I Samuel 30:3
“When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.”
We will always make mistakes and show poor judgement. The Lord still helps us. Sometimes the Lord wants us to see the mistake and not to forget it. I believe this is one of those times. David asked the local ruler if he could join them in fighting against Israel. He was going to allow it, but the generals said "No".
I also believe it was God who rescued David from doing this. He would one day be king and some would remember David fighting against his own (more importantly, God's own) people. This would have been a stain on his record. He would have more, but fortunately God put it in the hearts of the generals to stop him.
This was no trivial mistake, warring against Israel. God wanted to impress upon him his error. As he and his men came to their temporary home, Ziklag, they saw it had been attacked and their loved ones taken captive. That's bad. Warriors are fearless, however, one of their greatest vulnerabilities is their families. Here they are with all of their families taken.
Even in this, God is in control. He put it in the hearts of the captors not to harm any of the captives. This must have been very difficult situation to trust. But even in this very delicate situation, God is in control.
This was a reprimand against David. Moses also had one of these. The people had complained and Moses went in to the Lord. God told him to go out before the people and speak to the rock, asking for water to pour forth. He went out with his staff and hit the rock. He misrepresented God. He wasn't upset. For this, he was unable to enter the Promised Land. He was still saved and God's representative. God wanted him and all to know this error. God also wanted us, His people, to see Moses' error. Everyone since Moses sees the lesson, don't misrepresent the Lord.
As I'm reflecting on this an area comes to mind where I might be guilty, silence. Not speaking or bringing up God when I should. Forgive me, Lord. Give me the words and the courage to speak.
We all make mistakes, most may not be a big deal. There are other issues where He wants to impress on us lessons to learn. There are the sins listed in the bible. The ones our culture disagrees with the bible are obvious ones, sex before marriage, substance abuse, gossip, pride, harming the disadvantaged and so on. These are not gray areas and the Lord wants us to behave a particular way. He will convict us and point things out. If we ignore Him, then bigger lessons may come. Today's passage is one of them. David wanting to show off his warrior skills against Israel was a bad idea. His family suffered. It worked out with everyone safe, but there was a frightening in between.
Lord, thank You for Your interventions. Help to listen and obey.