Todd Nybert, pastor of Todd's
Road Grace Church in Lexington, Kentucky, is our first speaker. Would you turn with me to 1 Samuel
chapter 30? I'm just delighted to be here
with you, and that psalm is such a blessing. I love that hymn. I trust the Lord will bless us
at this time. 1 Samuel chapter 30, And it came to pass, You know, everything that happens
comes to pass. And it comes to pass because
God ordained it, and it comes to pass. It's comforting, isn't
it? And it came to pass when David
and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites
had invaded the south and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned
it with fire, and had taken the women captives that were therein. They slew not any, either great
or small, but carried them away and went on their way." Who were
the Amalekites? The Amalekites, or Amalek, was
actually the grandson of Esau. And the Amalekites were the first
people to attack Israel after they entered or left Egypt. Would you turn with me to Exodus
chapter 17? Verse 8. Then came Amalek and fought with
Israel in Rephidim. This is the first battle they
had after they had left the promised land. And I don't have any doubt
that the Amalekites represent the flesh. When the Lord saves you, all
of a sudden you're going to be dealing with the Amalekites,
the flesh. Didn't bother you beforehand,
but now you've got a battle. Verse 9, And Moses said unto
Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out and fight with Amalek.
Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod
of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said
to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses and Aaron and Hur went
up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass when Moses
held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And when he let down
his hand, Amalek prevailed. When the Lord gives me grace
to look to Christ, I win. When my hands go down, I lose. That's our experience as believers. But Moses' hands were heavy And
they took a stone and put it under him. And he sat there on
and Aaron and her, Aaron, the priest, her light representing
the Holy Spirit stayed up his hands, the one on the other one
side and the other on the other side. And his hands were steady
into the going down in the sun. They stayed up and Joshua discomfited
Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord
said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book and rehearse
it in the ears of Joshua. For I will utterly put out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar
and called the name of it Jehovah Nisi. For he said, because the
Lord has sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from
generation to generation. And this is a promise. Forty
years later, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 25, right when they're
getting ready to enter the promised land and Moses is speaking to
them. He reminds them of Amalek. Deuteronomy
25, verse 17. Remember what Amalek did unto
thee by the way when you came forth out of Egypt. Deuteronomy
25, 17. How he met thee by the way and
smote the hindmost of thee and even all that were feeble behind
thee. And when thou wast faint and
weary, he feared not God. Therefore it shall be with the
Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round
about the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance
to possess it. Then thou shalt blot out the
remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Thou shalt not forget
it." Perpetual war was declared against Amalek, the flesh. Now, a believer is someone who
has two separate natures. When I'm born of God, I have
a holy nature, a new nature, and I still have that same sinful,
evil nature with me that has never got any better, that has
never become weaker. I still have it. And that's what
Amalek represents. The first battle they faced was
with Amalek. Paul said in Galatians 5, 17,
the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit lusts against
the flesh and these two are contrary one to another so that you cannot
do the things that you would. Now you find that true in your
own experience. Now do you remember in 1 Samuel
15 when God commanded Saul to kill all the Amalekites and he
didn't do it? You remember that story? He saved the king and
the best of the livestock. But you know who ended up killing
Saul? An Amalekite. Because he didn't kill all the
Amalekites. Now, David, the man after God's
own heart. And you couldn't say anything
higher about anybody than that. A man after God's own heart. God said regarding David, his
heart beats with mine. That's an amazing thing to think
about, isn't it? But this man, David, the sweet psalmist of
Israel, had been in a compromised position for some 16 months. This is how he went back to Ziklag,
where the Amalekites attacked him. Look in 1 Samuel chapter
27. First Samuel 27, and David said
in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.
There's 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. Now we don't see where David
consulted the Lord at this time. He didn't ask for any directions.
He just said, I'm going to perish by the hands of Saul. I can understand
him thinking that way. He'd been hunted and dogged,
and all of a sudden he says, I'm just getting out of here.
And he goes into the land of the Philistines. Now look in
verse two, and David arose and he passed over with 600 men that
were with him unto Achish, the son of Maok, king of Gath. This
was one of the Philistine kings. And David dwelt with Achish at
Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David
with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the
Carmelitess, and Nabal's wife. And it was told Saul that David
was fled to Gath, and he sought him no more. And David said unto
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 at the royal city with thee?
Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day, that city that was later
going to be attacked. Wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto
the kings of Judah. And to this day, at that time,
David dwelt in the country of the Philistines a full year and
four months, 16 months, he lived with the Philistines. Now let's
look what he did. Verse eight. And David and his men went up
and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gesurites, and the Amalekites,
for those nations were of old, the inhabitants of the land,
as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David
smoked the land, and left neither man nor woman alive." He killed
everybody. And he took away the sheep, and
the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel,
and returned, and came to Achish. And Achish said, "'Whither have
you made a road today?' And David said, "'Against the south of
Judah.'" He told a lie. He told a lie. He wanted to make
the king think that he had attacked Judah and the Israelites. and
against the South of the Kenites. That's not who he attacked. And
David, saying neither man nor woman alive, these people he
attacked, to Gath, saying, lest they should tell on us, saying,
so did David, and so will his manner be with the while he dwelt
in the country of the Philistines. He killed everybody, so these
fellas couldn't rat on him. And then he comes back, verse
12, and Achish believed David, saying, he hath made his people
Israel utterly to abhor him. I mean, Israel will hate David.
