My message this Sunday is,
"David Strengthened Himself In The Lord"...
An old legend tells how the devil had put some of his tools up for sale, each marked with the appropriate price. Hatred, lust, jealousy, deceit, lying and pride were all there. But one was marked with a ridiculously high price, it was a harmless looking but well-worn tool. A buyer asked, “What tool is this?” “Discouragement,” replied the devil. “And why is it priced so high?” asked the man. “Because it is more useful to me than all of the others. I can pry open a man’s heart with that when I can’t get near to him with anything else. It’s so badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since few people know it’s me behind it, and almost no one makes good choices when they’re discouraged.”
We’ve all known discouragement to varying degrees, it’s a human condition. Even the giants in the faith, such as the Apostle Paul, knew times of deep despair. He wrote, “We were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life” (2 Cor. 1:8). The great revivalist, Charles Wesley fought constantly with bouts of discouragement and depression, but never let it keep him from his calling. He wrote 8,989 hymns and preached and taught daily as well as writing many books.
Our story today, starts with David thinking all the wrong things. He got full of himself, his problems, his sacrifice, his pain. Satan loves to get us like that....He’s in survival mode. He's come to a point in his life that he's thinking exactly the opposite of what God has in mind, for him, the total opposite of what God promised that He had in store for him. We know that Saul was pursuing David. He barely escaped several times when Saul tried to assassinate him. He had to spend a lot of time running around in the wilderness and hiding. But when we get to 1 Samuel 27, he's at a particular point of weakness. David is so busy just staying alive, that he’s relying on his own strength, and his own ability. (Go ahead, try to pick yourself up by your own shoe laces) Everyone has failed so far!
It’s possible to get so locked into the drama at the moment, that you forget that God is greater, and larger than your moment. So, you know what David does? He seeks refuge in the city of Gath, Oh, yeah, remember that guy, Goliath of Gath,... the giant that David conquered and beat? Yeah, that's the Gath. Gath is a place He knows Saul will never seek him out. You see, David wrote about God being our refuge, but when it came to live or die, he leaned on another refuge..(Somebody say “Help the boy”)
So he goes to Gath, a Philistine city, and meets with the king, (King Achish), and he makes a treaty with him. And by doing that, he didn't just go by himself. He went with his wives and children. He went with his mighty men. He went with his whole entourage. He's got 600 mighty men that are with him plus all of their wives, all of their families. In total, probably well over 1,500 people going to Gath with David. (Tell somebody, “Someone is following your example”) Be careful little hands what you do, little eyes what you see, little feet where you go.....
So he pretends to have this treaty with Achish A king of the Philistines. (what’s going on is that, old “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”..) concept. Sounds like politics, doesn’t it! Undercurrents and whispering, and division and taking sides.
As time went on, the King started to trust David, so eventually, he gives him his own city, the city of Ziklag, Which means “Measured and pressed down”, which was certainly what happened to David there. When you depend on the wrong refuge, the clock is now ticking, you’re being measured and pressed down.....
Now, the interesting part, as time goes on, Achish is gathering all of his forces to battle the Israelites, and to battle King Saul.
That's something David doesn't want to do. God had told him to “touch not his anointed” Saul, even if Saul had become power crazy. (God is bigger than the power guys!) But suddenly, Achish the king says, "David, you can't come." The rest of the Philistines are kind of nervous about your loyalty. So, what does Achish do? He sends David back home to Ziklag, and that's where the story begins to get interesting.
Perhaps the worst form of despair and discouragement is when you realize that you’re beginning to reap the consequences of your own bad choices. Choices that are responsible for the mess you’re in. Add to that the accusations of those you thought were your friends, who now are blaming you for problems they’re having because of your failure. You feel alone, rejected, and as if everything you’ve been working toward has gone up in smoke.
As I was preparing this message, I found out something I didn’t know..... Did you know that cats can’t taste the flavor of sweetness? That’s right. Felines cannot taste sweet. It’s like their tongues are color blind to sweetness. No wonder cats are so grumpy all the time! They can taste sour, bitter, saltiness, and meatiness, but not sweetness. if you’re like a cat who struggles to taste the sweetness of life, you have a sickness of the soul, and you need to encourage yourself in the Lord, for the healing of your bitterness of soul...
