1S30-7: Evil And Worthless – The Heart Of Those Who Despise The Weaker

“David came to where the two hundred men were who had been too exhausted to follow him, whom they had let stay at Vadi B’sor. They came out to meet David and the people with him. When David approached them he greeted them.“-1 Samuel 30:21

David and his men had defeated the Amalekites.

They had recovered the women, children, and belongings.

All that remained was to head back home north to regroup with the 200 men left at the Wadi Besor.

This was a time of celebration!

Everything was all fine and dandy!

Or was it?

See, wherever men gather, egos and pride will inevitably collide.

Lemme show you what I mean.

When David returned to the camp, he greeted the 200 men who had stayed behind with an interesting Hebrew word.

That word was SHA’AL.

This wasn’t your standard greeting like “hello” or something.

This word means “to inquire.”

In other words, like a concerned shepherd, David was inquiring about the well-being of these men.

David likely anticipated tension between the 200 men who stayed behind and the 400 who risked their lives pursuing the Amalekites.

After all, many of the recovered women and children belonged to the 200 men who didn’t go and fight.

Sensing trouble, David was trying to smooth things over beforehand.

And he was right.

Several of the 400 who had rescued the women and children and their belongings began raising a ruckus.

They argued…

“They didn’t go with us, so we’re not giving them any of the property we’ve recovered. Each man can take his wife and children and leave.”

So here is where David’s strong leadership qualities emerged.

He replied:

“No, my brothers, don’t do this with the goods Adonai has given us. He protected us, and he handed the raiding party over to us.  Anyhow, no one agrees with you about this. No, the share of someone who stays with the equipment will be the same as the share of someone who goes out and fights — they will share equally.”

There’s a huge takeaway here.

If you’ve been victorious in some endeavor…

The Torah says…

“You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm His covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.”-Deuteronomy 8:18

This attitude of disdain that a lot of folks harbor toward those who are weaker or less fortunate than them is disgusting.

When I say that attitude is disgusting, I’m not kidding or exaggerating in any way.

The Scripture here describes the men who had that attitude as RAH and BELIAL.

RAH means “evil” and BELIAL means “worthless.”

The men were insisting the 200 should only get their families back and they didn’t deserve any of the goods recovered EVEN THOUGH some of those goods may have originally belonged to them.