entry into cultures and languages.

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24 thoughts on “Unguarded”

  1. Wow, it never came to mind that this could have been avoided.
    It’s better to believe for divine interceptions than to always want to pursue and recover.
    We serve a God who protects us.

    We can safely say let’s believe for divine health for example than getting sick and then believe for healing and restoration.

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  3. Amen. I was talking about this just last night. As an intercessor, we have to be careful to cover our families ourselves or, we call upon other intercessors to do so, while we wage war. There are 3 of us who pray together and sometimes when 1 is going into battle, that one informs the other to cover. Sometimes God will also lay us on each other’s minds, especially when He calls us into warfare at short notice.

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  4. Annetta, this is an amazing observation. I have heard messages that spoke of how David sought the Lord for guidance in this matter, they also speak of the conquest of David, preparing the kingdom for his reign, but I don’t think I have seen the way that the losses could have been avoided if David had assigned a portion of his men to remain and protect their following. That’s why we are scrambling to recover our losses, be it ministry or family. David learned what his men did not, some will have to stay behind to retain what they have. This is a great observation. God bless you.

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  6. Hey Anneta! This is one of my favorite ‘David-stories’ because it reminds us that when we let fear get a toe-hold…it will soon gain a foothold and we will step out of God’s path and His plan. David got scared, fed-up, and frustrated, so he departed from Israel. He was tired of being hunted like a jackal. But God didnt direct David to defect from Israel, nor to ‘GO’ and “fight w/the enemy.” But praise God for HIS grace and mercy, His forgiveness, and His redirection. David had made a mess in Ziklag…but when he sought the Lord, God re-directed David’s path…God said GO!! Thanks for sharing this one❤️‍🔥😁😉💕

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    1. Amen 🙏🏾. Bless you Sister Tam for adding an additional element to this. Fear, misplacement and being out of alignment also contributed. Most people only see this scripture in terms of restoration and recovery. If we examine it, there are many conditions that led to the original lost which can sometimes be avoided. Bless you, have a Happy Sundays me a blessed week ahead! 💖❤️💗

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