This morning I continue our series entitled, “Standing on a Word from God.” This is Part 66 of the series and Part 38 of the life of David.
(1 Samuel Chapters 29 and 30)
In our last message we saw how the Lord showed up for David when he hit rock bottom. He was in a cave, all by himself, without his wife, without his best friend, and seemingly without God, but God was still moving and He was up to something. Before David knew it, his family showed up in the cave to support him. Then men from everywhere started showing up and they pledged their allegiance to David. They came to be known as “David’s Mighty Men”. I love that part of David’s story. I could go on and on for months on this, because I am going to wrap up David’s story this week, to get ready for next year. So today we are going to fast-forward to another rock-bottom experience for David. It happened eight chapters later.
In 1st Samuel 29 the Israelites were engaged in a fierce battle with the Philistines. But this time David and his mighty men joined enemy forces, so he could stay away from Saul and his attacks. David and his men were marching with king Achish of Gath. The Gathean army there to supplement the Philistines. However, one of the Philistine commanders recognized David and his band of Hebrews and demanded that they leave the warzone. King Achish vouched for David, but it did not matter. The Philistine commanders were not having it.
Achish summoned David and said to him, “I swear by the LORD that you have been a trustworthy ally. I think you should go with me into battle, for I’ve never found a single flaw in you from the day you arrived until today. But the other Philistine rulers won’t hear of it. Please don’t upset them, but go back quietly.” Although David did not really want to fight the Israelite Army anyway, by this point he was upset because he was invested. He and his men were a three-day journey away from home.
Chapter 30 opens with the men making the journey home to 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. They destroyed all the homes, took all the spoils, and hauled off all the women and children as slaves. When the men got home all they saw was the remains of a town burned 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 had two wives by this point, Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel. Both wives were among the captured.
David was mourning the loss, just like his men were, but David had additional pressure. 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. In the midst of their pain the finger of blame was directed towards David. They wanted to kill him.
So there he was… David was in a foreign land, rejected by the forces he connected with, betrayed by the men he invested the most in, and after living amongst the enemy for years (while he waited for God’s promise to make him king to come to pass), he was at a new all-time-low. All David had left was God. The Bible says, “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” Another translation says, “David found strength in the LORD his God.” We will stop here for today.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things:
1. The road to your destiny is a long one and it has many twists and turns.
a) When God sent a prophet to anoint a 17yrd. old David to be the next king of Israel, the teenage David had no idea what he was going to have to go through to become king. Like David, you must develop the perseverance required to endure all you must endure on the road to your purpose. God’s grace is on you to win, but you must decide to keep going!
b) Things are going to happen that you never expected. Things may get worse before they get better. But nothing that happens can stop you if you decide to keep going. The one who lives IN YOU is much greater than anything that happens TO YOU.
2. If you cannot have faith in anything else, you can always have faith in God’s faithfulness towards you.
a) King Saul turned on David. King Achish turned on David. David’s men, the ones he invested in the most, turned on him as well. His men wanted to kill him. But through it all, the one place David could always turn to for faithfulness was God. The same can be said for you.
b) God will never leave you, forsake you, or turn His back on you. Even when you are faithfulness towards God, He remains faithful towards you.
3. Sometimes you have to encourage yourself.
a) David had no one else, so he had to encourage himself. Sometimes you have to minister to yourself, preach to yourself, and build your own self up!
b) If no one else is there, God is there. Encourage yourself IN THE LORD!
Closing Confession:
Father, understanding the frailty of humanity, I know 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, and now matter how crazy the path to my purpose becomes, I can encourage myself in You, because You are always there! You help 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! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
