"The Fall of the House of Saul"
God will not allow the old thing to fall until He judges that the new thing is ready to take its place.
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Let's look at verses 22-31:
"Then all the wicked and worthless men of those who went with David answered and said, 'Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except for every man's wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart.' But David said, 'My brethren, you shall not do so with what the Lord has given us, who has preserved us and delivered into our hand the troop that came against us. For who will heed you in this matter? But as his part is who goes down to the battle, so shall his part be who stays by the supplies; they shall share alike.' So it was, from that day forward; he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, 'Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord' - to those who were in Bethel, those who were in Ramoth of the South, those who were in Jattir, those who were in Aroer, those who were in Siphmoth, those who were in Eshtemoa, those who were in Rachal, those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, those who were in the cities of the Kenites, those who were in Hormah, those who were in Chorashan, those who were in Athach, those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to rove."
Two hundred of David's men couldn't make it. However, for one thing, someone must watch the baggage. I could not do half of what I do if I did not have the kind of wife that I have. She is the helpmate God gave me and there is a reason for that. Not every wife could handle her husband being away so much. Pavia is also praying for me while I'm away; that's my reference point, my focus point. When I wake up in the morning I often don't know what country I'm in until I think about it. Not everybody can do what I do. Not everybody can do what Bill Randles does. Not everybody can do what you do. But there are people who don't do with us what we do, yet are with us in spirit.
Someone has to watch the baggage. These were people who rode with David, who had proven their loyalty, but were simply unable to go as far as other people could. David did not try to disenfranchise these people. He wanted them to get a piece of the pie. Remember what Jesus said in His parable of Matthew 20:1-16. In verse 12 some of the laborers hired by the owner of the vineyard are complaining:
"'These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.'"
In the same way, you sometimes hear Christians complain, "I've been a Christian for 60 years and now this guy who got saved six months ago is going to the same heaven I am?" God does not see things this way. God sees this: Whatever we have learned, we know He has given us the grace to learn. I learned what I learned in the same way David learned it, and if God uses you in the future, you will learn it that way too. I also know what I am in the process of learning, and God has given me the grace and strength to learn that also.
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Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.