Rupert was over at the restaurant
yesterday and we was kind of just talking to the owner a few
minutes and I told him I wasn't from around here but I still
had on my West Virginia hat. I told him that Rupert was just
from up the road and he said, yeah I can tell you've not been
in West Virginia long. He said, you still have all your
teeth. They get a bad rap is all I know.
Let's open our Bible this morning to 1 Samuel chapter 30. I'm going to read verses 1 through 8 and
then we're going to go back at some before this so you'll kind
of get the context of what's going on. Let's begin reading,
I'm sorry, in verse 11, the last verse of chapter 29. And David and his men rose up
early to depart in the morning, to return unto the land of the
Philistines. And the Philistines went up to
Jezreel. And it came to pass when David
and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day. And the Amalekites
had invaded the south in Ziklag and smitten Ziklag and burned
it, burned Ziklag with fire. And they had taken the women
captive that were therein. They slew not any, either great
or small, but carried them away and went on their way. And David
and his men came to the city. And behold, it was burned with
fire. And their wives, their sons,
and their daughters were taken captives. Then David and the
people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until
they had no more power to weep. Then David's two wives were taken
captive, Ahonahim the Jezreelitess and Abigail the wife of Nabal
the Carmelitess. And David was greatly distressed,
for the people even spake of stoning him, because the souls
of all the people were grieved, every man for his sons and for
his daughters. But David encouraged himself
in the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the
priest, him elect son, I pray thee bring me hither the ephod,
and Abiathar brought hither the ephod to David. And David inquired
at the Lord, saying, shall I pursue after this troop, after those
Amalekites? Shall I overtake them? And God
answered him, pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and
without fail. recover all. Look over in verse
18 also after David goes after him, and David recovered all
that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two
wives. And there was nothing lacking
to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither
sporn, or anything that they had taken to them. David recovered
all. The question we asked this morning,
how in the world did David, the man after God's own heart, the
great psalmist of Israel, the chosen king of Israel. God passed
by Jesse's other seven sons and picked out David and anointed
David by Samuel to be king. But before David ever comes to
the throne, David is hunted and David is chased by the other
king, King Saul. King Saul was the one that the
people chose and he's the one God gave him to reign over Israel
and the whole For years, wherever David went, Saul hated him, Saul
despised him, and Saul tried to kill him. This is why David
is here living with the Philistines. And you remember who the Philistines
are. Goliath was a Philistine. And David is having to live with
these Philistines. If you would turn back over to
chapter 21, I want to show you this. How did David wind up in
this place? In chapter 21, verse 10, this is after David had went
to the priest, and the priest had gave him the showbread. Our
Lord made mention of this. And how that he gave him the
sword of Goliath. And it says in verse 10, and David arose
and fled that day for fear of Saul. Can this be the same David
that stood with such great faith against Goliath? And now he's
fleeing for fear of that king Saul. And he went to Achish,
the king of Gath, the king of the Philistines. And the servants
of Achish said unto him, Is not this David, the king of the land? Do you not see that? They know
who this man is. He's never sat on a throne, but
they know who he is. Is not this the king of the land? Not just Israel, they said the
land. He's king over all things, which
he is. And he always was. Did they not sing one to another
in hymn and dances, saying Saul hath slain his thousands? And
David his ten thousands. And David laid up his words in
his heart. and was so afraid of Achish the king of Gath. And
watch this, and he changed his behavior before the Philistines
and he feigned himself mad in their hands and he scrabbled
on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down upon
his beard. Is this talking about David?
This is talking about David. Then said Achish unto his servants,
Lo, you see that the man is mad. Wherefore then have you brought
him to me? Have I need of mad men that you
have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? Shall
this fellow come into my house? That's the first time he goes
to the Philistines. Now go to chapter 27. Just bear
with me. So David went the first time.
Can you imagine going to live among the Philistines for fear
of King Saul? Is this really a believer? Oh, this is a believer. This
is God's chosen king. And David said in his heart,
I shall one day perish. I shall now perish one day by
the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me
than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines.
