may please God to bless us together
this evening as we meditate in his word let us turn to the first
book of Samuel chapter 30 and the last clause in verse 6 the first book of Samuel chapter
30 and read in the last clause in verse 6 but David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God. This was the clear testimony
and condition of God's servant David. But I'm sure that such
a condition, such a situation is not confined to David. I believe as the Church of God
journey through life. There are occasions, perhaps
many occasions, when this condition exists and they're brought face
to face with no alternative but to put all their confidence in
the Lord their God. And so we should be very thankful
that we have accounts like this recorded in the word of God,
to realize how gracious and how merciful the Lord was to David
and the Lord is to his people still today. And it's a great
blessing if in our little lives we come into situations like
David, which of course are not very pleasant and not pleasing
to the flesh, but what do they do? They bring us nearer to God. They bring us to prove the goodness
of God. They bring us to experience the
faithfulness of God so that the things of God do not remain just
a theoretical exercise. They're the blessings which by
the grace of God we have tasted and handled and felt so that
we do know that we deal with the true living God, the great
God, the God who does still appear and help us and strengthen us
and do those things for us which we couldn't do for ourselves.
And if you look at the account here of David and his men, you
may remember that David had been, of course, with the Amalekites. He'd been there with them, and
Achish had been told that he wasn't allowed for David to fight
with his people against Israel. David had been there for some
time, and therefore Achish dismissed David. And David had left him,
and after leaving him, We were then told that it came to pass
that when David and his men would come to Ziklag, which of course
where they'd been living, they found it was in desolation. They found it had been burned
with fire and all the people carried away captive. Well, what
a shock, wasn't it? Just imagine in our little lives,
it would appear they'd virtually lost everything. No place to
live in. Burnt down. All their families
taken away. Didn't know where. What were
they to do? Well, we know what they did.
They all wept. They wept greatly until they
had no more power to weep. We can fully understand, can't
we? Or at least we try to understand. the desperate condition that
these people now found themselves in. And we're told then that
David was greatly distressed. It's probably not often that
we come into a situation where we're greatly distressed. There are sometimes those scenes
which come into our lives which make us greatly distressed. And not only was David greatly
distressed himself, but we're told the people spake of stoning
him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every
man for his sons and for his daughters. And so we can imagine
David's position. But it's so glorious to read
that faced with this scene, he didn't look around, he didn't
say, well, we better go to these people and get help from them.
We're told these beautiful words. He encouraged himself in the
Lord his God. Now, David had of course had
the gracious help of God in times past. And therefore he was able
to approach this situation with some confidence in his God. He tells us, he told the king
that he'd been delivered from the poor, the lion and the bear,
And he therefore, because of that help that God had given
him, he had confidence that Goliath would likewise fall. And so it
came to pass. But here was a new situation. And although we can look back
and thank God for those things which have occurred in the past,
we are faced with new situations. The old situations were good
to encourage us, but now we need the Lord to appear again. And
that's just what David needed here. He needed God to appear
for him again. And so he encouraged himself
in the Lord, his God. And how did he do this? And how
are we to do this? Well, we don't just sit back
and take it easy and expect things to just happen to themselves.
That's not a spiritual way at all. David knew he had to seek
unto the Lord. He encouraged himself in the
Lord his God, and then he knew he had to come to God. He had
to pray to God. And so he asks a buyer for the
priest, Ahimelech's son, you may of course remember that Abiathar
was the only person that was saved from Ahimelech's house
when they were all slain, when Saul was so angry because he'd
helped David by giving him the sword of Goliath and bread for
his men. And Doeg had been there, and
he came and told Saul, and Saul was so angry that he called for
all the priests, the household, and they were all destroyed apart
from Abiathar who escaped. And we find Abiathar now here
with David. And therefore David says to Abiathar
the priest, Ahimelech, say, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod.
and Abiathar brought thither the Eve for the David. And David
inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Now, again, we need to note how
this worked out, how David asked God whether he should pursue.
We might think naturally it was a thing he should do, but he
asked God. And therefore, in our lives,
there may be what we think is an obvious solution, and we should
pursue that way, but have we asked the Lord? Have we asked
God? You see, God waits to be gracious,
God listens to our requests, and He sends us answers which
are good for us. Well, David was asking here a
very specific scene. He said, Shall I pursue after
this troop? Shall I overtake them? And God
answered him in a very wonderful way. He said, Pursue for thou
shalt surely overtake them and without fail recover all. Well, what a word that was for
David to rest upon and to go forward on. He could have his
confidence in his God, couldn't he? Because here the Lord has
spoken. Remember the sequence, and let's
not forget that in our little lives, faced with a tremendous
difficulty and sadness to encourage ourselves in the Lord, to come
to God, committing our way unto Him, pouring out our heart before
Him, explaining to God that this situation we find ourselves in,
and then seeking for direction. Whether we should follow a certain
course or not, Now, just to give us the type of picture here,
there were other times when David asked the Lord, should he pursue?
