Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

David was broken.
After three days' travel David and his band of six hundred men
reached Ziklag, their Philistine home. But a scene of desolation met
their view. The Amalekites had taken revenge for themselves for
David's invasions into their territory and had surprised the city while
it was unguarded. They stripped and burned it and departed, taking
all the women and children as captives, and many stolen items.
In horror and amazement, David and his men stared silently at
the smoldering ruins. Then as a sense of their terrible loss burst
upon them, those battle-scarred warriors "lifted up their voices and
wept, until they had no more power to weep."
Here again David was reaping the sad results of his lack of
faith that led him to place himself among the enemies of God and
His people. David's followers turned on him as the cause of their
calamities. He had angered the Amalekites by his attack against
them; yet, too confident of security in the midst of his enemies, he
had left the city unguarded. Maddened with grief and rage, his
soldiers threatened to stone their leader.
David's Great Temptation to Discouragement
All that David held dear on earth had been swept away from
him. Saul had driven him from his country, the Amalekites had
plundered his city, his wives and children had been made prisoners,
and his friends had threatened him with death.
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