That’s where we find David in 1 Samuel 30:6. He’s having difficulty tasting any sweetness in life. But it’s at this moment of utter despair and gloom that we read one of the most encouraging sentences in all the Bible. It breaks through the storm clouds like a ray of sunshine: “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” Another version says “But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God”.
It teaches us that No matter how low you go, Failure is never final for that one who has the call of God upon them.. (and we all do) Even though, like the prodigal son, you find yourself in the muck of a pig pen, polluted by the corruption of the world, and even though those circumstances are the direct result of your own rebellion against the Father and His instructions, His grace can still break through the gloom and find you there. Even in the pig pen, you can say, “I will get up and go to my father and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned ’” ( Luke 15:18).
And you can be assured that the gracious, forgiving Father will see you from afar, He will see you before you get there, He will feel compassion for you and have everything prepared before you arrive, and will run to you and welcome you back into His presence! Oh, you watch God as He runs to you!!! The prodigal son came back and everything that was his was still waiting for him!!!
How low and how far can believers go and still get back? Remember the old Chubby Checkers song, “Limbo Rock,” with the line, “How low can you Limbo?” The answer, even for believers, is, “Pretty low, pretty low!” (I’m not about to try it) David was in the lowest place he had ever been in his life. But God sees the rest of your story. Someone say, “Thank God, He sees beyond what I can see.”
As you follow the story, you see at first, things got much better for David. Saul did stop pursuing him. He was given a city and he was gaining wealth and power. Things were looking up. Sin is always that way: It snags us by making us think that it will get us where we want to go, even if we take another path other than the path God gave us. When I’m out walking, I’m always aware that the farther I go, the farther I have to go to get back.....At first, going our own way, may seem like it’s delivering on its promise. But then, like buying on credit, the bills come due, and those chickens all come home to roost.
It was a three day trip, (which means they were gone for weeks with the Philistine army) Now, to get back to Ziklag, and as they approached Ziklag David and his men no doubt talked excitedly about how good it would feel to get home to their families, to enjoy the embrace of their wives and children, to eat a home cooked meal and to sleep in their own beds. But as they came over the hill and looked down on what they expected to be a peaceful domestic scene, they were horrified to see nothing but a pile of smoldering rubble, where their city had been, just ashes! Their town was burned to the ground, their families were nowhere in sight, and everything they owned was gone. These tough warriors fell apart and wept until they had no more strength to weep (it says in chapter 30:4).
To add to David’s despair, his own men--those who had pledged their allegiance to him, those who had gone into battle with him so many times—were so overwhelmed they now spoke of stoning him, they were so bitter! (Oh how bitter and deep are the wounds of a friend)! So in addition to David’s grieving for his wives, he felt rejected, totally alone in this world. And now he realized that he was in this mess because he had acted solo, without the Lord’s direction. (Oh, you better take God with you, where you plan to go).
If the enemy can make us think that our situation is unique, and we’re the only one, then he can make us despair of thinking that there is any way back. Guilt and condemnation are murderers, and kidnappers. Oh, my, “Sin will take you where you never planned to go, it will keep you there longer than you ever wanted to stay, it will cost you more than you could possibly pay, and make it harder than you ever imagined to find your way back”...
But there’s always a way back! (Somebody needs to take a shouting break)....You can never go so low but that the grace of God is not sufficient to bring you back. There is always hope in the Lord!
Perhaps some here today have at times felt overwhelmed with discouragement. It may be to a health problem or a family problem. Maybe you can’t find the right job, or you’re in debt so deeply that you can’t see your way out. Maybe you’re lonely, without family or friends who seem to care about you. Perhaps you’ve sinned and you feel like God has cast you off. But for you, .....if there was no one else on the planet......., God put David’s terrible situation, right here in the Bible to say, “There is a way back! In times of deepest despair, there is hope in the Lord!”
David’s experience teaches us a number of things about the way back..
THE WAY BACK IS AN INTENTIONAL WAY.
