Okay, go back to 1 Samuel chapter
30 with me. We're going to just do half of
this story tonight. Sunday morning, the Lord willing,
we'll look at how all the spoils were divided up equally. There's an ordinance that's there
until this day, it says, that they all shall part everything
alike." I hope you'll read the rest of
that for yourself in preparation for Sunday. And so we're going
to tell half the story tonight, but then again, the half has
never been told. Never. A lifetime of messages
could not tell this greatest story ever told. This story must
be looked at two ways. This is a true story. A real
story. A story of a man named David.
David, who was a saint, a believer. This is a story of his troubles
and how God delivered him from them. But more importantly, this
is the story of the Son of David. The Son of God. Jesus Christ.
And both of these stories are profitable. We're going to look
briefly at this story both ways. Here's David's story. A true
story. Our story. This is our story. Now we've
seen, we saw, was it Sunday? Yeah, Sunday, how that David
got himself in this mess. David, through his own unbelief
and sin, got himself and others in a terrible mess, terrible
trouble that only God could get him out of. And the Lord did this. The way
the Lord did this was not the way that Not the way that David
would have had it done, but the Lord did it by turning everything
and everyone against him to show him. The reason the Lord
did that was to show him that Ziklag is not your continuing
city. This is not where you belong.
Not the people you belong with, these Philistines and all that.
You belong back in Jerusalem. That's where you're going to
be someday with God's people, Judah. tribe of Judah, God's people.
And so it is with God's people, all of God's people. Our Lord
said to all of his people, this is a promise, this is not a possibility,
but a promise. He said, in this world you shall
have tribulation. He said, man's enemy, a man's
enemy, that is a believer, his enemies shall be those of his
own household. So don't be surprised. Our Lord said, marvel not, brethren,
if the world hates you. The world. And they all turn
against you. He said, blessed are you, rather,
when men shall persecute you and say all manner of evil against
you falsely for my name's sake. You're blessed. Why? Because
that makes you like David, one of his sons. God's son. And the
Lord tells all of his people that we will have tribulation
because we're not of this world. We're looking for another. We
have here no continuing city, so the people that live here, he's going to turn them against
you. This is God's way of keeping
us conscious of this truth, that we're not staying here or passing
through. David was just passing through
Ziklag. He stayed too long. He shouldn't even have been there,
but he did. And sometimes, As in the case
of David here, sometimes according to God's wisdom and His purpose,
certain ones, certain people, His people, must go through great
trials to learn great lessons, to prepare them, a great preparation
for great things, like David here. Now, he just
came back to Ziklag out of trouble. You remember that story, Sunday?
The Lord delivered him from doing something that would have brought,
oh, great reproach on him. And the Lord got him out of that
trouble, didn't He? Well, now his troubles are over. No, he's
in for the greatest trial of his life. He's in his late twenties
by now. He's in for the greatest trial
of his life. He comes home, and the enemy, the Amalekites, had
destroyed the city that he lived in, true story, had taken his
wives away and all of his children and all of his earthly possession.
Does this sound familiar? Sunday story on Job. True story. And it says in our text here, When you read that with me, verse
4 said, David and the people that were with him lifted up
their voice and wept. That means they cried, they wept
out loud until they had no more power to weep. Have you ever
wept in that way like that? They had no more power to weep. And it's a true story. I keep
saying that it's a true story. This is a real man, real sin. Real troubles, real sorrows. He's got sorrow, horrible sorrow. It says he was greatly distressed.
Verse six, he was greatly distressed. You ever been greatly distressed?
You thought, I'm never, never going to get out of this trouble.
What's he going to do now? What's David going to do? Where
is he going to turn? When you get so far down, as
far down as you can go, where are you going to look? I don't know when he wrote Psalm
121, but he said, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from
whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord. David, it says, encouraged himself
in the Lord his God. David did like Job did. He worshipped. After everything was taken from
him, there was but one recourse. Worship. Eli. Remember when they came to Eli
with that terrible news of his son? He said, what could he say? But it's the Lord. Let him do
what seemeth good to him. And they came to Job and told
him all that. after message, after message,
after message of trouble until he can't get any. That's all.
That's all I can handle. And then he worshiped. And he
said, The Lord gave. And the Lord hath taken away.
It's the Lord. He's God. The Lord told Isaiah,
I the Lord do all these things. He told him to tell his people.