And he was told no. The Lord knows what is good. And
here was David then in this situation, asking this question. And the
Lord said, pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them. and without
fail, recover all." Well, David didn't want any more encouragement. And he then went, and he had
600 men. He might have felt that he must
have those 600 men, but no. 200 were just weak and tired. They'd been traveling a long
way previously. And so David was content. to
let them stay by the brook and look after the staff while he
pursued with the other 400. And what was he to do? Where was he to go? Where were
the enemy? Again, we see how God wonderfully
appears. God doesn't leave us. God doesn't
leave us in a vacuum. God appeared, and it's again
a glorious situation to read of, that here was a young Egyptian
who had been left behind. The Lord had ordained this young
man should be left behind. And therefore, David and his
men found him, gave him food and drink and strengthened him,
and asked him who he was and when he said who he was asked
whether he could lead them to the Amalekites and he said yes
he could but he didn't want to be delivered up to them so David
didn't deliver him up but he led them to the Amalekites and
of course we know what the result was and as we read farther on
in this chapter the wonderful statement And there was nothing
lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters,
neither spoil nor anything that they had taken to them. And these
are the words, David recovered all. God was faithful. My friends, God is faithful today. Let us not doubt our God. When the Lord has spoken, let
us not have an unbelieving heart, but let us believe the word that
God has spoken, and go in His strength. The psalmist said, I will go
in the strength of the Lord God. I'm a mention of His righteousness,
even of His only. there's our resource the strength
of God and if you and I are blessed a little faith to realize what
strength there is in our God in comparison with our little
feeble efforts you see God can bring things to pass which are
impossible for us and therefore let us come and commit our way
unto the Lord. We may be faced then with these
situations, perhaps not in the same way. Very unlikely to be
in the same way. But we may be distressed at things
which have developed and things which have happened and we haven't
been very happy at all. We've been very unhappy. Well,
may we be encouraged by such an account as this. And of course,
we have so many other encouraging words in the Word of God to encourage
us. He was greatly distressed. Now, you and I sometimes may
be greatly distressed because of ourselves. Greatly distressed. because of
the inroads that Satan has made into our lives. He's crept in
and he's caused havoc. He may, as it were, have removed
perhaps our evidences, seems to have destroyed our hope, and
therefore our situation is that we are greatly distressed in
our spiritual life. God's people do come into spiritual
scenes where they are greatly distressed. When they look inside
and they see what evil is there and how they've been overtaken,
how the enemies come in. Well then, what's the result?
How are we to rectify the situation? We can't do it ourselves because
we're weak, because we're sinful. But remember the account here. As David came, and encouraged
himself in the Lord is God. Surely that means that you and
I can come and commit our way unto the Lord. The Lord knew
how he would deliver David. The Lord knows how he can come
and deliver us. We may be greatly distressed,
but you see the Lord is compassionate. The Lord is gracious. And you
see, when a deliverance comes about in our spiritual life,
how is it to come about? I believe it's this way. The Lord
gives us grace to pursue the narrow way. To pursue the narrow
way to the Lord Jesus Christ. yes we're not to just then stop
we are to pursue may not be easy may be oppositions and of course
one of the biggest problems is our lack of faith the evil heart
of unbelief and we may say well what's the good of pursuing? well be encouraged the words
here are this Pursue for thou shalt surely overtake them and
without fail recover all. That means in a spiritual sense
that we can recover all the ground that we seem to have lost. The Lord can once again bring
us back, bring us into the healthy place Bring us into that place
of blessing where we admire the work of the Lord Jesus, where
we meditate upon his sin-atoning death. We wander away. We become far off. But the Lord
brings us back in this way, pursuing. Yes, the Lord gives us grace. He gives us energy. He gives
us enlivening to pursue. And what a good thing it is then,
when he gives us that grace so to do. And in this pursuing,
There may be those provisions to encourage us and to help us. There was in this occasion, wasn't
there? There was this young man. What would a young man be able
to do? How would he be able to help? The Lord has his ways. We must never despise God's leadings
and God's directions. It may be even by someone who
you might not think very able. And yet here is this young man
who, by the influence of God, was strengthened and able then
to lead them to come and be able to conquer the enemy and to recover
all. Well, what a great blessing it
is. When you and I receive grace to conquer the devil. And how's
that done? When it's not done because of
what we're able to do, is it? The word of God tells us, doesn't
it? The epistles tells us. We are more than conquerors through
him that loved us. There's the secret. That's how
you and I are going to gain the victory. That's how, once again,
you and I are going to be brought into a wealthy place, to view
the Blessed Saviour, to view His Cenotone in death, and by
that, receiving comfort for our souls. Yes, and it's wonderful
words, isn't it? To think that we're not just
a conqueror, we're more than conquerors. Again, not in anything
that we have the ability to do, but through Him. And so, may
we be blessed with this wonderful grace to come, as David did in
his time of need, to encourage ourself in the Lord his God. And I'm sure that entails pouring
out our heart to our God. Because the Lord understands.
Because the Lord's brought us into that condition. Israel,
or the men rather who were with David, They needn't have come
to Ziklag and found it burnt, and all their families taken
away. But it was God's purpose to show
His goodness, and to show His power, and to show His glory. And today, as we read this account,
aren't we thankful for it? Did we not rejoice as we see
how God appeared? How God helped David and was
with David? And so, therefore, may we be
encouraged in our lives to commit our way also unto our God and
to encourage ourselves in the Lord Our God. David encouraged
himself in the Lord. His God. It was a personal thing.
And it is still today with God's people. It's a personal thing.
So they were able to come as little children to our Father
in Heaven. Isn't it a lovely picture? To
think that our Father, He knows about us. He hears our cry. He doesn't cast us away. He comes. takes us by hand and
leads us on safely and leads us into all truth as it is in
Jesus well this wasn't apparently the only time that David had
to face these kind of oppositions and this kind of situation and
difficulty and he tells us a number of times in the book of Psalms
how The Lord indeed did come and did appear for him. And he
tells us in the 42nd Psalm, he says, on several occasions in
this Psalm, he says, Why art thou cast down? Why art thou
cast down, O my soul? He's speaking, he's inquiring
of himself, isn't he? He's asking himself a question. And sometimes it's very good
for you and me to ask ourselves, why we're like this? Why are
we like this? Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? And why art thou disquieted in
me? Again, this is not something
which is foreign to the Church of God, I'm sure. Because the
devil was always on the lookout to bring us into these kind of
situations. To cause us to be cast down. And so what's the result? Hope thou in God. Not in anyone else. David didn't
look to anyone else. We're not to look to anyone else.
Perhaps we may be tempted to do something. Oh so and so can
help me here. He'll know what the answer is. we are to look only to God. Only
to God. Because God will bring about
the deliverance in his way, in his time. The perfect way and
perfect time. Hope thou in God, for I shall
yet praise him for the health of his countenance. And it's
encouraging to read here, and in many other places, there was
faith in this statement. He had faith to believe that
God would appear. As David encouraged himself in
the Lord his God, he encouraged himself. That means that he had
faith in believing that his God would appear. Otherwise, there
wouldn't have been any encouragement, would there? He'd have been discouraged
if he thought he had a God who wouldn't hear. He encouraged
himself in his God. Oh, what a blessing it is. for
us today when we encourage ourself in our God. Here David tells
us this, isn't he? For I shall yet praise him for
the help of his counsellors. Belief that he would praise God.
He didn't come, you see, seeking God's face. He didn't come seeking
God's help to one who he didn't think would hear and he didn't
think would answer. No. He came with that assurance that he was
coming to his God. And so if God has helped us in
time past, if God has encouraged us in time past, do we not have
a light claim, a humble claim, to believe that this God is our
God and therefore as he's helped us, he's not going to forsake
us, He's not going to leave us, and the reason is very clear,
because He's died on our behalf. He's died that we might have
life. He shed His precious blood that all our sins might be taken
away. He's not going to leave us. He's
not going to forsake us. And blessed with that wonderful
evidence, may we be encouraged to press on, as David did here. Yes, we're all cast down and
he tells us, he says, oh my soul, oh my God, my soul is cast down
within me. It's never a bad thing to explain
our condition to God. You know, there's a blessed relief. It's like a relief valve. We're
all het up. We're all worked up. What's going
to happen? Commit thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will
bring it to pass. And so the last verse, also in
this 42nd Psalm, speaks the very same words, or very, very similar.
Why art thou cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted
within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him, who
is the health of my countenance and my God. We need the word
of God to be repeated, to strengthen us. Perhaps the word comes and
then it seems to disappear, and it comes again. It revives us,
it strengthens us, and we go on our way rejoicing, rejoicing
to know that we have this great and merciful God who deals with
us in love to our soul. As I said, there are many accounts
in the Word of God, especially in the Psalms, to encourage us.
