God Is Unfair: 1 Samuel 30:1-6

God’s grace is unfair.  Many hear the word unfair and assume a negative connotation, but that’s not necessary.  All who are in God receive forgiveness when we deserve condemnation.  We benefit from sanctification instead of judgment.  None of us receive what we truly love because God’s grace is unfair.

David returns home to Ziklag after being dismissed from the Philistine battlefield.  He and his soldiers come to their town and find it empty and burned.  The Amalekites raided David’s belongings, took his people, and burned anything that had no value beyond a personal attachment.

The Amalekites took wealth which David himself took from others.  David fled Saul with nothing.  David’s wealth came from raids he performed against the Canaanites, many of whom were related at some level to the Amalekites who attacked him.  Nothing happens to David that David didn’t do to others.

In this light, a case can be made for the Amalekites and their grace.  The Amalekites didn’t kill David’s wife and children; they took them captive.  David, on the other hand, killed everyone in his raids so no witnesses would remain.  David could regain what he lost.  David’s victims could not.  Because the context is a violent raid, this point does nothing to erase that guilt.  Thus, the guilt remains for being violent towards one’s neighbor.  Still, the Amalekites were gracious to David and allowed him the opportunity to recover, unlike the victims of his own raids.

David’s followers are greatly distressed, which is a natural reaction.  Their families are gone.  Their wealth is gone.  The only things remaining to them are whatever they took to battle.  As a result, they turn upon their leader and contemplate stoning him.  Fortunately, David was able to stand with God and prevail against the anger of the people.  By God’s grace, David can recover.

For me, this is one of the most humbling aspects of this passage.  A great calamity comes upon David and his people.  Most of this calamity David brought upon himself through his own deceit with Achish and the raids he performed.  Yet, God was faithful.  God spared David from the worst.  David and his men could have come back to their wealth gone and their families dead.  The Philistine generals could have turned on David and not even given his men the opportunity to reclaim their families.  David’s followers could have gone through with their revolt.  In all of this, God’s hand prevented the worst.

David doesn’t deserve grace, yet God gives it.  David certainly didn’t earn God’s love through his deceitfulness.  God’s grace was poured upon David not because of David’s character but because of God’s character.  David received far better treatment than he earned on his own.  David felt mercy when he could have easily felt defeat.  Fortunately, God’s grace is unfair.