You tell them this. See now? See now? But I, even
I am He. I kill, I make alive. I wound,
I heal. I raise up, I cast down. I the
Lord do all these things. I am the Lord and I am your Lord
and your God. So David encouraged himself in
the Lord his God. His God. And look at verse 7. said to Bithar the priest, Ahimelech's
son. Now, Bithar was no stranger to
trouble. Do you remember his story? Huh? Do you remember Bithar's story? His dad, Ahimelech, was one of
the 80 that Saul had slaughtered. He's no stranger to trouble.
He's in the ministry. It's a good person to be there.
And he said to Abiathar, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod.
The ephod was what the priest wore. The high priest. David said, bring it to me. And
he brought hither to David the ephod. And David inquired at
the Lord. David is going to seek the Lord.
David is going to seek the Lord. What shall I do? He asked the
Lord. What shall I do? Shall I pursue after this truth?
Shall I overtake them? And the Lord answered him. Thou
shalt." He said, Pursue. Pursue, for thou shalt surely
overtake them. And without fail, recover all. Now, he encouraged himself and
the Lord his God that the Lord had done all this according to
his infinite wisdom and his purpose. He had done all this to him.
Though he brought himself into this mess, though he was getting
what he felt like he deserved, yet the Lord did it according
to his purpose, or it wouldn't have happened. Even David's fall
into sin was the Lord's purpose, right? You can't blame the Lord,
but you can encourage yourself in this, that even our sins are
somehow... The greatest example of all is
the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree, and man's greatest sin
was God's greatest glory. David, arguably his greatest
sin with Bathsheba, what came out of that? A great sorrow at
first, but afterward, a great son, Solomon. So was that the Lord's will? Well, David said, What shall
I do? And the Lord said, Pursue, thou
shalt recover all. So David lost everything, but
the Lord reassured him. The Lord reassured him, saying
he would get it all back. You lost it all. You got yourself
in this mess, and that's why all this has happened. But I'm
reassuring you, I'm telling you right now, you're going to get
it all back. I'm going to get it all back
for you. And the Scripture says, In Adam all die. Every one of
us are sons of Adam. We're sinners. We're sinners. And we reap what we, our sins,
have sown. We really do. Are you with me?
You look tired. I know it's hot. You're going
to stand up and cheer when this is over. Where's my bell? In Adam all die. All die in Adam. We own everybody we know is going
to die. You know that? Everything we
own is going to die. It's all corrupt. It's all rotting. It's going to die. Everything
we love is going to die. In Adam, all die. But in Christ, shall all be made
alive. We lost it all in the garden.
We lost it all. Can you imagine Adam's sorrow? Do you know how long Adam wept
after the Lord kicked him out of the garden? Huh? No, we don't. The Lord kicked
him out of paradise. He had perfect communion with
the Lord. He had no troubles, no sorrow, no sin. And the Lord
kicked him out and said, what have I done? Huh? What have I
done? Why did I do that? And then he
went over and saw his son's brains bashed out and he said, what
have I done? He blamed himself, didn't he? Do you know how long he must
have wept? Days, months? We lost it all in Adam. We're
going to get it all back. Our Deliverer, our Redeemer,
Kinsman Redeemer is going to get it all back. Ruth, you've
got to give it all back. Naomi, don't call yourself bitter
anymore. You've got to come to the Redeemer. The Lord Jesus Christ. I now
really want to encourage you in the Lord our God, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now let's look at His story. That's why this was written.
That's why this was written. The story of Christ, whom David
and this story represent. Now, the story of Christ is just
this, that the sons of God, sons of God, beginning with Adam,
the Eve, the wives of Christ, the bride of Christ, were all
taken captive by sin. All taken captive by Satan, an
enemy. All in the world. living in the
world. They're all in fear of death
and subject to bondage because of that fear. All of them. You
ever wonder why the Lord Jesus Christ wept at Lazarus' tomb? He came to the tomb of his dear
friend, Lazarus, with whom he ate bread constantly, sat and
held many days and nights on end of pleasant conversation
with his beloved brother, Lazarus. and Martha and Mary. What a good
time they enjoyed together. And now the Lord comes to the
tomb and there he is, Lazarus, laying in that grave. Had been
for four days. And it says he wept. Shortest
verse in the Scripture. And Jesus wept. They said, Behold, how he loved
me. Yeah, why is he weeping? Because all is lost, because
he's in distress, because You know, there's nothing he can
do. No, no, no, no. Have you ever wondered why the
Lord wept there? Yes, he lost him. He loved him, and he lost
that communion for a while. But he wept because of what sin
had brought upon this human race. What it all comes down to. What
sin has brought upon this human race. Not the way it was supposed to
be. But it is, according to God's purpose. I just went back in
the nursing home. And if you want a reminder of
where it all comes down, what sin has done to the human race,
go visit a nursing home every now and then. It's a good thing
to do. The sights, sounds, smells make you weep, especially if
somebody you love is in there. The Lord wept. The Lord wept. And like David, the Lord said
unto his Lord, the Lord said unto my Lord, shall I go to earth? In the beginning, before God,
known unto God are all His works from the beginning, He saw all
this. He knew all this. He purposed all this. And with
the Father, He said, shall I go to earth? Shall I pursue this
troop? Shall I overtake them? God said,
pursue. And what else did he say? Thou
shalt surely overtake them. Look at our text here. Thou shalt
surely. What was said of David is said
of David's son. Thou shalt surely overtake them. Overcome them. And without fail,
recover all. I'm sending you to earth. I'm
giving you a people to say, I've chosen them, I've chosen them
before the world began, and I'm sending you, their Redeemer,
their Deliverer, to deliver them from captivity, to lead captivity
captive, and to recover all. And thou shalt surely recover
all, without fail recover all. And I love, oh how I love Isaiah
42, that great That great prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ, my,
behold my servant, mine elect, he said, he shall not fail, nor
be discouraged. He won't even be discouraged.
The Lord never was at one time discouraged. He knew what he
had to do and he knew he was going to do it. Without fail. And that's our salvation, people.
Now, when the Amalekites, listen to this, when the Amalekites
and the enemies of the Lord took what belonged to David, isn't
it? Now, when they took what belonged
to David, when they took David's wives and his children, they
attacked David. And they attacked the wrong man
now, buddy. Huh? When you attack David, you've
attacked the wrong man. Now, if you'd have come to David
for mercy, if you'd have come to David no matter what you'd
done and asked him for mercy, I could pretty much guarantee,
Nabal is proof of that, isn't he? Nabal, Abigail, whoever came
to David for mercy, they came to the right man. He's a man
after God's own heart. It doesn't matter what you've
done or who you are, he's going to show you mercy if you ask
for it. But if you attack him, you've attacked the wrong man. He's going to get you. Now, this
is a man's man, isn't it? Everybody likes a hero. Everybody
wants a hero. I haven't seen one in years.
Have you? Oh, we've got one. David is a
man's man. The people's man. The man you
would want coming to rescue you if you were lost, wouldn't you?
If somebody had taken you captive, who would you want coming after
you? David never lost anybody. Kelly, he didn't lose one little
lamb. He's a good shepherd, and he's
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. I just saw an interesting story. Back during World War II, there was a Japanese prisoner
of war prison in the Philippines when Japan had conquered the
Philippines, overrun the Philippines. And there was a prison there
with American prisoners in it. And they were brutally treated,
brutally treated by the Japanese. 511 prisoners. Well, the United States government,
President and the highest generals, they got together and they said,
we're going to get this man back. And they found a man named Henry. Significantly, his last name
started with an M. At any rate, Colonel Henry, Moochie
was his name. And they said, we're giving you
some men and we want you to go and get our men back. They took like 110 or 120 men
with them, greatly outnumbered by around a thousand enemy soldiers. And do you know they brought
511 prisoners back. Not one was lost. That's a man, isn't it? Is that
who you want coming to get you? Well, I'll tell you who God sent
to get you. A man's man. A man. When God sent somebody to earth,
someone to earth to take His people, He sent a man. This is
why our Jesus is so different than this peon that people... I don't know why anybody would
call on Him, but our Savior is a man. And I mean a man in the
true sense of the word. Even Pilate had to say, Behold
the man. God sent the God man, a strong
man, a man's man, a captain, fearless, without fail, king,
Lord. Who would not rest? David is
not going to rest until he, until they came to this book. They
went 600 of them, right? 200 of them were so faint, they
couldn't cross over. He said, well, you just stay
here. He's a merciful man. We're going to see Sunday how
the ones that stayed behind are going to get all that the ones
that... They're all going to get the same. David saw to it. Some others were bitter. No,
sir. They all get the same. This is David's spoil, and I
divide it. I'm giving myself away. But David wouldn't rest
until his job was finished, and neither did our Lord Jesus Christ.
They told him often, Lord, eat something. He said, I am. You
know, before the cross, our Lord didn't sleep for several days.
He would not rest until his job was finished. He would not and
could not be stopped by anything or anyone until he had recovered
all. And then hanging on that cross,
he uttered those final words, it's finished. I love the meeting that he had
with Moses and Elijah. They had a meeting to discuss,
to talk about the death he should accomplish. Whose death? Well, the death of death. The death of the prince of the
power of the air. Spiritual wickedness in high
places. The death of death. His own death, yes, but even
that wasn't final. Now look at verses 10 and 11.
David took some men with him. 200 stayed behind. David took
men with him. David pursued 400 men. And the
Lord has had many men and angels whom He has used mightily down
through the years, hasn't He? He sent men like Gideon and Joshua.
All of them represented Him. Every great man in Scripture
represents the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever story you read about
a great man, just go ahead and look at him as Christ. Because
that's why their stories were written. The Lord used, though,
this young Egyptian. You read that with me, didn't
you? What's this all about? We don't have much time to go
into it. But this young Egyptian, deserted slave, sick, he's left
for dead. He's from the world, Egypt. He's
captive by this heathen. He got sick and he's left to
die. But somebody found him. Now what
do you think that's a picture of? That's a whole message in
itself, isn't it? A picture of a young worldling. That's me. This is my story right
here. Just couched there between the story of David's accomplishments.
He finds me. David stops what he's doing.
He didn't need this young man to tell him Kelly, he's going
to find. He's going to find. He's going
to find who he's looking for. But the Lord wrote this story
as a picture of you and me. That he stopped what he was doing,
this great conqueror coming through, and he stopped what he was doing
for this little Egyptian. Feed him, water him. And he's
found and brought to David as we are found and brought to Christ
and fed and watered. And this young man asked David
for mercy, doesn't he? He said, I'll tell everything.
I'll spill my guts. There's not a thing I'll leave
untold if you'll just have mercy on me. Now, isn't that a good
thing? And he does. You reckon David
had mercy on him? Oh, yeah. He probably got to
partake in the spoils. Well, here comes David. All right? Here comes David. You with me,
Davis? We're talking about a man, buddy, a man you can look up
to. Here comes David. Here comes David, verse 16. Look
at it. And when he had brought him down,
behold, they were spread abroad. These Amalekites were spread
abroad on the earth. They were spread out all over
the earth, it seems like. As far as you can see, there
are all these Amalekites, these enemies of David. Eating and
drinking and dancing and having a big time because of the spoil
they got out of the lamb. Eating and drinking. Great spoil. Oh, we're in good shape now,
aren't we? Everything's wonderful. Look at what all we've got. And
the more they drank and the more they ate, the more they mocked
God. They know who this was. Abigail told them. They had Abigail
with them. They know whose stuff this belonged
to, David. People in the world, you a Jesus
follower? Yeah. You worship, you go to
church, don't you? Where is your Lord? And they
mocked him, Nancy. They mocked him. But I tell you
what, I tell you who's watching the whole dang thing. Sitting
up on the hill. Can I say it that way, Ron? That's
the way men say it. Huh? Somebody's standing up on
the hill watching them. Mocking. Dancing and laughing. He don't love them. This is a man's man. He doesn't
love these God-haters and these enemies of his. Johnny's going
to kill him and give him a bloodbath. This is the Lord Jesus Christ,
John. This is the Christ of Scripture.
You attack His people, and you reject His Son, and you think
you've got away with it, and the whole world laughs and mocks,
but He's watching. Look at all the spoil we've got.
Look at what we've taken. You're a goner. You're a goner. This is a true
story. And what I just told you about
Jesus Christ is a true story. He said heaven and earth would
pass away. All these stories would pass away. David's gone.
All of this is gone. He said, not one word of mine
shall fail. Lo, I come. In the volume of
the book it is written there. I'm bringing a sword. Ask for
mercy. Now. He'll show mercy to anybody. Everybody. This guy was in on
the attack. Wasn't he, Sheriff? He said,
I was in on it. We burned Ziklai. David should
have took him right there and slit his throat. Shouldn't have. What's he need with him? But
that's a picture to show us He's merciful. Now look at it. So David, it says, David in verse
18, there were three, where am I? Verse 17, David smoked them
from twilight even to the evening of the next day, and there escaped
not a man of them. Not one man escaped. Not one. Except a few young men. You reckon he let them go? You
reckon he couldn't chase them? They're on camels. You reckon he couldn't... This is a man that took a sling
and threw it 150 yards and hit a guy right between the eyes. Oh yeah, he let them go. He let
them go. And the Lord Jesus Christ. Men
don't realize the danger they're in. This is why I always say, this
is not just religion, we're talking about a real person. It's not
religion here, it's not people, this is your doctrine, that's
our doctrine, it's just what you believe, and it's if this
will get you through. We're talking about a real person who lived
on this planet named Jesus. Now, he either is who he is,
Either what he said is true, he's either God or he's not.