And David himself, a number of times, what we know from the
history, he had to be delivered on many occasions when
Saul was after him. And then, of course, there were
his own failings and his own falls. He needed God, didn't
he? 56th Psalm. Be merciful unto
me, O God, for man would swallow me up. He fighting daily oppresseth
me. My enemies would daily swallow
me up, for they be many that fight against me. O thou Most
High, what time I am afraid I will trust in thee. So although there
are many enemies, there were for David, he trusted in his
God. Yes, there he was in this same
situation. He encouraged himself in the
Lord his God, trusting in the Lord. What a blessing it is to
find ourselves trusting in the Lord. And he says, in God, I
will praise his word. There's a confidence here, isn't
there? There's a belief that he will be brought out of this
situation. The Lord will appear for him.
He won't always be there. He cries for mercy. He explains the situation. He
looks forward to the deliverance, which will come, and so it will
in our lives. In God I will praise his word.
In God I will put my trust. I will not fear what flesh can
do unto me. We do fear, don't we? We're poor
sinners. We're just little humans, sinful
humans, and we do fear sometimes. what man will do unto me. Psalm 71, again the first verse
is there on encouragement where the Psalmist says, in thee, O
Lord, do I put my trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Well, we won't be because God's
honor and glory is at stake. He won't put us to confusion.
as we trust in Him. We have to come in a right way.
We have to pray in a right way. We have to pray for the Lord's
will to be done, not our will to be done. But nonetheless,
here we have this statement. Let me never be put to confusion. Deliver me in thy righteousness
and cause me to escape. Incline thine ear unto me and
save me. Be thou my strong habitation. Whereunto I may continually resort. It's not a one-off experience
in the life of the people of God. It's not just something
we think, oh, we got over that. There's a couple who says, as
soon as one troubles all, another doth him seize. How often that's
true. We come out of one difficult
situation. Before we've almost got through
it, there's another waiting for us. What does it do? Keeps us
praying. Deliver me in thy righteousness. Be thou my strong habitation,
whereunto I may continually resort. Thou hast given commandment to
save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. Again, confidence
in the greatness of God. We have a great God. Not a little
God, are we? We have a great God. And here's
the statement. For thou art my rock and my fortress. He is a rock. As David tells
us in the 40th Psalm, doesn't he? He put my feet upon a rock
and established my goings. But a new song in my heart even
prays unto God many shall see it. Yes the evidence of God's
wonderful work Deliver me. Oh my god out of the hand the
wicked out of the hand the unrighteous and Cruel man for thou my hope. Oh Lord God thou my trust from
My youth. Well, there's just a few simple
evidences of David's trust in It is God. And my friends, you
can look and you can remember the trust that the apostles had. The apostle Paul, especially
in his life, when he was faced with those great difficulties,
he and Silas, remember they're put in prison, having been beaten.
And what did they do? They sang praises unto their
God. Well, in the midst of trouble,
to sing praises to God. What was there? There was that
hope, surely, of deliverance, which we know, of course, did
occur in that case in a most remarkable way. And then we can
think of the apostle when he wrote to the Hebrews. And he tells us, he says, let
your conversation be without covetousness and be content with
such things as ye have. For ye have said, I will never
leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the
Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto
me. Well, we believe that the Apostle
Paul wrote the epistle to the Hebrews, and therefore we have
this evidence of The grace of God in his heart, and of course
he's reminded us that we're compassed about with so great a clan of
witnesses. And he says, so great a clan
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight. And the sin which
does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience. The
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. the author and the
finisher of our faith. What a blessing then, if the
Lord brings us into these times of trial, as it was with David,
times of distress, as it was with David, which brings us to
a position like this, that we encourage ourself in the Lord
our God, and surely encouraging ourselves in the Lord our God
is to bring us to this position, to be found looking unto Jesus. And we encourage ourselves in
the Lord our God because he has been the author, the one who's
begun that good work of grace in our hearts. That's true, isn't
it? We don't deny that. We don't
want to deny it, do we? And if he's begun it, he'll finish
it. There's a lot in between, but
he'll finish it. He'll bring us safely home at
last, safely to glory, to be with him forever and ever. And
so, as we pass through this life with the trials and difficulties
and temptations, and sometimes we may find ourselves crying
out how hard's the way and how hard's my lot? Well, my friends,
let us not be rebellious. Let us commit our way to the
Lord. Let us encourage ourselves in
the Lord our God and to be thankful then that through these situations
we are brought nearer to the Saviour. And perhaps we're brought
into some spiritual blessing where the result is that we feed
upon the Saviour. And then the things of this world
become strangely dim. The things of glory then are
bright and wonderful. And we're then found looking
forward, looking indeed to that blessed hope and the glorious
appearing of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Oh, it's then not theory. It's
then personal experience, which the Lord brings to pass, to encourage
us and strengthen us as we journey on through life, believing that
the Lord will at last bring us each safely to our desired haven,
to that place where we shall be found in glory, So praise
God for all that He's done, for all His mercies which endure
forever. Amen.