Greedy or Generous?
“For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike.” I Samuel 30:24
David, before he was king over Israel, and his army of 600 men had traveled into the land of the Philistines to avoid King Saul who had previously pursued David out of jealousy. Achish, the king of Gath in Philistia, had allowed David, his men, and their families to reside in the town of Ziklag. After some time passed, the Philistines decided to go to war with Israel, and Achish brought David and his men to fight alongside them against David’s own countrymen. However, the other Philistine officers did not trust David and forced Achish to release David and his army to return to Ziklag. This was God’s way of arranging for David to escape from fighting against his own homeland. God can provide a way of escape for those who trust in Him (I Corinthians 10:13).
When David and his army returned to Ziklag, they found it burned to the ground, but their families had been taken captives by the Amalekites in payback for David’s prior attack on them. In the pursuit of the Amalekites, David took 400 of his 600 men, but left the other 200 because they were so weakened from exhaustion and lack of sufficient food. He gave them an order to guard what provisions that the army still possessed, thus they were still on duty. David and the 400 men were successful in recovering all the wives and children that had been taken and were able to confiscate the provisions of the Amalekites. When they returned to the 200 men left at the camp, David saluted them. Had they been attacked by an enemy trying to take their possessions, they would have had to fight, but everything had remained peaceful. I suppose that these 200 men felt some guilt in not being able to join in with the 400 in the fight, but David didn’t have a problem with it. They did what he ordered them to do.
It was another story with some of the 400 who did fight. These men did not want to share the provisions that they had taken. They were “ticked” off that they had done all the work but were required to share with those who stayed behind. They were willing to return the families of the 200 men to them, but then send them on their way with nothing but the clothes on their backs. David reminded these greedy men that it was the LORD who had protected them and given them victory over the enemy. God didn’t allow them to have the “spoils” of the battle to horde it for themselves. God had mercy on them and expected them to have mercy on the others. Jesus said in Matthew 5:7 that those who are merciful will obtain mercy.
This brings us to the question of how we are to share what we have with others. Most of us taxpayers get a little “ticked” off that the taxes that we are forced to pay our government is given to people who will not work among many other causes for which we are not in agreement. Suppose that the federal government all of a sudden got a heart and told taxpayers that we could designate how our taxes are used (like that would ever happen). For those of us who are Christians, I suppose we would desire that our tax money go to causes that would help build up the kingdom of God. We would desire to also help those who were sick, disabled, law enforcement, hospitals, nursing homes, organizations that help veterans, and the like. But since we don’t get to choose, we end up supporting many causes to which we would not give a penny otherwise: schools that indoctrinate rather than teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, funds to allow criminals freedom, useless wars, padding the pockets of politicians, and some of the most ridiculous things on which tax money is spent, like studies to find out why kids fall off tricycles! One of the worst ways that our government doles out our tax money is on abortion. Speaking of which, I read online today that the Speaker of the House, in a meeting of pro-abortionists, said that it is a sin to be pro-life! I just shook my head and asked Jesus to touch her heart.
It is not a question of whether someone “deserves” our help and our mercy. We certainly didn’t deserve Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to bring forgiveness for our sins. We have no choice in how the government spends the taxes that it collects from us, but we do have a choice in how we spend what we have left. Of course, we have to pay our bills and support our families, but we must never neglect to give back to God a portion of what He has allowed us to have. God doesn’t bless us materially to lavish it upon ourselves, but rather to bless others. The best way to relieve depression, boredom, anxiety, and selfishness is to find someone to whom to be a blessing. God is generous to those who are generous.