When all you have left is God

(Read 1 Samuel 30:1-6)

This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.”  Although David was seemingly fighting with Achish to be allowed into the fight with Israel, Achish was firm and David and his men had to make the three-day journey back home.  Things had not turned out the way they expected and they were traveling back home disappointed, even though they never should have been fighting the Israelites in the first place.  And as if often the case when you are out of place, things went from bad to worse.  After the three-day journey the men made it back to their home in Ziklag.  With all the stress of the previous six days — from going to and from a battle they were forbidden from participating in — I am sure the men were simply looking forward to a hot meal, a warm bed, and a loving hug from their wives and kids.  However, what they received was completely unexpected.

While David and his men were gone the Amalekites raided Ziklag, hauled off all the women and children as slaves, burned the town to the ground.  When the men looked around, seeing their homes destroyed and their families gone, the Bible says that they wept until they could not weep anymore.  They shed tears until they literally ran out of tears.  David’s two wives, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel, were among those captured.  David was mourning the loss, just like his men were, but David had additional pressure, for while his men were mourning, they began to turn on David.  Although David’s men had come to him as a band of misfits, and although he had turned their lives around and forged them into an elite fighting force, all they could think about at the time was their loss and in the midst of their pain the finger of blame was directed towards David and they spoke of stoning him.  So there David was… he knew he was destined for greatness, but the pain of the situation clouded any hope for his future.  David was in a foreign land, he had joined forces with his enemies, he had been living a lie for years, he was waiting for the day to come where he would be king of Israel, but his breakthrough had not yet come, and he had hit a new all-time-low.  His family was gone and so were the families of his men.  His village was burned to the ground and so was everything he and his men had.  His ally denied him the opportunity to fight alongside the men of Philistine.  And now his men — the same men who had been there for him, through thick-and-thin — were speaking of stoning him.  All David had left was God and the Bible says,  “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.”  Another translation says, “David found strength in the LORD his God.”

So what does this mean to you today?  A few things:

1.  When you are out of place you open yourself up to bad things happening.  I am not saying that God did this to David, but what I am saying is that we sometimes open the door to the enemy when we make poor decisions.  There is a level of divine protection associated with being in God’s will.  When you choose to live outside of God’s will, you run the risk of also being outside His protection.

2.  Even people you have sacrificed greatly for can turn on you.  This is not an indictment against people, but rather an acknowledgement of the frailty of humanity.  David had invested greatly in these men and they were ready to stone him to death, because they judgement was clouded by the pain of the situation.  People are just human.  Sometimes good people make bad decisions, especially if they are emotional at the time.  Don’t ‘write people off’ just because they said something negative to you in the midst of a painful or overly emotional time.  What if God did that to you?  Just like God has forgiven you, be quick to forgive others.  Understand that they are human and therefore not perfect.  Be ready to forgive and move on.

3.  You must have a relationship with God for yourself.  David had a priest with him (Abiathar), but David did not rely on the priest to get a Word from God.  When the pressure was on, David relied on his own personal relationship with the Father and you must do the same.  Thank God for your Pastor, and you must surely appreciate your brothers and sisters in Christ, but it is critical that you develop a relationship with God for yourself.  You must know God personally and intimately!

4.  You must learn to encourage yourself in the Lord your God.  There will be times when you can’t get your Pastor on the phone.  There will be times when even your closest friends are not there for you.  There will be times when you feel all alone.  During those times you must learn to encourage yourself in the Lord your God.  David did not have king Achish to support him or his men to back him, but David did have the God of his salvation.  Even when all human hope is gone, in God you are never hopeless because in Him you are never helpless.  David called on His God and he received the encouragement he needed to keep going.  You must be able to do the same.  There will be times when the pressure in on you to give up, cave in and quit, but if you learn to encourage yourself in the Lord your God, you will receive the encouragement you need to keep going in spite of seemingly insurmountable odds.

Closing Confession:  Father, I declare, by faith, that I dwell in the secret place of the Most High and I abide under the shadow of Your almighty protection.  I remain in your will, so that I can enjoy Your divine protection, and if I am ever going astray, I have an ear to hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to me, so that I can quickly repent and make the course correction I need to make to get back on track.  I resist every temptation to get outside of Your will and by staying in Your will, I enjoy supernatural protection daily.  I thank You Father for my Pastors and for those You have placed in my life to be an encouragement to me.  I love people and they love me.  I know that people are not perfect, and I understand that people will sometimes say and do things out of character, in an overly emotional situation, and since I walk in Your love I will not hold that against them.  I am quick to forgive and quick to move on, not harboring bitterness, malice, or unforgiveness in my heart.  But understanding the frailty of humanity, I also understand that there will be times when others are not there for me.  There will be times when I can’t get my Pastor on the phone.  There will be times when my closest friends are out of reach.  And during those times, no matter how humanly alone I might feel, I know I am never all alone, because You are always with me.  I have a personal and intimate relationship with You and You are the source of my strength.  You are my ever-present help in the time of trouble.  I call upon You and You answer me.  No matter how hard times get, and no matter how much pressure I feel, I thank You Father for helping me to encourage myself in the Lord my God.  I can encourage myself in You, even when I don’t have any other source of encouragement, and my encouragement in You helps me to keep going when the pressure is on me to quit.  Therefore, I declare, that I shall never give up, cave in, or quit, because the Lord my God is with me whithersoever I go!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen!

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper.