1 Samuel 30:21

1 Samuel 30:21 says, And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them.  David returned first to where the two hundred men who had to drop out were.  Verse twenty-adds, Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.  When they reached the men who had been too weak to continue those who had gone on with David, who were referred to as wicked men and men of Belial, said they weren't going to share anything with them except their wives and children and then they could leave. They didn't want them to remain as a part of the nation, much less the army of David.  Sometimes, Christians can have the same attitude toward weaker Christians today, believing that those who have been unable to do as much as they have are somehow less deserving of God's blessings.  Verse twenty-three declares, Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hate given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand.  David said this was not going to happen and gave credit for their victory to God and not to the four hundred men and himself.  As long as we acknowledge that God is responsible for our victories as Christians, we should never have a problem with becoming too self-important.  Verse twenty-four adds, 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.  David said that those who had remained to guard the stuff would share equally with those who had gone on.  As Matthew Henry points out these men had not remained behind because they didn't want to go but because they were physically unable to go,  Also, they served a purpose in remaining behind and that was to guard the stuff.   We cannot all be on the front lines in the battle against evil today, but if we are, we need to realize that there are many people behind the lines guarding our stuff.  Verse twenty-five continues, And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. David, who was anointed king though he had yet to assume the throne, made the sharing of the spoils equally a statute and ordinance from that day forward.  We as followers of Christ have God's directive to share with the less fortunate to today, but we often fight against it.  Verse twenty-six concludes, And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the LORD;  When David returned to Ziklag he sent some the spoils to the elders of Judah and told them he had a present for them and shared the spoils with them as well.  I am sure this really didn't make some of the four hundred happy.  They would have even less for themselves, but what we need to realize is that as Christians, we are all in this together.  The next few verses simply tell us who those were that shared in the spoils.  Verse twenty-seven states, To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir,  Verse twenty-eight adds, And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa,  Verse twenty-nine continues,  And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites,  Verse thirty adds, And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach,  Verse thirty-one adds, And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.  We are told at last that David shared with all those where his men and he were likely to travel.