David, Part 6: Strength in the Lord | Bible Stories Retold

It was the lowest point of David's life, and it came just days before he became king. Years of running wore David down. He said to himself, "One of these days, Saul is going to get me." So he did something desperate. He went to live among the Philistines, Israel's enemies. Their king gave him a town called Ziklag. And for more than a year, David lived in exile. One day David and his men came home to Ziklag and found it burned to the ground. Raiders had carried off everyone, their wives, their sons, their daughters. David and his men lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. Then the grief turned to anger, and the anger turned toward David. His own men talked about stoning him. David was greatly distressed. But David strengthened himself in the Lord, his God. David asked God, "Should I go after them?" And God said, "Pursue, you will surely overtake them, and you will recover all." On the way, they found an Egyptian slave left behind in a field, sick and starving for three days. They fed him, and he led them straight to the Raiders. And David recovered everything. Nothing was missing. Not one child. Two hundred of David's men had been too exhausted to keep going and had stayed behind at a brook. Some of the others said, "They didn't fight. They don't get anything." David said, "No. The man who stayed behind gets the same share as the man who went to battle. They share alike." That same week on Mount Gilboa, the Philistines fought Israel. Saul's army broke. Saul fell in battle, and three of his sons fell with him, including Jonathan. When the news reached David, he tore his clothes. He wept and fasted until evening, for Saul and for Jonathan. And he wrote a song, "How the mighty have fallen. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was wonder." The men of Judah came and anointed David King at Hebron. Then came seven long years of war with the House of Saul. But David grew stronger and stronger. Finally, all the tribes of Israel came to him. "We are your own flesh and blood. The Lord said to you, 'You will shepherd my people, Israel.'" David was 30 years old. He took the stronghold of Zion and made it his capital, Jerusalem, the city of David. And David grew greater and greater because the Lord, the God of armies, was with him. Many years passed, maybe 15 or more, between the day David was anointed and the day he was crowned. And the darkest night came right before the crown. Everyone had turned

on him. Nobody was encouraging David, so he strengthened himself in the Lord. Maybe you're in a night like that. Nobody in your corner. God hasn't forgotten what he promised you. And notice what David did on the way up? The men too worn out to fight still got a full share. That's what grace looks like. [Music]