July 1924
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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of the great captain of all bandits? It is Satan! He steals our hearts away from God, but the Lord Jesus came
the bandits were staying, for the young lad told David that he had been with the company of bandits who had burned Ziklag a few days before. The lad went with David and his men. As they quietly approached the camp they heard singing and laughter. It was twilight and the bandits had camped for the night. They spread a great feast to celebrate their victory in carry ing off a great host of women, girls, boys and children as well as many sheep and cattle for they had burned several towns. As David watched them, there seemed to be just hundreds and hundreds of them who were eating, drinking and dancing, very sure that they had safely escaped after their wicked adventures. David’s men were anxious to attack the camp and rescue their loved ones and as it was getting dark David decided to let them make the attack at once, for in the darkness the bandits would not know how small a band of men David had with him.' At David’s command his mighty warriors dashed into the midst of the camp and the bandits were so surprised that they could not rally together. David and his men kept up the fighting all that night and all the next day until the next evening, when the last of the bandits afraid for their lives, jumped on their camels and fled away. There was great rejoicing as David and his men went through the camp and found their wives and children, none of them hurt or harmed. Don’t you think that Abigail, David’s beautiful wife, knowing how her husband trusted in God and how many times God had led him to safety, must have prayed that God would send him to find her and save her from the bandits? Getting all their flocks and herds together they drove them ahead, and Captain David and his men with all their loved ones started back to their city, Ziklag, great happi ness in their hearts that no one had been lost, for the Bible tells us that David recovered all. Upon arriving home Captain David sent messengers to all the towns where he and his men had been welcomed during their years of wandering. The messengers told the people of David’s great victory over the bandits and Captain David also sent gifts of thanksgiving to all the people so that they might rejoice with him. Aren’t you glad that Captain David rescued all his loved ones? And Oh! we are glad, so glad, that the Lord Jesus came to save all! Let us say our memory verse together softly— “ For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." How we rejoice to leave the camp of Satan and his wicked bandits and give our hearts to the Lord Jesus who came to save us from sin. And let us tell others, so that they may be saved from the Bandit Satan.
to this earth to seek and to save those whose hearts Satan has stolen. He died on the cross for you and for me that he might bring our hearts back to God. In the Bible God has told us a story of how David saved his people from some wicked ban dits. Lesson Story CAPTAIN DAVID AND THE BANDITS Captain David obeyed King Achish, the king of the Philis
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tines with whom he had been living since he left his own country and King Saul. The princes of the Philistines refused to let David and his company of 600 fine soldiers go with them to fight King Saul. When King Achish told David he must return home with his men, Captain David obeyed, and just as the sun was peeping over the Hill of Moreh, for they were camping in the north country not many miles from the Sea of Galilee, David and his men started for their home in Ziklag, about 75 miles south, and a long and hard three days’ journey. Perhaps on the way they stopped at the Well of Harod, which was near their camping place, and they might have talked about the mighty man Gideon, and his army, who long ago won a great battle there, with torches, pitchers and trumpets. But Captain David may not have known that King Saul and his army were camped in Mt. Gilboa, just in sight, waiting to attack the Philistines. On the journey home David must have seen many interesting places which his mother, who loved God and knew the stories about God’s people, undoubtedly had told him about. There was Mt. Carmel, about 16 miles away, with the blue Mediterranean Sea stretching beyond it where Elijah had proved God. And the great highway which leads to Ziklag may have been the very road over which Joseph was taken into Egypt by the merchantmen when he was sold as a slave boy. After the long three days’ journey don’t you think David must have been glad to think of getting back to his home and his beautiful wife, Abigail, who would be sur prised at his sudden return? But when they reached Ziklag what do you suppose they found? The whole city had been burned! They could not find their wives and children, nor their flocks in the ruins, and they finally decided that during their absence bandits must have come and stolen all their flocks and herds and the women and their children and then departed after setting fire to the houses. Captain David’s great strong soldiers were so grieved for their wives and sons and daughters that they wept many tears and then they began to say that it was David’s fault for taking them away to fight with the Philistines. Some of them became so distressed that they wanted to stone Captain David. But Captain David trusted in God and he prayed that God would guide him to his loved ones, and then calling his men together they started south toward the wilderness where some of the wicked bandits were in the habit of roaming. On their way they came upon a poor sick lad who had been deserted by his bandit master. Captain David was kind to him and gave him food and water and then prom ised to protect him, if he would lead him to the camp where
JULY 27, 1924 No. 48 DAVID BECOMES KING OF JUDAH 2 Samuel, Chapters 1-4
Golden Text: “ Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:5. OUTLINE OF LESSON: (1) Anguish of David over Death of Saul and Jonathan, Ch. 1. (2) Anointing of David and Antagonism of Abner, Ch. 2. (3) Abner’s Secret League with David, Ch. 3. (4) Abhorrence of David over the Death of Isbosheth, Ch. 4.
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