In a moment we shall return to the passage we read in 1st Samuel 30, but I want to begin by reminding you of a great biblical theme as we conclude our studies in 1st Samuel 30 on the life of David. I want to remind you that the scriptures speak of many of the Old Testament characters, these great men of God, as in some way typifying and anticipating the coming Saviour. And so when the prophets foretold the coming Messiah, They used language which directed the people's minds back to those great men of God that they held dear. So for example you can read in Hosea chapter 5 or in Ezekiel chapter 34 that when Christ came he would be a new David. He would be a greater David, not carrying the frail and sinful weaknesses of David himself. but that those glorious characteristics that David displayed as the king of Israel gave us a glimpse in some way of what Christ himself would be. And so if you were to say to the prophets of the Old Testament, if you could gather them together as a company of prophets and as an Israelite waiting for the coming Messiah, well what is the Messiah like? You prophets, what can you tell us? Some would say, well he's going to be like David. Others would say, he will be like Samuel. Others would say, he will be like Moses. Were they wrong? No, because in each of those characters the Lord appointed that those good traits, those gracious traits which they were renowned for would in some way foreshadow and typify the character of Jesus Christ. Well, you say, we have the New Testament. Why talk? Why consider Christ in types and shadows? Well, we've looked at that in the past. and shown how not only it undergirds and strengthens our faith in the harmony of Scripture, but it should move our souls too. And I want to look in some way at David this morning as we conclude 1st Samuel, because in this chapter we have an insight or a glimpse into a characteristic of David which certainly is reflected in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you had said to this Egyptian, who had been abandoned by his cruel heartless Amalekite masters, left for dead, starving, thirsty, weak, if you had said to him what happened, he would surely have said something like this, I could not have fallen into kinder hands. Although at the time I despaired of life, cruelly abused and abandoned by my heartless, enslaving Amalekite master, yet I could not have fallen into more tender and more gracious hands than those of David and his men. How much more? For every sinner who has fallen into the hands of Jesus Christ said, I could have fallen into no kind of hands. There is a glimpse here in the way in which David deals with this Egyptian stranger of the kindness of Jesus Christ. If I can just for a moment draw another parallel or lesson here. when we see David conducting himself in this way, although he was a man after God's own heart and he was designed by God, appointed by God to portray and to set forth something of the character of the coming Christ, every believer in one sense is called to typify Jesus Christ. If we are the disciples of our Saviour this morning, then we too should be in the place of Christ to those strangers that we meet. It ought to be the case that in us they see something of the character of Jesus Christ. all men, all people, all children that we come into contact with ought to be able to say they have been with the Lord Jesus and his likeness and his character has rubbed off upon them. Now you think here just in that vein of what David and his men did to this Egyptian. We'll look at the detail in a moment but I want you to just notice that they stopped and they had time to support and to care for this ailing stranger they gave him of the best of their rations now they could so easily have said we've been robbed of our families we are grieving to the heart we are in such a hurry to catch up with this Amalekite troop that we haven't got time to worry about some hailing stranger far less when we discover that he is one of the enemy slaves but they didn't respond in that way they stop and they give to him of the best of their rations they didn't just say well here's the scraps they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. What an example here these men of David and David himself are to us. If this was something of the character of Christ which had been wrought upon them by the Spirit of God in Old Testament times, how much more ought we to succour and show kindness to strangers? be not forgetful, to entertain strangers, said the writer to the Hebrews, for some have entertained angels thereby unaways. When you could say this man proved to be a gift, an angel to them, a messenger, one who would guide them to their own families. But they didn't know that at the time that they showed such kindness to him. Do we ever inwardly have the attitude when we see a stranger in need, well I haven't got time, I've got my own worries to contend with, my own pressures, my own heartaches, my own pressing needs within my own family, I've got a crisis to juggle with and manage, I couldn't possibly deal with a stranger, well David here had every reason to discard this fellow. They were hurting as deeply as men can hurt over the loss of their families. They were worried out of their minds, you might say, as they were anxious to know what had become of their families, their wives. Had they been abused? Had their children been slaughtered? They didn't know these things, and yet they have time to care for this stranger. and give of their own to him. Now, I want to just look at this passage and think of how it sets forth Christ's dealings with a needy soul. Because if David here chose something of the kindness of Christ, how much more does this passage anticipate the greater kindness of our Saviour? Get the mindset that the prophets intended the ancient Israelites to have. What will the coming Messiah be like? Well, you think of David, they said. You think of all that David was in his grace. And that is something of what the Christ will be. And they would have read these passages. Oh well, David was renowned. for the kindness that he showed to those that came into his presence, to