And Saul shall despair of me, to seek me anymore in any coast
of Israel. So shall I escape out of his
hand." So why is he going? He's afraid of King Saul and
he says, I'll go down there and hide and he'll never find me.
And David arose and he didn't go by himself. And he passed
over with 600 men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Mahoch,
king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish of
Gath, he and his men, every man with his household. And David
and his two wives, Anahim the Jezreelitess and Abigail the
Carmelitess, Nabal's wife. And it was told Saul that David
was fled to Gath. And he sought him no more again
for him. And David said to Achish, if I have now found grace in
thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country
that I may dwell there. For why should thy servant dwell
in the royal city with thee? And Achish gave him what? Ziklag that day. He gave it to him. If you go
back and look in the book of Joshua, you know what Ziklag,
whose it was to start with? It was of the tribe of Judah.
Who is David from? Of the tribe of Judah. Even this
lost, depraved man giving this place to David, he is fulfilling
all God's promises. All this that's happening and
everything that's happening even today in our lives is happening
by God's purpose and by God's plan. It may not seem like it. You said, this seems pretty sad.
David is going to this place called Ziklag. Therefore, Ziklag
pertained unto the kings of Judah unto this day. And the time that
David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year
and four months. Sixteen months he lives in that
place. And David and his men went up
and invaded the Gergashites and the Gerzerites and the Amalekites,
for those nations were of old inhabitants of the land, as thou
goest this year even to the land of Egypt. And David smoked the
land and left neither man nor woman alive and took away their
sheep and their oxen and their asses and the camels and their
peril and returned to Achish. And Achish said, whither have
you made a road today, David? And David said, against the south
of Judah. He didn't tell him what he really
did. He wasn't going against Judah. He went against the Amalekites
and against the south of the Canaanites. David spared neither
man nor woman alive to bring tidings to the king Gath, saying,
lest they should tell on us. Saying, so did David, and so
will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of
the Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, he hath made his
people Israel utterly to abhor David. Therefore he shall be
my servant forever." What I want you to see He mentions this about
what David did to the Amalekites. He lives there for 16 months
and very little said. But we see a whole lot about
what Saul, King Saul, did in chapter 28. The Philistines,
these very people that David is living among, are going to
gather together their troops and go against Israel. And God
is going to use them to kill King Saul. And David's living
in the Philistines, with the Philistines. So where David's
in a pickle. They're getting ready to go and
fight, and David's going to have to go fight with them. He's going
to have to go fight his own people. Because David's convinced this
man that he's faithful to him. This is a believer. This is where
David's at. But when the five lords of the
Philistines come, they said, who's this man David? He's not
faithful to us. And they send David back to Ziklag. That's what's happening. Can
you imagine how David feels? He knows what's getting ready
to happen. That's why Saul goes to the witch of Endor when he
sees all these enemies coming together against him. And he
knows this is his death warrant. He knows he's getting ready to
die. And all this time, David's living with the Philistines.
And King Achish said, David, you go back. And David marches
a three-day journey. with 600 of his men back to Ziklag. Who's in Ziklag? His wives, his
children, those 600 men that are with him, their wives, their
children live in this place called Ziklag. Don't you know, Don,
you see David Wapp and his browns, boy, I'm glad I got out of that.
I'm glad I'm not having to go fight Israel. But little does
he know what's happening back in Ziklag. Those same Amalekites
that he fought against, don't you know they waited until David
left? And when David left, you know what they did? They came
in and they took everything. They took the women, they took
the children, and they burned that city. Can you imagine what David thought?
I can see him when he's about a mile or so off and he can see
the smoke coming up from that city and I can see his heart
just begin to sink. What in the world has happened?
No word do I read, and you can read it for yourself, in them
16 months do I one time see David inquiring of the Lord. Not one
time. After it happened, then he called
for a Bithartic priest, and he said, you bring that ephod, and
let us inquire and seek the direction of Almighty God, and God said,
David, you go pursue him. But for 16 months he never sought
the Lord. Is this not how we get in messes? We lean to our own understanding.
Here's a man going to the Philistines looking for some rest. I want
to get away from King Saul. I want to get away from all...
I'm tired of messing with it. And he's living in Ziklag for
16 months. Thinks everything's fine. That
all this whole time David is trusting in the arm of the flesh
and not in the Lord God. This I say, walk in the Spirit
and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh
lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh.
And these are the contrary of one to another so that you cannot
do the things that you would. We are the circumcision which
worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. And
we should not put any confidence in your flesh, my flesh, or anybody
else's flesh. Nobody's. David comes back to Ziklag. When they reach this city, don't
you know after a three-day march they're probably wore out? They're
looking for a time of rest. And what do they find? Everything
burned up. Can I tell you a little secret?
If you're God's, if you're his, those that he loves, he rebukes
and chastens. The Lord ain't going to leave
him in ziklag. And what he did? God will burn up your ziklag.
can represent you by nature. You know what we trust in? We
trust in our flesh. We trust in our own self-righteousness. We trust in our own merit. And
it's got to all be burned up. It's got to all be consumed.
David stand in there and this whole men and these are mighty
men and it says David and all the men wept till they could
not weep anymore. You imagine coming back and finding
your wife gone. You imagine going home today
and then there's everything's gone, your wife, your children,
everything, everything that you're trusting in. It's all gone. It's
gone. It's gone. Ziklag can represent anything
that we look to or rest in. We should seek our comfort, our
rest, our everything in the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone. Pink said, better, far better,
to be in the midst of the black ruins of Ziklag surrounded by
a threatening mob than to be in the ranks of the Philistines
fighting against his own people. They were so mad. You know why
they wanted to stone David? They said, David, it's your fault.
Why didn't you leave somebody here to watch the city? Why didn't
you leave half the men here to take care of the family while
you were gone? They were all gone! While David is marching
back to Ziklag, those Amalekites are destroying the city. But
what I want you to see It is grace that when we don't read
here that none of the children and none of the wives or none
of them are dead. These Amalekites are ruthless
people. David when he smoked the Amalekites
he wiped out everything and by nature they would have too. But
God spared them. God spared them. God used these
Amalekites to chasten David but not to destroy David. Our enemy of our soul can only
go so far. You know what he said to Job? He said, you can touch his body,
but you can't take his life. And God used those Amalekites. You think it's an accident? They
just happened to come when David's gone? I don't think so. If you're his, if you're God's,
if he's chosen you and ordained you and redeemed you, He won't
leave you to yourself. You better thank God he doesn't.
If he left us to ourselves, we would do this. This is what we
do every time, isn't it? We look to ourselves or look
to something or someone. It says David was greatly distressed. That word distressed means to
be pressed into a narrow place. Can you just imagine What's going
through David's mind? Yeah, it's all my fault. We should
have never come to this place. I should have never brought my
family here. It reminds me of just like in
the book of Ruth. When there was a famine came,
Ahimelech, you know what he did? He took his whole family down
to Moab. Why did he go to Moab? If I go
to Moab, I'll keep everything I got and I won't lose it in
Bethlehem. But you know what happened in Moab? You know what
happened? Go back and read it. He lost everything. He died and
his two sons died. That's what's happening here.
God has arranged all this to come to pass upon David to humble
him. God has brought all this to pass
to bring David to the end of his self. Like I said, David had been acting
without inquiring of the Lord. And some said, well, I can figure
this out. I can figure this out. This sounds like a good plan.
We'll just go live in Ziklag. Everything will be fine. And
it seemed like everything was fine for 16 months. Nothing happened. And now David stands. among the
ashes, David begins to understand what an evil and bitter thing
it is to lean to our own understanding. That's a bitter lesson. It's
all my fault. There is a way that seems right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. David
had convinced himself that everything he was doing, he was right in
doing it. What I want you to see But here
at this point, this is a turning point in David's life. He's been
running from King Saul, been living in Ziklag, living in a
cave, the cave of Dullam with those outcasts. But now he comes
to a turning point. And he says, Lord, what do you
want me to do? And God tells him. God had arranged all this to
bring him to this place. God is breaking David. God is
stripping him of every false hope. And God has to do that
to everybody or they'll perish. He leaves a man alone, he'll
perish. He has to humble him. He has to strip him. God is teaching David and God
must teach us that we must depend upon him for everything. Everything. He that thinks he stand, you
take he lest you fall. David is broken, cast down, discouraged. What's he to do? What is he to
do? Imagine what in the world is
he to do? Notice in verse 6 that little
conjunction word but. But David encouraged himself
in the Lord his God. Has it done its work? Oh yeah. Someone said David looks around,
what he does not see encourages him. He does not see the dead
bodies of his wives and his children. The only way you can explain
his wives and his children not being killed, it's not the mercy
of the Amalekites, it's the mercy of God. It's the mercy of God. And David encouraged himself
in the Lord his God. Now listen. This means that in
spite of all that he had done, the lies that he had told, just
like out of the blue, he encourages himself in the Lord his God. God enabled him to remember what? Who his God is. He hadn't sought him for 16 months.
And now as he stands there that day, what am I going to do? It's all my fault. I brought
all this on myself and on my family. It's my own fault. It's
my own rebellion. God enabled him to remember who
his God is. Now listen to this. I got this
from Alexander McClarion. As David stood here, Among these
ashes, there was only one possession in all the world except his body
and the clothes upon his back that he could call his own at
this moment. What can he say is mine? Everything
else is gone. His property was all carried
off. His house, his city, my possessions,
all gone. The Amalekites had stolen everything
from him but one thing. They can't take his God from
him. He encouraged himself in the
Lord, he is gone. Though he could no longer say,
my house, my city, my possessions, he could say, my God. Whatever
else we lose, as long as we have him, we are rich. And whatever
else we possess, we are poor, as long as we don't have him.
God is enough, whatever else may go. The Lord his God was
a sufficient portion for this man when he stood as a homeless
pauper. He has nothing, it's all gone. Even all of his friends, everybody
wants, they want to stone him. What's he going to do? Turn to
the only one he has left. And that is when we turn. Let's
just be honest, that is when we turn. The Lord was his sufficient portion
for this man when he stood as his homeless pauper. He had lost
everything that his heart clung to. His wives, his children,
Abigail, Anahim were captives in the arms of some Amalekite.
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine it? What are
they doing to my wives? His house was left to him desolate,
his heart was bleeding. But he still had his God. And God must strip you and show
you that you have nothing but him. Isn't that it? David was reminded of who his
God was. David had changed, and we change
every day. Like I said, just read the life
of David. One day he's coming up to fight Goliath, and he said,
is there not a cause? And the next day he's saying,
I'm one day, I'm only one step between me and death. He's done
been anointed king. He's done been told that he's
going to sit upon the throne, and he thinks he's going to die
by king's soul. That's not a possibility. But David is now looking to his
covenant God. The unchanging God. He is not
looking to his bravery. He is not looking to his strength. He is not looking to his men.
He is not looking to anybody. There's nobody left. Where can
he go? He can't look to his merits.
They're all burned up. There's nothing left. David's relationship with God
had changed, but God's relationship with David had never changed.
Never changed. Listen, Malachi chapter 3 verse
6, For I am the Lord, I change not. And because I don't change,
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. The Lord could
have waited until David got back to the city, and they could have
everyone been destroyed. That's a fact. The only reason
you're not destroyed, you say, but David got exactly what he
deserved. Why didn't he perish? God's an
unchanging God. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. The only reason that David is
still alive, the only reason we're still alive, any of us,
is God never changes. This is what encouraged David's
heart. Encouraged, I can tell you. As
a sinner, I need some encouragement, don't you? I see myself, seems
like most of the time, living in zipline. Is that just me? Where am I to find encouragement
from? Boy, I sure can't find it in here. I sure can't find
it to my resolutions and my good intentions or my merits. They're
all burned up. There's nothing left. Where am
I to run to? To Him. That's what He wants. That's what He causes us to do.
