May the Lord be gracious to us
tonight and bless our souls as we turn to his word. Let us turn
to the first book of Samuel, chapter 30, and we'll read verse
19. The first book of Samuel, chapter
30, and reading verse 19. And there was nothing lacking
to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughter, neither
spoil nor anything that they had taken to them. David recovered
all. This account in this 30th chapter
of the first book of Samuel is a very encouraging account and
we see how the Lord wonderfully appeared for David and the men
that were with him and had heard David's prayer and had answered
it in the most amazing way. Because David and his men had
gone to fight elsewhere and to help the Philistines, strangely
enough, and the King Achish wanted them, but his men didn't. So
they were told to return and they returned to this town of
Ziklag, where they lived, and they found it was burned with
fire. Well, that was a great shock,
quite clearly, for them, wasn't it? And not only that, but all
their children, their wives, had been carried away captive,
and their cattle, great and small. So it had obviously a great effect,
and we're told David and the people lifted up their voice
and wept until they had no more power to weep. It was a very
sad scene which they observed. And David's wives were taken
and were told in the sixth verse, and David was greatly distressed.
The people speak of stoning him because the soul of all the people
was grieved, every man, for his sons and every man for his daughters. So we might wonder what they
were going to do, what David was going to do. Well, we see
here a wonderful example. This is what David tells us.
But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. David knew
where to go. And that's a good thing for us
today, because we may not have to face things quite as bad as
this, although, of course, at the present time, back in the
war zone, no doubt many people are facing that kind of situation.
and come back and find their homes are destroyed and their
families perhaps not there anymore. It's a desperate situation. Well, David then, having strengthened
himself in the Lord his God, he sought for direction. He didn't just say, well, I'm
going to do this and I'm going to follow this way. No, he inquired
of the Lord. And what good teaching that is
for us in all difficult situations. Not to try and plan our own little
lives and think, well, this is what I'm gonna do. This is obviously
the situation. It may be, but it's good to come
and pray to God. That's what David did. And David
asked the Lord a very simple question. And he said, shall
I pursue after this troop The enemy that have been there, shall
I pursue? Shall I overtake them? And the
Lord answered him and said, pursue, and thou shalt surely overtake
them and without fail recover all. And that was a very positive
answer from God to David, wasn't it? He was able then to take
this course and indeed to pursue. Remember then the sequence. He had a need. He strengthened
himself in the Lord God. He prayed to his God and his
God heard and answered him. And so with that, you see, then
David went forth. He had 600 men, but two were
very tired and weak and they stayed by the brook. But David
went with these 400 men and then we're told how the Lord appears.
There was this young man, an Egyptian, who'd been left behind. David didn't know where these
people were, he didn't know what the situation was. But the Lord
ordained a young man to fall sick and his master left him
behind. It's a very callous thing to
do in any event and a very unwise thing to do. And of course it
fell out for the great benefit of David and his men. So there
was this Egyptian in the field and they brought him to David
and they gave him some food and drink and that strengthened him. And his spirit came again after
he had eaten and drunk. And David said, to whom belongest
thou? And whence art thou? And he said,
I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master
left me, because three days ago I fell sick. We made an invasion
upon the south of the Karathites, and upon the coast, which belonged
to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag
with fire. And David said, Canst thou bring
me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by
God that thou wilt neither kill me nor deliver me into the hands
of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. And
when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad
upon all the earth, eating and drinking and dancing because
of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of
the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. And David smote
them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day. And there escaped not a man of
them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels and
fled. And then we read, And David recovered all that the Amalekites
had carried away. David rescued his two wives. Then we come down to this 19th
verse which reads, And there was nothing lacking to them,
neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoiled
nor anything that they had taken to them. David recovered all. It's a wonderful account, isn't
it? To see how the Lord appeared
for David. Now we should remember that we
worship today. We come today to the same God
who hasn't changed. We read in Hebrews 13, He is
the same yesterday and today and forever. What a great blessing
it is then. We know not what is before us,
Now I know not at all what path you may be in with a great need. But remember, God is able to
do great things. And man cannot stand against
the power of Almighty God. Whatever that situation may be,
may we have our confidence in God. David was greatly distressed,
we sometimes may be greatly distressed. But David, he didn't mope, he
didn't look at himself. He strengthened himself in the
Lord is God. What a place of refuge, David
tells us in one of the Psalms. God is our refuge and strength. A very present help in trouble. Surely that should be a wonderful
encouragement to us in our little life. Because here we have a
position which is easy to understand, but we do come into times individually
where we don't know what to do. Well, it's good when we can look
up, when we can cast all our care upon the Lord. That's just what David did. He sought for direction. He didn't
say, well, now, I'm going to do this. This is the way I must
go. It's obvious to me. No, he prayed to God for direction. And God didn't turn his back
on David. He didn't say, William, sort it out yourself. He appeared
for him. And he gave him an encouragement
that he should pursue and that he would then overtake the enemy
and without fail, recover all. We might fail. God never fails. God's ways are always right. God's ways are nearly always
higher than our ways. And God's ways bring honor and
glory to him, whereas our ways only bring glory to ourselves. And that's a very poor result,
isn't it? So to think then that here we
have the testimony of David. Well, this is, of course, we
might say the natural testimony of David's life. Well, I read
that 85th Psalm. which is a very beautiful psalm
and a very instructive psalm. And it really gives us an insight
also into our spiritual scene, which all of us do have to face
and all of us do have to pass through. And what an encouragement
it is to know that we have a God who is gracious and merciful. David says, he says this in verse
four. Turn us, O God, of our salvation
and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Well, you may say,
well, obviously David had done wrong things and God was very
angry with him when all of us have done wrong things without
any doubt. Perhaps the Lord has been very patient. Perhaps the
Lord has been very gracious. And yet, you see, here we have
this confession and this desire. Turn us, O God of our salvation,
and cause thine anger to warn us to cease. Wilt thou be angry
with us forever? Wilt thou draw out thine anger
to all generations? And then he poses this question. Wilt not thou revive us again? that my people may rejoice in
thee. David naturally had been able
to rejoice with all the people that the Lord had appeared for
him. And so it is in our spiritual life to be concerned that we
may indeed rejoice in the Lord. And perhaps we don't feel very
much like rejoicing at the moment. Perhaps everything seems stacked
against us. Nothing seems to be going smoothly.
Everything seems to be going contrary. But you see here, David
comes and asks this great question, will not thou revive us again
that thy people may rejoice in thee? And if the Lord does come,
and if we are cast down, and if we are perhaps in a low place. And you see, each one of us knows
our soul's condition. We each know the bitterness of
perhaps the path which the Lord is leading us in. It's often
not plain sailing, I suppose we ought to say, It's very seldom
plain sailing. But we have a God who is dealing
with us, remember, in love to our souls. And God knows what
is best for us. God knew what was best for David.
And in David's path, it was that path that brought him to that
place of nearness to his God and to be able to thank his God. And he comes on and tells us,
there in this great request, Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and
grant us thy salvation. We see, don't we, there, very
directly, his concern for his spiritual state. Sometimes the
Lord brings us into conditions, we may be lukewarm, we may have
been lukewarm, and the Lord causes us to look to Him and to plead
with Him and to cry to Him. Here David is doing just that.
Show us Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation. So this is the essential thing,
isn't it, in our lives? To know the mercy of God and
to know His salvation. And perhaps we need the revival
in our spiritual lives to once again direct us to the glorious
work of God with regard to our souls to know that he is. As Jonah said, the Lord is my
salvation. What a blessing that is when
the Lord gives us that humble confidence to know it is the
Lord who is our salvation. And then he says, I will hear
what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace unto
his people and to his saints. But let them not turn again to
folly. We're very foolish, aren't we?
We often turn in the wrong direction. And yet here we have the words
of David showing to us how good and kind and gracious God is. Show us thy mercy, O Lord, and
grant us thy salvation. I will hear what God the Lord
will speak. It's good, isn't it, when you
and I come and we wait upon the Lord and we wait for Him to speak. And that means that you and I
have an open mind to receive the Word of God. We often have
preconceived ideas, don't we? We often have our plans. But
let us remember this. Again, as David says, knew it
from personal experience, as for God, his way is perfect. And that, of course, relates
to our spiritual life. And he says, I will hear what
God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace. unto his
people and to his saints, but let them not turn again to folly.
Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him, that glory
may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. And he comes and says, yea, the
Lord shall give that which is good. What a comfort that shall
be. To know that which the Lord gives
is good. Is good. And when we say that,
we mean it is for our eternal good. And that's a blessing,
isn't it? As you and I travel on through
life, and it's very easy to be sidetracked. What a blessing
it is to be directed by the Spirit of God to realise, yes, that
the Lord will shall give that which is good. The Lord gave
that which was good, didn't he? On this occasion here also to
David. And he gave it with a great fullness,
wasn't it? It was a completeness. It's so
wonderful, isn't it, to read that the Lord said, and without
fail, recover all. And David's able to repeat that
and say, and David recovered all. The answer to his prayer
and the fulfillment of the promise of God, God is faithful. We should not forget that. And
God deals with his people in love to their souls. What a blessing it is. You know,
we have the wonderful example, don't we, in the word of God,
of Job. Well, I suppose it's there for
our instruction. It's for us to realize that perhaps
there's no other person who has had such a difficult life as
Job had to encounter. He obviously had great ease comfort
to begin in his life because he was greatly blessed and we're
told there was a man in the land of us whose name was Job and
that man was perfect and upright and one that feared God and eschewed
evil. So our reaction may be well here's
a good man here's a man of God here's a man who is upright surely
He won't have any difficulty in life. Surely the Lord will
be with him and abundantly bless him. Well, Job is put before
us as an example so that we may realize that God deals with his
people in his way for his honour and for his glory. And we're
told of his prosperity, what he had and how blessed he was
with his family and all his possessions. He was a very great man. Satan
was very aware of Job and very aware of how God had blessed
him. But we're told now, there was
a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before
the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said
unto Satan, whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord
and said, from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking
up and down in it. And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered
my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a
perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and is cheweth
evil. That's God's testimony of Job. Satan answered the Lord and said,
Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast thou not made an hedge about
him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every
side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, its substance is
increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now,
and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.'
And the Lord said to Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power,
only upon himself but not forth on hand so Satan went forth from
the presence of the Lord we won't go through the whole account
but you may remember that Job lost his family he lost his possessions
and there he was just really by himself and what was Job's
reaction to that? well we read what the reaction
was in the 21st verse, and he said to God, naked came I out
of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither. The Lord
gave, and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of
the Lord. Well we see the grace of God,
don't we there, shining forth very wonderfully. In all this
Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. But Satan still pressed
on and still brought now greater difficulties to Job in his natural
life. And Job was in a really bad state. And he sat down among the ashes. And his wife came unto him and
said, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God and
die. But he said, Thou speakest as
one of the foolish women speaketh. Shall we not receive good at
the hand of God? And shall we not receive evil?
In all this did not Job sin, with his lips. And so we see
the condition of Job like that and then as we read through this
book of Job we see that three of his friends came and sat by
him for some time and eventually they talked to him and gave him
what they thought was good advice but of course they didn't really
understand Job. They didn't really understand
what God was doing to Job. And then after they stopped talking,
then Elihu, another young man, came and gave his views. And
all these four men, some of the things they said were good, but
many things were said unadvisedly. And this continued until the
38th chapter. Because in all those times, Job
responded. He often tried to justify himself. But then there came this time
when God himself answered Job. And the Lord answered Job out
of the whirlwind. And then you can read from the
38th chapter and the 39th chapter what God spoke to Job and instructed
him. And the Lord, moreover, the Lord
answered Job and said, shall he that contendeth with the Almighty
instruct him, he that reproveth God Let him answer it. And then
we're told, then Job answered the Lord. Now, he was answering
God. He'd answered his three friends,
no doubt as he thought adequately. But now he's before God, and
God has explained to Job how great he is. I mean, God explains
how great God is. And Job now comes to that condition,
and this is what he says. Behold, I am vile. What shall I answer
thee? I will lay my hand upon my mouth.
