“When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive… David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God.” – 1 Samuel 30:3&6
In 1 Samuel 30, we read the story of how the Amalekites kidnapped the Israelite women and children (sound familiar?). The men despaired and even spoke of killing David. Despite his fear, David found strength in the Lord. Miraculously, David and his men defeated the Amalekites and retrieved all their women and children.
We know the situation today for Israel is not the same as in David’s time. But we want to draw on this passage and encourage Israel to find strength in the Lord.
Prayer points:
- Thank God for the successful rescue of four Israeli hostages. We pray for the brave men and women of the IDF, particularly the family of Arnon Zmora (36) who died rescuing the hostages. He leaves behind a wife and two young children.
- Pray for the rescued hostages: Noa, Almog, Andrey, and Shlomi. We pray for their healing and restoration, physically and emotionally, as they adapt back to normal life.
- Continue to hold the remaining hostages in prayer. Hamas will be treating them even worse and attempts to rescue them will be even harder. Let’s pray that, as David rescued all of his people, Israel will too be able to retrieve all of the hostages.
- Pray that Israel will find strength in the Lord their God! We know the world is against them, this week the UN and many others have voices their objections even against the hostage rescue, but God is still on their side. One day the entire world will know that the God of Israel lives.