He's the biggest imposter that ever lived. Now if he is God
and everything he said is true, the world's in a hurt! And we're
in for a great blessing. The spoils of David. And I'm here to tell you, I'm
here to tell you, he is. He is. He said, John saw him
and he said, I'm here that was dead and I'm alive. You go back
and you tell my brethren, I'm alive, the living God. That's why I keep saying the
living God throughout the Scripture. David encouraged himself in Psalm
42 in the living God. We worship the true and living
God, not an idol, not a concept, not a doctrine, but a person
who is reigning and ruling over it all and who is angry with
the wicked every day. And there's a time appointed.
He's beholden. Eyes, lids of the Lord. Eyes
of the Lord. His eyelids try. The sons of
men. There's a time coming. Today is a day of salvation.
The ark is open. The door of the ark is open.
I think we're in that last seven days before the door closes.
I'm convinced of it. I'm utterly convinced of it. I'm utterly convinced of it. David smote them and not
one of them escaped except what he allowed to escape. Isn't that
a picture? The Lord Jesus Christ, Scripture
says, He said, you say unto them, long before it even happened,
He said, tell them, the warfare is accomplished. He said, you
comfort my people. What if somebody had told Abigail,
I hear, David's on his way. Huh? She knows David. She's married
to him. He's on his way. Huh? You reckon she encouraged herself?
Oh, and she told her, all those around her, we're going to be
all right. He's going to get us out of this. I know him. And the Lord, the warfare is
accomplished. He said, be of good cheer. Didn't
he? Be of good cheer. I have overcome
the world. All that remains, all the sin,
all that's going on today is just skirmishers. Do you hear
me? Just a few young men on camels. Osama bin Laden is a man on a
camel. Are you worried about him? Fear the Lord. Alright? Fear the Lord. And to this end, verse 18, David
recovered all. All that the Amalekites had carried
away. David rescued his two wives. He didn't lose one, he got them
both. There was nothing lacking to
them, neither small nor great. In other words, they didn't lose
a thimble. Not a thread. Is this a familiar
story? Remember when Moses was getting
ready to lead the people out of Egypt? Remember, Pharaoh said,
leave behind your cattle? He said, no. There's not going
to be a hook left behind. And when we go out of here, God
said, not even the dogs are going to bark at us. That's our God. Jeanette, that's
our God. You see, our God never fails.
Our God recovers all. All His wives, if you're His
wife, He's not going to lose you. There's nobody strong enough
to keep Him from you and you from Him. Nobody! Is that the
Christ you want? It's the Christ you've got. Your
mother may forsake you, your father may forsake you, your
husband may forsake you, but you've got a husband. He'll say,
where's your divorcement? He'll never give it to you. You
may leave me, but I'll never leave you. And when you leave
me, I'll come find you. And he recovered all. David rescued
his two wives, and it says they were neither small nor great,
neither sons nor daughters, neither spoiled nor anything that they
had taken to them. David recovered all. It sounds
like David did it by himself. Barbara Lorn wrote this. It sounds
like David was the only man doing this. That's by design. David recovered all. David rescued
his wife. David smoked them. This is David's
spoil. You see, that's why I said that.
This is David's hour. And this whole thing, this whole
thing of salvation. Scripture says, when he had by
himself purged our sins. Yes, this is Christ's oil. And
God resents anybody sharing it with Him. I mean, sharing the
glory. David got all the glory, Margaret, for this whole story.
He used men, but this is status quo. And the Lord uses men and women,
and means and so forth, but this is Christ's glory. This is His
salvation. He's the captain of our salvation.
When it's all said and done, He's wearing the crown. He's
getting the glory. He's getting the honor. What
do you say to that? Okay, we're going to see Sunday how He divides
it all up evenly. Stand with me. Our God, we thank You for Your
Word which does encourage us. No one and nothing is winning
but Thee. Thou hast won. Thou hast accomplished
all things. Victorious Lord and coming King. We encourage ourselves in Thee. And Lord, we ask that You bring
this back to mind when we walk out into the world and somebody
shoots at us. But bring this back to mind,
that thou art God over all. You, the Lord, do all these things.
And though the great trials or whatever come our way, let us
worship Thee and encourage ourselves in Thee. Till it is all said
and done and we are gathered with Thee in that great marriage
supper. Until Christ comes, we meet again
in His name. Amen. Thank you.