“But David” .....This is one of the many great “buts” in the Bible. Everything around David was gloom and doom. His property was either destroyed or stolen. His wives and children and all his possessions were gone and he didn’t know at this point if he would ever see them again. His men were talking of killing him. “But David!” intentionally looked beyond the smoldering ruins of Ziklag to the greatness of his God.
I love that one of the names of God, is “Jehovah Shammah”-The God who is There” He’s there with you, and He’s there before you get there! He not only waits for the prodigal, he’s there with him in the pig pen!
David’s “strengthened himself.” It implies persistent and continuous effort. Coming back to the Lord at a time of despair requires personal initiative. It doesn’t just happen by itself. Sometimes, like the psalmist, you have to give yourself a good slap, and grab yourself by the nap of the neck and give yourself a good talking to!
1 Sam. 43:5-11 “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, He is still the help of my countenance, and my God”. (Come on, talk to yourself, get real)
Like the prodigal son, you have to determine, “I will arise, get up out of this pig pen, and go back to my father!” The way back is always intentional and with purpose.
THE WAY BACK IS A VERY PERSONAL PATH.
“David strengthened himself in the Lord HIS God.” David knew God in a personal way. God was not just the God of David’s country, though he lived in the covenant nation of Israel. God was not just the God of David’s father, though he was raised in a God-fearing home, God was not just his church’s God, though David frequently was in the temple. God was David’s personal God.
You do not know God if you do not know Him personally. You can know about God, but not KNOW GOD. You can use a lot of religious language and attend worship services and even say eloquent prayers, Go through all the motions, but not know God personally. That’s why we encourage folks to be filled with the Holy Spirit, because then you have the encouragement, inspiration, divine unction, and source of power on the inside, where He moves, and stirs and quickens on a constant basis. Oh, my, BE FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT! Jesus said, “For this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, through Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). And it was Jesus who said, “Go tarry until you be endued with power from on high” You can be saved and never tap into the real power God has available to you....Be filled with the Spirit!
THE WAY BACK IS A SELF SACRIFICIAL WAY. That’s about laying aside my wants for His desires. To repent doesn’t just mean to lay your stuff on the altar, it means to lay yourself on the altar. David got distracted, he hadn’t sought God’s direction in his decision to go over to Achish, king of Gath. But now David is very careful to seek God’s direction and to obey it. If you had to fall flat on your face to learn it, then Ok it’s worth it!!!
A tourist visiting Australia was so into her facebook page on her smartphone that she literally walked right off a pier, plunging twenty feet into the deep waters of the ocean below. Rescue workers were called and after spending twenty-minutes treading water, while clinging tightly to her smartphone, she was saved. (can’t lose that smart phone) Sadly, many people are distracted, to their own peril, by the cares, riches and pleasures of this life that they never achieve the calling of God on their lives.
In David’s day, a person could seek God’s will through the Urim and Thummim which were contained in the ephod, or vest plate on the front of the garment of the high priest. These stones were contained in a pouch behind the breastplate. It was a God-ordained system of God’s answer to “Yes and No” questions for guidance. David now sought God’s direction in this way.
The way back to the Lord always involves acknowledging that I was wrong, and turning from that wrong, and doing what God desires. So David now called for the ephod in front of all his men, so that they could see that David was not calling the shots, but rather that he was seeking after and submitting to the Lord. Repentance often needs to be acknowledged in front of others, when the offence was done in front of others.....so those who saw us going our own way realize that now there is a change. It’s not going to be the same old, same old. (say, change is coming)
Let me add here, that God would never tell us to seek His will, if He wasn’t willing to show us His will. Open His word and you’ll know His will. The Prophet called for a ministerial and as he played God’s voice came to him. The Apostles gave themselves to prayer, and God showed them His will. Sometimes there is a certain song, or place or scripture, or something else, that always holds a special anointing for you, begin there, but don’t limit to that. When I am praying in the spirit, it sensitizes my spirit to tune in to God’s voice. Just open yourself to hear His voice in whatever way works for you, but you must get beyond yourself.... Put yourself and your talents and abilities on the altar, and watch what God will do!