Mephibosheth, that crippled son of Jonathan, and that kindness that he showed to an Egyptian one day when he was at death's door. Well, there are a number of things about this Egyptian. that we could say are true also of the needy soul. Firstly, you think of who he was, his citizenship. He was not an Israelite, he was an Egyptian. And Egypt classically in the scriptures was always associated with being part of a godless nation. a nation that stood for the world in ancient times. Satan is portrayed in large measure by Pharaoh's great hostility to God and the nation of Egypt was seen as the place that is hostile to the believing mind. An Egyptian was found, a man who had nothing to commend him by his birth and by his citizenship. And you and I have nothing to commend us to the greater David, Jesus Christ himself, by our birth. We are born in sin, shaped in iniquity, we belong to a society that is godless and rebellious and hostile to the claims of God, we deserve to be rejected. And yet Christ, like David here, has shown such kindness in inviting, in urging all, let the wicked forsake his way, let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts and return unto our God and he will abundantly pardon this Egyptian was sick and dying how true that is of each one of us spiritually speaking this man was abandoned by his master someone has pointed out that that's what Satan does with simple people. With all of us, whilst we are in His Kingdom, He uses us for the time. He gets out of us what He will. He harnesses us to indulge our sins, to promote godlessness in our societies. and then ultimately when we grow weak and when we come to the end of life he abandons us to our own guilt and the judgment that will follow it's also true that this world abuses us until we come to Christ we are part of a society that promises much and yet delivers nothing The world uses us as its instruments and tools to advance its godless and anti-God attitude to life. Our example is copied by others. Our words are so often used to promote and to foster hostility to God in others whilst we are living as sinful unbelievers. And then the world abandons us. Just like this man here was abandoned by his master. Satan's kingdom is a cruel kingdom. It offers no support and it leaves us to ruin. This man was brought to David. Probably he was so weak he could not walk by this time. If you live in a hot country and you haven't drunk for three days, you are going to be ailing fast. And here he is in his weakness. He is brought to David. this gracious leader of the men of Judah and Israel. And David provides for him. What a picture that suggests of the way in which the needy sinner is brought to Jesus Christ. Those of us who have been converted, we have to say Just like this Egyptian, I did not bring myself to Christ. I would never have done so. Sin had so weakened me that I could not have found Christ in and of myself. I was brought by the Holy Spirit who drew me to the Saviour. He gave me that strength to call upon Him. He put that new vigour within my heart. It was nothing of myself. I was brought The Lord used other instruments in my life to lead me to the Saviour and to show me the way that I could obtain forgiveness. It was not my power, it was not in my strength that I did these things. It was by the kindness of God, it was by the means of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of others that I was brought to the Saviour. This man had to make a confession of who he was. Verse 14. We made an invasion upon the south of the cherry mines, upon the coast which belongs to Judah. We burned Ziklag with fire. Imagine how that would have been a stab wound in the heart not only of David but of those who were with him. I have been a a servant to your enemies. I was part of the military force which came and has brought such misery to Ziploc. this man deserved to die now I know you could say he was only a slave he was forced to do these things nevertheless his confession is I was there I was part of that crew I have been the instigator of such heartless conduct and yet what kindness he receives ultimately have you made confession to the Lord Jesus Christ? If you are a sinner here this morning who has not yet come to the Saviour? Is the Holy Spirit drawing you to the Saviour? And what will you do? Will you make confession? I have lived as an enemy. I have refused the rule and the law of Jesus. I have lived my way. I have been part of that troop of this world that has rejected and spurned and acted hostilely towards the cause and the claims of Jesus Christ. I've spoken against Scripture. I've resented the authority of the Saviour. So many have. To come to Christ involves confession. Just as this man made confession here of his own past sinfulness and cruelty, this man was under obligation at this point. He had received great kindness from the hands of David and his men. And David placed him under obligation. Verse 15, Can you bring me down to this company? But the man said, First, swear to me by God that you will neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master. I want my liberty. I want to be free. I could not bear to go back to that Amalekite troop. If I act as a servant and an accomplice to you, David, and to your servants, how can I possibly be delivered back into that old life. The believer desires such liberty and such assurance from Jesus Christ. Lord, I want now to be free of my old master. I do not want to in any way have anything to do with this tyrannical rule of Satan that I was once under. I want to be a servant of Jesus Christ now. Yes, I will fulfil my obligations but promise to me you will never allow me to be delivered back into the hands of my old way of life and my old master. So here is a picture of the way in which David showed such kindness to this man. I like to think of this Egyptian after this point as being one of David's men, one who grew to love David so much that he remained alongside David's mighty men as a loyal subject of David the king. We don't know whether that was true. But I am sure he never went back to the place where he had been enslaved by the Amalekites. What a privilege, friends. We