When David's men returned, they were greeted by the rubble and smoke. He was their leader, after all, and shouldn't have left the village unprotected. The anger congealed into a plot to kill him. Catastrophe brings out either the best or the worst in us. At Ziklag it first brought out the worst.
Spiritual formation is a slow business.
And then this Amalekite disaster wiped out not only their homes and families but every bit of slowly acquired righteousness as well. But catastrophe brought out the best in David. David went deep within himself, met God, and found strength and direction to stride into the way of salvation. As his exterior world collapsed, he returned to the interior, rebuilt his primary identity, recovered his base. David and Abiathar came out from the place of quietness and counsel and prayer with a plan.