By John Brito

We equate a sword with a warrior, but an apron? That would be silly. Well, at least until we consider that King David used both; and we need both if we are going to successfully fight for those we love.

Here’s the context for our story. David and his 600 men were running from King Saul, who wanted to kill David. So, David went into Philistine territory thinking that Saul wouldn’t go after him there, and he was right, for the Philistines were mortal enemies of King Saul and of Israel. During his stay with the Philistines, David ingratiated himself with one of the four Philistine kings named King Achish. David would leave King Achish for the day and would raid different Philistine towns but wouldn’t leave anyone alive to report it. Then, the next day, when King Achish would ask him what town he had raided, David would lie and say that he had raided a town in Judah (Israel). Achish was delighted thinking that David was burning all his bridges with his own people. In this way, David gained favor in the eyes of King Achish of Philistia.

One day, the four Philistine kings gathered in Aphek to prepare to fight against
King Saul of Israel. David wanted to fight on the side of Philistines, but the other three kings told Achish that they did not want David to fight beside them because he could turn on them in order to win Saul’s favor. Achish told David to sit this one out. David protested, but eventually went back to Ziklag, a town in the southern part of Judah that had been captured by the Philistines. This is where David’s family and that of his 600 men were staying. (See 1 Samuel 29.)

David and his men were unaware of what the Amalekites had done to their family. They were about to be dealt a hard blow. The story goes like this:

Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their
town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and Ziklag; they had crushed Ziklag and burned it to the ground. 2 They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone. 3 When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, 4 they wept until they could weep no more. 5 David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured.6 David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. But David found strength in the Lord his God. (1 Samuel 30:1-6, NLT)

David and his 600 men arrived at Ziklag to find their families gone, their camp burned to the ground and all of their possessions gone. The enemy touched them where it hurt them most: Their family. The men cried until they ran out of tears. I don’t believe that had they lost a limb in battle or seen a comrade fall on the battlefield that they would have hurt as much as they were from having lost their family.

Verse 6 says that, “David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him.”

The way we act when life hits us hard reveals our character. These men did the following:

1. They cried (which is normal and expected in a situation like this)
2. They became very bitter
3. They blamed someone else (David)
4. They considered violence against David (he was in danger)

Contrast their reaction to David’s, as we see in verse 6: “But David found strength in the Lord his God.” David chose to find strength in God than to let bitterness grip his heart.

When life hits us hard we can allow ourselves to become bitter, to blame others, and to resort to violence, or we can choose to find strength in God.

Verses 7-8 tell us what David did next: “Then he said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring me the ephod!’ So Abiathar brought it. 8 Then David asked the Lord, ‘Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?’ And the Lord told him, ‘Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!’”

The ephod that David asked Abiathar the priest to bring was an apron that the high priest would wear over all his other garments. David wasn’t a priest, but at that moment, through his prayer, he became one for his family. He prayed, “Should I chase after this band of raiders? Will I catch them?’ And the Lord told him, ‘Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!’”

A warrior needs a sword and a ephod. He or she needs to fight for their family and intercede for them in prayer.

David didn’t allow his emotions to get the best of him. Instead, he sought God for guidance. We have a choice when Satan attacks our family. We can cry, get very bitter, blame others, without taking any responsibility, and even turn to violence. Or, we can become the priest that our family needs us to be.

God told David, “Yes, go after them. You will surely recover everything that was taken from you!” Don’t let the Devil take anything from you. Take it all back. God wants you to fight for your family. But you’ll need a sword and an apron. If we rely on on the sword we will be relying on our own strength; and if we rely only on the apron we will never take action. It takes a sword and an apron.

For the sake of space, I’m going to cut to the end of the story as found in verses 18-20:

David got back everything the Amalekites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing: small or great, son or daughter, nor anything else that had been taken. David brought everything back. 20 He also recovered all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock. ‘This plunder belongs to David!’ they said.

David’s men fought for their families beyond the point of exhaustion because they loved them. But they never would have chased the Amalekites and fought for their families had they not heard David’s prayer and heard God’s reply to him. They most likely would have hurt David and then had remained in a state of bitterness and despair.

Your family needs you to be a warrior, but every warrior needs a sword and an apron (ephod). You need to fight for and pray for your family.

Are you using the sword and the apron? If not, why?