Living in the Image of God M06S03

David introduced the phrase what the Lord has given us to settle a developing dispute among his followers regarding the distribution of battle proceeds. His ruling conveys a message of the communal purpose of God’s blessing and individual responsibility to honor the communal purpose. Through his declaration that all will share alike, he proclaims the right of individual access to communal property, irrespective of contribution. Further, by giving gifts to others from the portion of the battle proceeds he controlled, he proclaims the individual responsibility to recognize and honor the communal purpose of individual blessing.

In this bible study, we discuss David’s interactions with his followers and others regarding the distribution of battle proceeds: to understand his message regarding the communal purpose of every blessing from God and the responsibility of every individual to recognize and honor the communal purpose. The events occurred as a response to his base being raided and plundered. A group of Amalekites had burnt David’s base at Ziklag and captured livestock and people (women and children). David and his followers were at the Philistine battlefield trying to enlist as foreign fighters with the Philistine army in a battle against Israel. They were rejected by the Philistine army. Thereafter, they returned to their base and found the base destroyed by the Amalekites.

David pursued the raiders with four hundred of his followers while the other two hundred chose to stay back at the base. They caught up with the raiders, defeated them in a fierce battle that lasted over twenty-four hours, recovered their livestock and people, and took large additional livestock as plunder. When they returned to Ziklag, some troublemakers among the four hundred grumbled that the other two hundred will not share in the plunder (1 Samuel 30:22). David responded that the plunder is what the Lord has given us and the share of the man who stayed at the base is to be the same as that of him who went to the battle—all will share alike (1 Samuel 30:22–24). After the equitable sharing, he gave gifts from the portions he controlled to several people that were not part of his base (1 Samuel 30:26–31).

Through his declaration of all will share alike from what the Lord has given us, David conveys a message that every person is entitled to receive relief from the facilities of society (i.e., things of communal ownership), irrespective of their contribution. Also, by giving gifts to others from the portion of the plunder he controlled, he conveys a message of generosity by the owner of any blessing of God (what the Lord has given us). As we discussed previously (M06S02), the owner has full authority to determine when, where, and how to provide relief to others from the blessing he or she controls (what the Lord has given us). So, David chose to send gifts from the plunder to his friends and other acquaintance in different places outside his base.