Once have I spoken, but I will not answer, yea, twice, but I
will proceed no further. You see, he was under the blessed
influence of the Spirit of God. God had dealt with him in the
same way God had dealt with David. God had now dealt with Job in
this way. And brought Job now to this condition
where he didn't try and justify himself. He accepted in a very
humble way of what God was saying to him and confessing what he
was like. You know, it's a wonderful blessing
if God brings us down to that situation. to recognise before
God what we're like. And it's really a conversation
here just between God and Job. There weren't a load of witnesses
all standing around to jibe and speak against him, but
you see God was there and he answered God. And then the Lord
continued in this going through the 41st chapter And he comes to the 42nd chapter,
the last chapter in this book. Then Job answered the Lord and
said, I know that thou canst do everything, that no thought
can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel
without knowledge? Therefore have I uttered that
I understood not things too wonderful for me, which I knew not Here
I beseech thee, and I will speak. I will demand of thee, and declare
thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing
of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. And we can say the
eye of faith sees our God, wherefore I abhor myself and repent in
dust and ashes. That was the effect of God's
gracious work upon Job to bring him right down to this condition. No trying to justify himself. No saying, well, it's very unfair
what Satan's been allowed to do and what I've had to endure. And it's very tough. These people
have come and talked to me who don't understand. It's all gone
aside. He just says, wherefore I abhor
myself and repent in dust and ashes. And then, you know, having
come to this great position of complete humility and confession
before Almighty God, we might wonder how Job was going to be
delivered well we're told in the 10th verse and the Lord's
turned the captivity of Job when he pried for his friends and
the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before and you can
the last few verses in this chapter it gives a catalogue of how the
Lord wonderfully blessed him so we have this glorious example
really the life of Job and perhaps you younger people may never
have read the book of Job, I don't know. Many people pass over it
a bit quickly but it is worth reading and it is worth reading
carefully and to realise what Job passed through. He did say
some glorious truths and one of them in the midst of the book
he says, and I know that my Redeemer liveth. He wasn't delivered,
he was still in a difficult situation, but God gave him faith to come
and say, and I know that my Redeemer liveth. And that's a great blessing,
if you and I, in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of trial,
in the midst of troubles, are able to look up and say, by the
grace of God, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Well, it's a
wonderful blessing. It's a wonderful thing to have
the Word of God to read and to realize the glorious deliverances
that He gives to His people. There's teaching in it. We should
not pass over it and we should not think, well, I'm a very unusual
character and I don't think God knows my position. He doesn't
know what I'm passing through. My friends, there's plenty of
cases in the Word of God to encourage us In many cases in the Word
of God, when we have to sit back and say, well, my case is not
as bad as that. God has been gracious and God
has been merciful unto me. Yes, it will be and it's a wonderful
thing. Therefore, perhaps when the Lord
brings us to come before our God like in the Song of Solomon,
When he came and speaks, and he says this, he says, Thou that
dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice. Cause me to hear it. He wanted to hear the voice of
his beloved. That was the vital thing. And may it be the vital thing
for us to desire to hear the voice of our Beloved. The voice of the Saviour. He
knows all about us. He knows what we need. He knows
what will do us good. And what a blessing therefore
to realise that we have such a kind and such a gracious God. So here we have in this verse,
and there was nothing lacking Nothing lacking. It's a good
expression, isn't it? Nothing lacking. We may think,
well, we lack this and we lack that, but David was able to come
and to bring us to this conclusion when the Lord had gloriously
heard and answered his prayer. Nothing lacking. No, the Lord
provided. It may be so in our spiritual
life. We may think we're very destitute. We may think God has forgotten
us. We may think God's left us to
the assaults of Satan. Then we're going to be overcome.
