As we wrap up David’s adventures in the wilderness, it’s worth noting that he didn’t always have the best people hanging out with him:

Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David… (1 Samuel 30.22, ESV)

This terse description actually fits well with the initial description of his band of men:

David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. (1 Samuel 22.1, 2, ESV)

Sometimes we think we’d do better if we just had the right team members. David’s team wasn’t ideal, and, come to think of it, neither was Jesus’ team as I’ve noted before. Love your enemies? James and John wanted to call down “fire from heaven” to consume a Samaritan village! (See Luke 9.51 – 56 and my September 24, 2020, blog.)

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103.13, 14, ESV)

And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. (1 Thessalonians 5.14, ESV)