1 SAMUEL 30

I love seeing these glimpses of God’s heart flash through in the life of David. From this chapter: "Along the way [David's men] found an Egyptian man in a field and brought him to David. They gave him some bread to eat and water to drink. They also gave him part of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins, for he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for three days and nights. Before long his strength returned. 'To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?' David asked him. 'I am an Egyptian—the slave of an Amalekite,' he replied. 'My master abandoned me three days ago because I was sick. We were on our way back from raiding the Kerethites in the Negev, the territory of Judah, and the land of Caleb, and we had just burned Ziklag.'" (vs 11-14)

David and his men were pursuing the people who had just stolen all their possessions and kidnapped their families—this Egyptian man being one of them. After seeing their town in ruins, they must have been anxious to overtake the culprits, yet the first thing David did was give this man bread and water. He could obviously see that the Egyptian was sick and weak, and before he asked him a single question, he cared for his needs.

I thought about how very much this is like God! He is good to everyone—whether friend or foe. When He sees us weak and in trouble, His first thought and His first action is to help us. Even if we’ve acted in a destructive manner toward Him, He doesn’t retaliate. His nature is always and only to seek to do good—even repaying good for evil.

While it’s true that we have much to fear from sin, we never have any reason to fear our gracious God. If we are hungry, He will feed us. If we are thirsty, He will give us water. Even if we are His enemies, He will treat us no differently than He would His friends. He is good to everyone.