Then we shall never gain the victory. Well, let us be found
looking unto Jesus. as Paul says the author and the
finisher of our faith yes you see the Lord is the author he
is the finisher and what a blessing that is but there's a lot in
between that you and I have to pass through so that we are able
to prove the goodness and mercy of Almighty God. He led them
forth by the right way. David would not complain of the
path that he was led in. He was brought safely through
many wars, many difficulties, but he was brought safely through
them all because God was his God, and his confidence was in
his God. As we noted in the 85th Psalm
and also in this chapter, what a good thing it is to have a
God who is so gracious to us and doesn't deal with us as our
sins deserve. David wasn't a perfect character,
was he? He sinned against the law of God, he sinned, we might
say, against light and knowledge, And yet God had mercy upon him. And God brought David, you see,
to this very, very real position, so that he was able to write
the 51st Psalm, which I expect is familiar to most of us. But he comes and begins this
Psalm by saying, and it's a prayer, Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thine lovingkindness. David knew something of the lovingkindness
of God. My friends, what a blessing it
is if we know something of the lovingkindness of God because
it gave David confidence. And my friends, I'm sure it would
give us confidence. according to the loving kindness,
according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Well, David had transgressions.
You and I have transgressions. Perhaps not in the same way that
David did, but let us not forget sin is sin. And what we might
think the smallest sin will still keep us out of heaven. Sin is
sin. And we all need All our sins
forgiven, everyone. You might think they're big or
you might think they're small. It matters not, we need them
all to be forgiven. We all need this prayer. Have
mercy upon me, O God, and blot out my transgressions and wash
me throughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. You
see, David's sin wasn't covered, it was washed away. Gone. That's a mercy, isn't it? Have
our sin washed away, gone through the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. But he says, I acknowledge my
transgressions and my sin is ever before me against thee. The only have I sinned and done
this even in thy sight. that thou mightest be justified
when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. Behold, I
was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest truth in
the inward parts. It's a good expression, isn't
it? That means God looks into our heart. God knows what you
and I think, He knows all our desires, all our concerns, good
or bad. He knows all about us. And David
was able to confirm that. When he says, I was shaped in
iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest
truth in the inward parts and in the hidden part thou shalt
make me to know wisdom. And so he comes and says, Purge
me, cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. All of us, my friends, without
doubt, sinners as we are, we all need to be washed in the
blood of the Lamb. Well, what a cleansing that is.
What a purifying that is. Nothing then remains. We're washed. We're clean. Just God, I'm clean. Make me to hear then, joy and
gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Well, sometimes the Lord brings
things so that our bones, spiritually speaking, are broken. And it's
for a purpose. so we realise where we are and
what God is. And he brings us to this position. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me. Yes, restore unto
me the joy of thy salvation and uphold me with thy free spirit. You see, David indeed was able
to pen that. David knew the truth of it. And we have it really illustrated
here in this 29th, 30th chapter of Samuel, really in this account. I know it's a physical account.
What it does, it shows us David casting all his care upon his
God. All his care. He knew he couldn't
deliver himself. He didn't know where to go. He
didn't know how to attack. But he was able to commit his
way unto the Lord. My friends, that's a blessed
and wonderful secret for all of us tonight to come, committing
our way unto the Lord, trusting Him. You see, God knows the end
from the beginning. You and I only know the now that
we're in. We don't know tomorrow. We don't
know a year ahead. We don't know a long time ahead.
We don't know. God knows. He knows the end from
the beginning. Remember then the glorious words
in Psalm 107. So true, so appropriate, and
He, God, led them forth by the right way that they might go
to a city of habitation. And that really is the path of
a true Christian. They're led in the right way. David was led in the right way.
Job was led in the right way. The patriarchs were led in the
right way. The disciples were led in the right way that might
go to a city of habitation. and bless God today, you and
I, if we are redeemed sinners, are led in the right way, that
we also may go to a city of habitation and arrive safely at last in
glory. Well, may God be with us, help
and bless us indeed, for Jesus' sake, amen.