1 Chronicles 12:16

1 Chronicles 12:16 says, And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the hold unto David.  Some of the people of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin came out to meet David when he was hiding from Saul.  Matthew Henry says he was surprised to see them since the men of Ziph and Keilah, who were men of Judah, had often been a danger to him.  We cannot judge whole groups of people by the actions of some.  Verse seventeen adds, And David went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine heart shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies, seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the God of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it.  David met them and told them that if they came to help him, he would welcome them, but if they came to betray him to his enemies that God would rebuke them.  As followers of Christ, we should accept people at their word but do so under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Verse eighteen continues, Then the spirit came upon Amasai, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse: peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.  Amasai had the spirit come upon him, and Matthew Henry says this was a spirit of wisdom and not of prophesy.  The Holy Spirit should guide us all as Christian, but He does not guide us all to the same role.  I find it interesting that Amasai said your God and not our God, since David had already proclaimed God to be their God.  He may have done this just to emphasize that he was referring to the same God that David worshipped.  We do need to make sure that if people speak about God today that they are speaking about the One true God.  David received them and made them captains. Verse nineteen states, And there fell some of Manasseh to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to battle: but they helped them not: for the lords of the Philistines upon advisement sent him away, saying, He will fall to his master Saul to the jeopardy of our heads.  Some of the men of Manasseh joined David as well, but the Philistines sent David and them away when they were going to join with them. thinking David would fall to Saul and put them in jeopardy.  Verse twenty adds, As he went to Ziklag, there fell to him of Manasseh, Adnah, and Jozabad, and Jediael, and Michael, and Jozabad, and Elihu, and Zilthai, captains of the thousands that were of Manasseh.  Verse twenty-one continues, And they helped David against the band of the rovers: for they were all mighty men of valour, and were captains in the host.  These men of Manasseh helped David in a battle against the Amalekites who had plundered Ziklag.  They hadn't chosen to not follow Saul because they were afraid, but because they didn't support him.  We should never turn away from God because we are afraid.  Verse twenty-two concludes, For at that time day by day there came to David to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of God.  David had more men join him every day, and we need to be proclaiming the gospel every day so that others will join God's family.  Verse twenty-three says, And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war, and came to David to Hebron, to turn the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the Lord.  Then we have a listing of those by tribe who came to help David in claiming the kingdom from Saul.  Verse twenty-four adds, The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war.  There were six-thousand eight hundred from Judah.  Verse twenty-five continues, Of the children of Simeon, mighty men of valour for the war, seven thousand and one hundred.  There were seven thousand one hundred from the tribe of Simeon.  These first two groups were noted as being men of mighty men valor.  Verse twenty-six states, Of the children of Levi four thousand and six hundred.  There were four thousand six hundred from the tribe of Levi, who were the tribe of priests.  Verse twenty-seven continues, And Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred;  We are told that Jehoiada was the leader of the Aaronites, who were also priests, and he had three thousand and seven hundred men with him.  Nothing is said about these two groups being mighty men of valor in fighting. They weren't there to fight wars, but they were there to represent God.  We don't have this division between Christians today, since we all are a part of the priesthood of believers and are still to be brave in the war against sin and evil.  Verse twenty-eight concludes, And Zadok, a young man mighty of valour, and of his father's house twenty and two captains.  Then, Zadok is mentioned as a young man of valor, who brought with him twenty-two captains from his father's house.  We need to bring everyone that we can to Jesus Christ today so that they can become a part of His family and army.