David is crying to the Lord now, isn't he? You read Psalms 107. He says, I command the stormy
winds to arise. It's like a ship being out on
the sea and all of a sudden a storm comes up and you think the ship's
going to crash. He said, when they are at their
wits end, then they cry unto the Lord. That describes us every
day. Not part of the time, every day. He will remind you that He is
the unchanging God. In 1 Samuel 23 verse 16, Jonathan
loved David as his own soul. He was King Saul's son. He would
have been there to the throne. After Saul died, Jonathan would
have sat on that throne. And Jonathan one day hears that
David's over here hiding in the woods and you know what Jonathan
did? Jonathan saw the sun arose and he went to David into the
woods and he strengthened his hand in God. What do you think Jonathan told
him? I don't care what happens, God's
going to sit you on the throne. He told him, he said, you're
going to be king. One day he comes out there and Jonathan
takes off his armor, he takes off his sword, he takes off his
robe and he lays it down at David's feet and he said, you're going
to be king. You're going to be king. Our God is king. I don't care
what happens, our God's king. Our God's king. It says in Psalms
27 verse 14, Wait on the Lord and be of good courage and He
shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, upon the Lord. That
it wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount
up with wings of eagles. They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not faint. What am I to do? Let me just
sit here and feel sorry for myself. Right? or I can encourage myself, not
in what I hope to do, but on what's already done. When we
sin, when we sin, and we sin every day, there's not a second
we don't sin. We think God has changed toward
us, and he's never changed. Because His love for a sinner
was never determined upon what you are and what you would ever
do. We're not making a lot of sin, you know that. But when
you fall, what will bring courage to your heart is He is an unchanging
God. That's it. And what Paul said, that great
apostle, he said, when I am weak, I am strong. He said, lest I
should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelations. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, and
what was this thorn in the flesh? The messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure for this saying
I will assault the Lord three times that it might depart from
me. And God said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee.
My strength is made perfect in weakness. Paul said most gladly
therefore will I glory in my infirmities. Now listen I want
to change it a little bit. Most gladly therefore will I
glory in my ziklags that the power of Christ may rest upon
me. Therefore I take pleasures in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions
and in distresses for Christ's sake for when I'm weak then am
I strong. David now realized why all this
had happened. It had brought him to his God. David said, what time I am afraid,
I will trust in thee. I'm going, I'm inquiring to the
Lord, what do you want me to do? I want to go get my family
back, but before he does that, he inquires of God, and God said,
you pursue, and you know what David did? He got up from those
ashes, and went with his men and got his two wives and his
families and brought everything back. He recovered all. Do you see
the picture? There's one called the Lord Jesus
Christ, the King of Kings, who rose from the ashes and has recovered
all. Didn't he? Everything that was
taken, he brought it back. Everybody. Romans 8, 38 said, For I am persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God. Where is it at? It's in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Our great God will never cast
off his people. He says in Psalms 56 3, what
time I am afraid I will trust in thee. In God I will praise
his word, in God I have put my trust and I will not fear what
flesh can do unto me. Robert Hawker said, There may
be, and no doubt there is, much unworthiness, much undeserving
in the best of saints. There will be changes in God's
people, like the ebbing and the flowing of the tide on the sea,
but there is no change in the covenant security of God's people. The efficacy of this is eternally
and everlastingly the same. God is in Christ as an ocean
that never dries, that never lessens, that never abates. He
is a rock. His work is perfect. And he said,
Lord, give me grace that whatever leanness or barrenness there
may be in me, that I may, like David, encourage myself in the
Lord. My God. God enable us to look to our
Lord and rest in Him for all things. He changes not. No matter where David went, it
never changed God's purpose and His plan. And it all, listen
to me, this is the turning point. While David's going to get his
family back and recover all, you know what's happening? The
Philistines are gathered against King Saul, and King Saul, Jonathan,
and two other sons die in battle. And they come and get David.
and set him on the throne. Our Lord went through a time
of humiliation. He came to this world. He's able
to be felt with the feelings of our infirmities. Endured what
we endured. Tasted what we tasted. Endured
sin. Temptation without sin to save
His people. And from the ashes he arose to
sit upon his throne. Amen. Thank you Mike. We look forward to your next message at 11 o'clock.