can look from this mere shadow, this little encounter that yielded such a change in the life of this Egyptian man. Can we not say, I have experienced things far more wonderful, far more glorious? than this transformation that took place in this man's life. Yes, I've been delivered from the bondage of this world, from the bondage of sin, from the grip of the evil one who had beguiled me. And I have been brought to know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. I count it a privilege to serve Him. and I trust him to keep me to the end. When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon the earth, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. This is a very solemn picture here, isn't it? Careless Amalekites, whooping and dancing because they felt utterly at ease, they felt no threat, and yet destruction was so near. When they shall see peace and safety, said the Lord Jesus Christ, then sudden destruction will come upon them. It's so fitting that these Amalekites were undone by their own heartlessness. Who was it that the Lord in his providence saw fit to be the means of their destruction? The Egyptians, that they had acted in such a brutish manner towards. Doubtless his master said, I've got all these Israelite slaves, they're healthy, I've got children, I've got women, I don't need some sick dying Egyptian anymore, let him die. What heartlessness in comparison to David's kindness and the one who became in the providence of God's the instrument by whom David would deliver his own families would also be the instrument by which these Amalekites lost their life the Lord is always a God who deals justly and these Amalekites were justly destroyed because they had acted in such a sinful way in their lives and really the heartlessness that they showed to this Egyptian slave was just an example, just an epitomising of what they were and what they stood for in their own lives. A warning to us though, often the Lord will see to it that when we willfully sin against him those same sins become the instruments of our own sorrow of our own bitterness and ultimately the cause of our own destruction I saw on the internet this week there was an article I think it was on the BBC front page and it just caught my eye it said how is it that Keith Richards is still alive He was some rolling stone, a pop star before even I was aware of the needy scene. But he has abused his life for so long, people are saying it's a wonder he's still alive. He's taken drugs, he's drunk, he's not lived as he should have done. Now he's the exception to the rule, because so often the Lord sees fit that those who live a life which is openly sinful will be ruined physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually by their own godless behaviour. Those who have been at the very forefront of promoting and pioneering our Godless society, the Lord so often sees fit that they are the ones who fall foul of their own folly. Beware, what happened to these Amalekites is repeated time after time in the purposes of God. Picture here of them, here in verse 16, eating, drinking, dancing, they had great spoil, they looked at their lives, all seemed well, and yet destruction was so close. Are you ready to meet God this morning? Are you happy to be part of a world that is just eating and drinking its life away as it were? Imperiously, without any consciousness of the imminent hand of the Lord which may be laid upon them, or the judgment of God which may fall upon the whole earth at any time. These Amalekites felt the full force of the wrath of David. The kindness that he had displayed to An Egyptian in great need, who made confession of his sin, was the same man who showed such wrath to those who were the enemies of the people of God. What is Jesus Christ like? He will be, so the prophets, another David, only a more glorious David, without the defects and the sins. He will be a David to show such kindness and such tender sympathy to the needy and to the weak and to those who come in confession. But he will be the Christ of God who ultimately will pour out his fury and his wrath upon those who maintain their enmity to him until the end. The judgment of the Amalekites by the hand of David merely anticipates and prefigures that great judgment that Christ will display and execute at the very end of time upon all who live the Amalekite way. or that the Lord should say to it that we are brought to the tender loving hands of Christ rather than suffer that hand of execution at the end of this world which is coming. Now I want to move on to something completely different here in verse 21 because we are challenged here by the attitude of David's men. David's men, including David, had experienced sudden prosperity. From two days before being bereft of everything that they held dear, their wife, their families, their possessions, they were completely at rock bottom you might say and yet within two days they were so overwhelmed with beauty they had their families back and they had their joys back and they had cattle and sheep and everything that they could dream of they suddenly became greatly enriched but prosperity was the proving of them. It was a great test and it exposed the hearts of some of them. We could so easily assume that all these men who were with David shared David's heart, but they didn't. It's so easy for us to conclude that all who identify with Jesus Christ and his kingdom have the heart of Christ. But we know that there are many who name the name of the Lord, who have not departed from iniquity, many who have crept in unawares into the family of God, outwardly speaking, and yet their heart is not changed. And so often, just like the proving of David's men here, prosperity will expose the sham religion of some who call themselves Christians. Look at verse 21. They came here to the 200 men who had been so weary that they could not go with David to overthrow the troop of the Amalekites. They had remained by the scuff at the Brook Beasle to recuperate. They went forth to meet David, anxious no doubt for their families, ready to salute them and to honour them. It was as if some of these men said, I am so glad that you were able to go, and I'm so glad to see you returning. Has the Lord prospered your mission? I would have been with you if I could have, but I was just too exhausted. these men. Look at verse 22. Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them anything of the spoil, the booty, which we have recovered, save or except every man may have back his wife and children, that they may lead them away and depart. They were not committed enough. They were not willing to take upon themselves the mission of going and fighting with these vicious Amalekites. Why should we give them anything? That was the spirit of these men of Belial as they were called. These men who were unworthy of the name of David. now prosperity here revealed four sinful traits or four character weaknesses and I want us to notice them because it's a challenge to us some of us here the Lord has prospered us in our lives relative to so many of our countrymen And certainly relative to so many who live in this world, what wealth and what prosperity the Lord has favoured us with. How do we react? We must be on alert, lest we fall foul of these four character weaknesses. The first was covetousness. If you'd said to these men 24 hours earlier, or certainly 48 hours earlier, look, here's the deal. You go and you fight with this troop, and you're going to get your wives and families back, but you'll get nothing else. They'd have said, I'll take the deal. That seems fair to me. I will go for this Amalekite troop. if I know I will get back unscathed every one of my loved ones. But the Lord so prospered them that they came back not only with their own possessions, but they came back with the spoil, the booty, of all the other places the Amalekites had invaded and spoiled and probably much of the Amalekites' own wealth that they had carried with them as a marauding tribe at the same time. They were absolutely weighed down with booty and we see the covetousness of these people. Within the space of a few hours suddenly they see everything around them and they say we're going to have that for ourselves they covet it they want it for themselves and that is something that is in the hearts of all of us by nature it's only by the grace of God that we can handle wealth without becoming covetous of it it's only by the grace of God we shall be content with the little that we have the old preachers used to point out regularly it's not just wealthy people who can be covetous people you can be the poorest person in the village and still be covetous because you're not content unless you've got what the lord of the manor has there's a second flaw in the character of these men that is revealed by this sudden prosperity that's selfishness They can have their wives and their children back and then they can be God. They're not having anything else. They were too weary to come with us. We will keep it for ourselves. Now it's important we notice here that we are not told that these 200 men who remained by the brook we saw, we are not told that they were slackers, we are not told that they were unwilling to go, we are told that they were too weary to go. Do you know what prosperity equals if you do it as an equation? I tried to work this out in my mind yesterday. What is prosperity? Prosperity is made up of five things. Now I'm sure there's some clever dick here who will tell me there's six. But prosperity is ability, plus strength, plus opportunity, plus willingness, plus the help of God. That's the ingredients of prosperity, isn't it, for anybody. And if one of those is missing, you will not prosper. If you do not have the ability to be a successful businessman, you might want to be the next entrepreneur, and you may have the strength and the fitness to be an entrepreneur, but you will never make it because you need that ability that gift you might want to be a successful sports person or a successful in a career as a doctor or a professional but if you haven't got that mental capacity to get the necessary grades in your GCSEs you're never going to make it Prosperity is made up of those five things. If only one of them is missing, then you will not succeed. These men, the only ingredient that was missing was their physical fitness. They had the ability, they had been soldiers, they had been successful as warriors in many campaigns before. they had a willingness to go but they didn't have the strength they were just too weak if the Lord has given us strength and health that is a wonderful gift and blessing and these men were not able to say we're not going to share our wealth with these lazy ones that was not their argument it was just well they didn't come perhaps there was a suspicion that they were fearful or lazy the scriptures never encourage laziness and they never encourage the wealthy the scriptures never encourages the wealthy to prop up the lazy but when prosperity comes into our hands then we are called to share it with those who are less well off than ourselves for one reason or another because they have less ability because the Lord hasn't prospered them because though they are willing they do not have the strength or perhaps they have all these things but they have not had the opportunity that we have now these men they said we are not giving anything expose the sin of selfishness within. Be alert, be on your guard. We must all ask the question, is this how I react to sudden prosperity or advantage? Do I just close up my heart and say, this is mine? I've done it, I'm the one who's put in the hours, the graft. I'm the one who has prospered and so I'm going to keep this for myself. It's a great sin. These men were called as a result of these character traits men of Belial. Men who belonged to the wicked one. There's a third trait here. It's not said as much but it's implied pride. Look at verse 22 And look at what is said here. They went not with us. We will not give them anything of the spoil that we have recovered. We've done this. We were the courageous ones. We were the strong ones. We had to overcome that feeling of weariness. We went to the battle. We put our necks on the line. Pride said, this is what we have achieved. David later is going to reprove that in verse 23 he said you shall not do so my brethren with that which the Lord has given us that's the response of David the way that we should think of prosperity is not we have done this and we have done that and we have done the other rather we must think here in the way that David sets out The Lord has prospered me. The Lord has given me the power to get well. The Lord has given me health and strength. He's given me those gifts to make a career as a lawyer, as a doctor, as some other top job. It's the Lord who's prospered me and I must acknowledge that. Beware the sin of pride that says I've done this. That was the sin of these men of Beniel. And there is the final trait here that is so important. We cannot call it a sin, but it's a weakness. It was forgetfulness. They forgot what they would have been happy with only a day or so previous. They forgot what could have been. they forgot that it was the Lord who had helped them never forget these things when Moses speaks in Deuteronomy he warns the people when you get into the land of promise and the Lord prospers you and the Lord enables you to build houses and vineyards and to cultivate the fields and to enrich yourselves greatly from that fertile land beware lest you forget the Lord your God. And one of the dangers of wealth and prosperity is that we forget the Lord. Covetousness, selfishness, pride, forgetfulness, we must be on our guard lest any of those engage us and develop in our lives. Now as we draw to conclusion, I want to just broaden this subject out a little bit. What does the Word of God have to say about the use of prosperity, the use of wealth? Wealth is a test. Are we able to handle our wealth in a Christian way, in a biblical way? That's why I read from 1 Timothy chapter 6. We could look at so many other passages. But 1 Timothy 6 gives to us too much direction. Timothy is told by Paul here, you have something to do by way of example and something by way of ministry to the wealthy among you. First of all, in verses 7 and 8, He says, we brought nothing into this world, it is certain we can carry nothing out, having food and raiment, let us be there with contentment. Contentment with the prosperity, the wealth, be it large or small, but the Lord has given to us, contentment is a great gain. Verse 9, beware lest we want to be rich, or want to have more than we already have, that will be a snare to us. They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare unto many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. The love of money is the root of all evil. which some, while some coveted after, they have heard from the faith." What evil it was beginning to wreak amongst the men of David. Then look at verse 17. Charge them. That means command them with all authority as a soldier is charged by his superiors. Charge them that are rich in this world that they be not high-minded. Don't look down on those who have not enjoyed the prosperity that you have. That was the message that Timothy is to give to the wealthy members of the church at Ephesus. Nor trust in uncertain riches. Don't place your heart upon them. Don't build your life upon them. Don't allow your prosperity to be the thing that steals your confidence and your trust. but in the living God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy thank the Lord for the prosperity that he has given you enjoy it but then he goes on to say charge them that they do good use your wealth to do good to enrich others make sure that you are rich in good works A man who is wealthy but who is not rich in good works is someone who has not heeded scripture. I think it implies their usual wealth to be rich in good works. You have opportunities because of your wealth to do good to others, be ready to distribute, ready to lay out of that prosperity that the Lord has given you to others. David's men, don't keep that for yourself, give it to those around you. And David was going to set the example there in what he did. In giving of the wealth that he had suddenly come into to all those who had helped him. He sends it to the elders of Judah, all the places that he haunted. Just before we close, think of this. Think what Nabil missed out on. Nabil said, when David was in great need, I won't give anything of my wealth to you, David. I won't help you and your men. I'm going to have my banquet. I'm going to get drunk. I'm going to live like a lord. But David, I'm going to hang you out to dry. You're getting nothing. If Nabil had been of a different mind, If he had shown David the kindness that in his position of wealth he could have done, then when David had that vast booty, doubtless David would have sent a navel and said, here, take of the spoil that I have recovered. The Lord has prospered me now and I will share it with you. Now as we close, the Lord Jesus Christ, the greater David, one day will gain a great victory over all things. And he will have a great spoil to share with all his people, all those who have supported his cause. Will you receive of that? Will it be true? that you have been a promoter and a supporter and a sympathiser of the cause of Christ whilst here upon earth. Then just as David sent of that spoil to his friends amongst the people of Judah, so the Lord one day has promised to share with his people in all that he will gain. Father, I will that they whom thou hast given me Be with me where I am that they may behold my glory. Fear not, little flock. It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. You have been faithful in a little. Enter into the joy of your Lord. Be ruler over ten cities. Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of men the things which God has prepared for them that love him. It was a privilege to serve in David's army. Doubtless those men were chastened and reproved by David's example when he said, don't forget it's the Lord who has prospered us. What an honour if we serve in the kingdom and in the army of Jesus Christ. May we be fit members of that kingdom. And if the Lord has prospered us, then help us to be willing to use that prosperity humbly, unselfishly, contentedly and thoughtfully.