THE WAY BACK IS A SURRENDERED WAY. David asked of the Urim & Thummin
1 Sam. 30:8: “Shall I pursue this band?” Many would not have bothered to ask the question: “These guys stole our families and our possessions. Let’s go get ‘em!” But David deliberately stopped to ask the Lord if he should pursue this band of marauders to try to recover what they had taken. (some lessons come the hard way)
You can’t write your own terms when you come to the Lord. You can’t say, “Lord, I’ll come back if You will do what I want.” He is the Lord, and our arms are too short to box with God, which means that He does what He wants, which doesn’t always fit with what I want. Submission means that I let Him call the shots. Whether He says, “It’s all gone,” or whether He graciously gives it back, I submit.
THE WAY BACK IS A TRUSTING WAY.
God told David that he would recover everything and David took God at His word. It’s pure logic that it would not have been good for David to sit around the ruins of Ziklag saying, “I’m just trusting the Lord, The Lord will have His way.” I’m just going to wait on the Lord.....No, He had to go and fight to recover what had been stolen.
Sometimes you have to march into the enemy’s camp and take back what he stole from you... but not before something more important.... Marching comes after “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength”......
Genuine faith is always active, trusting and it is obedient. If you are recovering from a situation caused by your sin, you have to believe what God says concerning your sins (that your sin is now charged to Christ’s account, not to yours) Let me repeat that.....and act upon it in spite of your feelings. You must leave it at the cross and march forward in trust and obedience!
THE WAY BACK IS A GENEROUS WAY.
On the way to pursue this enemy, 200 of David’s men were too exhausted to continue, so they stayed behind with the baggage so the others could move forward more effectively. The represent the intercessors and servers. After the other 400 had defeated the enemy and recovered far more than they had lost, some of those who had fought didn’t want to share the spoils with those who had stayed behind by the stuff. But David would not let them act in this self centered way. He gave the men who stayed behind an equal share and he sent generous gifts to his countrymen in the surrounding towns (1 Sam. 30:23-31).
To whom much is given, much is required.
The point is, the Lord doesn’t restore you to Himself so that you can live a comfortable, self-centered life, hoarding all the blessings He has graciously given. The problem with David’s greedy men was that they thought they had recovered the spoils. But David’s reply makes it clear that he knew it was the Lord who had given them back what they had recovered. If the Lord has given, then we must give an account to Him as stewards for how we dispense His gifts. The Lord never gives us His blessings just to make us selfish. He gives us His blessings so that we can share them with others so that He is glorified. When you testify, be sure He’s glorified!
So believers can go pretty low when they take the path that is away from the Lord. But, praise God, the way back is always open, even in our deepest despair! It is an intentional, personal, repentant, submissive, trusting, and generous way. Last of all, let’s look at ...Look at the God That we come back to.....
WE FIND THAT OUR GOD IS A SOVEREIGN GOD.
The Amalekite raid on Ziklag while David and his men were gone, was not an accident. The God who works all things after the counsel of His will, used this tragedy in the lives of David and his men to teach them to seek Him and trust him when everything seems hopeless. Even in the moment of despair, I’m sure that David could not imagine how God could allow such a tragedy nor how He could use it for the good of everyone.
But as he strengthened and encouraged himself in the Lord his God, David saw this great disaster as a great opportunity for God to show Himself mighty. So David didn’t just ventilate and express his rage toward God. He didn’t do the, “God, if You really loved me you wouldn’t have allowed this to happen!” He didn’t blame God. His need wasn’t to ventilate his emotions, his need was to get right with God. What he needed was to submit to the sovereign God and obey what God told him to do.
One day Billy and Ruth Graham were driving through a long stretch of road construction. They had numerous slowdowns, detours, and stops along the way. Finally they reached the end of all that difficulty, and smooth pavement stretched out before them. A large sign caught Ruth’s attention: "End of construction. Thanks for your patience." She commented that those words would be a fitting inscription on her tombstone someday. And if you visit her grave, that’s what the marker says......Push on through, there’ll be a sign waiting for you. “Well done faithful servant, you were patient during construction, enter into the joy of the Lord”....
