David and his six hundred men have reached Ziklag of the Philistines, fleeing from Saul. The Amalekites attacked Ziklag and took captive all the women and children in it. David pursues the Amalekites with his six hundred men, but they are exhausted one by one by the time they reach the Besor Ravine. David has the men, who are too exhausted to cross the ravine, stay behind and guard the supplies, and pursues the Amalekites with the remaining four hundred men and wins great victory.
As David and his men bring back the wives and children who have been taken and even the plunder back to the Besor Ravine, the people who have stayed behind and guarded the supplies come out to meet David and his men. David treats them in the same way as before. Regarding this, some of the four hundred men who went with David feel upset and say, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered. Just let them take their wives and children and go.”
Seeing their wicked intention, David says to them sternly, “It is the Lord who has protected us and handed over to us the forces that came against us. The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.”
The reason David and his men were able to win victory in the battle was thanks to God’s sure promise, “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue” (1 Sa 30:8). However, some people gave credit to themselves and expressed their greed for the plunder. So David made it clear to them that it was God who gave them victory and all the plunder, and made it the law to distribute the plunder to those who fought on the front line and to those who guarded in the back evenly.
In every age, the One who holds the key to victory is God. If we, who’ve been entrusted with the gospel work, carry out the gospel mission faithfully in our given positions, God, who is just, will give blessings to every one of us.