A motley crew

David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him. Then David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, "Please let my father and mother come here with you, till I know what God will do for me." So he brought them before the king of Moab, and they dwelt with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Now the prophet Gad said to David, "Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah." So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth. – 1 Samuel 22.1-5


David was still on the run. He ran and hid in a cave in Adullam. His family came to join him.

That sounds fine, but look at who else joined him:

The discontent
The distressed
The debtors

David became the captain of 400 men of this motley crew. They sure didn’t seem like much. How could God use a crowd like this?

As we read on we see that God does use this army. They go out under David’s leadership and defeat the Philistines, Somehow he uses this miserable crowd to do His work.

But that is how God works isn’t it? Doesn’t God use the weak and deposed and rejected of the world to do His work?

The truth is that God can use anyone – even you and me. He uses us every day to love others and share His word and show kindness and compassion to those us around us. He uses us to show the world what hope it. The weakest are best at that because we can’t depend ourselves, we must depend on Him. He shows His power best when He uses the unusable.