- David returns to Ziklag and finds it raided.
- The raiders are Amalekites, the nation Saul was commanded to devote to destruction in ch. 15 and spared.
- Saul's disobedience has harmed the next king.
- David and his men weep.
- The men consider stoning David.
- David remembers the promises of the Lord and is strengthened by those promises, deciding to submit to the Lord for guidance instead.
- David calls for Abiathar and the ephod and inquires of the LORD (vv. 7–8).
- Saul asked and heard nothing, but David asks and is answered plainly by the Lord that the Lord will deliver the Amalekites to David for destruction.
- Two hundred men are too exhausted to cross the Brook Besor and stay with the baggage (vv. 9–10).
- A third of the force drops out before the battle, which matters later when the spoil is divided.
- An abandoned Egyptian slave, fed and revived, leads David to the raiding party (vv. 11–15).
- The Amalekites' contempt for a slave is what undoes them and is a vehicle for God’s providence.
- David attacks and recovers everything (vv. 16–20).
- Nothing was missing, and the promise of v. 8 is fulfilled to the word.
- David rules that the men who stayed with the baggage share equally with the men who fought (vv. 21–25).
- His men complain that the two hundred were wicked and worthless, and they would only return their wives and children and nothing else.
- David declares instead a new ordinance on how to split the spoil, asserting his kingly authority.
- David sends portions of the spoil to the elders of Judah in the towns where he had roamed (vv. 26–31).
- This shows those of Judah that his loyalty is to them.
- Hebron is on the list that he gives to, and Hebron is where Judah will anoint him king.