God’s sovereignty is seen here, in a small incident in this story, as they got it right.. It says they “happened” upon an Egyptian in a field who turns out to be the discarded slave of one of the Amalekites generals, a slave who couldn’t keep up (1 Sam. 30:11). But as it is so often true, God uses the world’s discards and things overlooked by others, in His sovereign plan. This slave proved to be the key in recovering what the Amalekites had taken. Notice here, that if David had not been kind and generous to this hurting man, he would have missed God’s provision! It’s of great comfort to know that however bleak our situation, our sovereign God is still on His throne and that He has ordained all things, even little details, to show forth His attention to the smallest ingredients in our story as we trust in him..
WE FIND HERE THAT OUR GOD IS A SUFFICIENT GOD.
The great 19th century British preacher Charles Spurgeon was prone to depression. One day he was riding home feeling weary and down when suddenly God burst through his spirit with the verse, “My grace is sufficient for you.” Spurgeon replied, “I should think it is, Lord,” and burst out laughing. His unbelief seemed so absurd. He said, “It was as if a little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry and the river said, “My stream is sufficient for you.” Or, it was as if a little mouse in the huge grainaries of Egypt after seven years of plenty, feared it might die of famine and Joseph said, “Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for you.” Or again he imagined a man fearing that he would exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere by breathing, but the earth said, “Breathe away, O man, and fill your lungs forever. My atmosphere is sufficient for you.” What need do you have, no matter how desperate your situation, that the God who spoke the universe into existence is not sufficient to meet that need and so much more?
WE FIND THAT OUR GOD IS A GRACIOUS GOD.
God’s grace means that He does not deal with us according to our sins, but according to His great mercy shown to us in Christ, who bore all our sins. Who do we think we are, that our sin should ever be bigger than God’s grace, which is inexhaustible toward His children, more than the air we breathe every moment.
Don’t you suppose that when David and his men saw Ziklag burned to the ground and their families and possessions gone that anyone asked the familiar question, “Where is God in all this?” Where was God? Why did He allow all this? Had He abandoned David because David had gotten snagged by sin? Don’t miss this, because it’s the beautiful part of the story. Could any man’s failures be bigger than an all powerful God!!!!
While David was at the lowest point of his entire life, God was actually acting on David’s behalf to give David the throne of Israel which was always his. We’ve already seen how God graciously used the Philistine commanders to get David out of a compromising situation. And at the very moment that David and his men were lamenting the destruction of Ziklag, God was using the Philistines to sovereignly remove king Saul out of the way so that David could be king, without David having anything to do about it.
Perhaps this was the inspiration for David’s Psalm, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil, my cup runneth over”!!
If all of us in the church would commit ourselves to encouraging each other in the Lord our God.... All the Lazy folks would get up …Sleepy folks would wake up.... Discouraged folks would cheer up …Gossiping folks would shut up …Dishonest folks would fess up …fighting folks would make up …Depressed folks would look up...... Disgusted folks would sweeten up …Lukewarm folks would fire up …Sanctified folks would show up …Dead folks would live up …Vowing folks would pay up …And all the Godly folks would stand up, stand up for Jesus."
On one occasion, the great reformer, Martin Luther, was overwhelmed with depression. It didn’t seem to lift in spite of the appeals of family and friends. Finally, his wife, Katie, put on the black garments of a widow who was in mourning. When Luther noticed, he asked her who had died. She replied that God in heaven must have died, judging from Luther’s downcast countinance. His depression lifted instantly as he laughed and kissed his wise wife as they danced around the room together. Oh, today, encourage yourself in the Lord, your God!
You may be feeling low today—perhaps you’re feeling that something bad that happened is all your fault, as David experienced, or perhaps you feel like you’ve failed in some area and, things have just gone down hill. Just remember, no matter how low you go, the way back to your sovereign, sufficient, gracious Lord is always open and waiting. He bids you to come back to Him. Like David, you can strengthen yourself in the Lord your God! And find all He always had for you, still waiting to be received. Lift up your head, your redemption draws nigh... step into His grace, Yes, He’s waiting to give you all that He always said was yours, and it still is!!!
If these messages have ministered to you and you would feel to support our ministry in any way, you may send any support or drop a note to "Eagle's Rest, P.O box 2820, Key West, Florida 33040.... But most important, keep us in your prayers that we may be a tool in the Master's hands, and Jesus may be exalted continually in our lives and ministry. Thank you in advance and God richly bless you.. We look forward to hearing from you.