He's going to be loyal to me, Because he did that, therefore
he shall be my servant forever. So David is in a compromised
position at this time. And he spent 16 months in this
compromised position. And if you read chapter 29, you'll
find out where the Lord in his mercy turned the hearts of the
Philistine Kings against him. And they said, we don't want
you going out to battle with us because we're afraid you'll
turn on us. So they sent him back to Zikla. So while he's
on his way back to Ziklag, this is what happens. Verse 1, And
it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on
the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south of Ziklag,
and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire, and had taken the
women captives that were therein. They slew not any, either great
or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. So David
and his men came to the city, and behold, It was burned with
fire and their wives and 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. And David's two wives were taken
captives, Ahinoah, the Jezreelites, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal,
the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed. for the people
spake of stoning him, because the soul of the people was grieved,
every man for his sons and for his daughters." Now, David had
hit the bottom. He was greatly distressed. And I have no doubt that the
reason he was so greatly distressed is he realized that this was
all his fault. Because he had been in this compromised position,
look what had taken place. And everybody was mad at him.
They spake of stoning him. Oh, he was so distressed. He
had hit the bottom. But there's something good about
hitting the bottom. It's only one way to look. Now
look what David is said to do in verse six. But David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God. Now there was absolutely nothing
to be encouraged about it in the circumstances. Nothing. But David encouraged himself
in the Lord his God. Now, in Christ, in Christ, there's
always reason to be greatly encouraged. If there's nothing in the circumstances
that seemed good, it doesn't make any difference. You know,
the Lord said, these things have I spoken to you that in me you
might have peace. Now, in the world, you'll have
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Our
peace is in Him. You see, He was manifested to
take away our sins, and in Him, there's no sin. That means if
I'm in Him, I have no sin. And that's reason to be encouraged. As long as salvation is in Christ,
As long as God sits on the throne in absolute sovereignty, ruling
and reigning the first cause behind everything, as long as
God is just, as long as God is good, as long as God is gracious
and merciful, as long as the blood of Christ cleanses from
all sin, we have reason to be encouraged. David encouraged
himself in the Lord his God. God. Now let's go on reading.
Verse 7. Now David does what he should
have done in the first of chapter 27 before he went up into the
land of the Philistines. And David said to Abathur, the
priest, the Himelech's son, I pray thee bring me hither the ephod.
And Abathur brought hither the ephod to David. And David inquired
at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? Notice, he
didn't say anything about what he was going to do or what do I do? He didn't even
say, with your help, I'm going to go after him. No, he, Lord,
what would you have me do? That's it. Shall I pursue after
this troop? Shall I overtake them? And he
answered, pursue them for thou shalt surely overtake them and
without fail recover all. Now this is God's promise. And
you can see this as a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall
surely recover all. You notice the women and children
weren't killed. Flesh is not going to be able to kill the
believer. It's not going to happen. They're going to be saved. Now
here is the promise. Verse nine. So David went, he
and the 600 men that were with him and came to the brook, Besor,
a river. where those that were left behind
stayed. But David pursued, he and 400
men, for 200 abode, which were so faint that they couldn't go
over the Brookbees. Now, they had been walking for
days to get back to Ziklun. They were worn out, and this
river was raging, and they were unable to ford this river, so
they just stayed behind. They weren't able to help out.
They couldn't get across, so David left them behind. We'll
come back to them in a bit. Verse 11, and they found an Egyptian
in the field and brought him to David and gave him bread and
he did eat and they made him drink water. And they gave him
a piece of cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when
he had eaten, his spirit came again to him for he had eaten
no bread or drunk any water three days and three nights. And David
said unto him, to whom belongest thou? Whence art thou? And he
said, I'm a young man of Egypt, a servant to an Amalekite. And
my master left me because three days ago I fell sick. Now, can't
you see God's adorable providence here? This man felt sick. And how cruel this Amalekite
was to just leave him behind to die. I can't use him anymore,
so he just left him behind to die. But the Lord is the one
who caused that. And this man got sick because
the Lord got him sick for this purpose. Let's go on reading.
Verse 14. We made an invasion upon the
south of the Cherithites, and upon the coast which belonged
to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb. We burned Ziklag with
fire. And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this
company? He said, Swear unto me by God that you won't kill
me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I'll bring
thee down to this company. And when he brought him down,
behold, They were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and
drinking and dancing. They were having a big party
because of all the great spoil they'd taken out of the land
of the Philistines and out of the land of Judah. They didn't
realize what was getting ready to happen. Oh, they were having
a good time. Verse 17, and David smoked them
from the twilight, even to the evening of the next day. And
there escaped not a man of him, save four hundred young men which
rode on camels." Now there was some smiting going on, and this
smiting was going on in the dark. You notice that, in the dark. And what this tells us of is
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was some smiting going
on. And this smiting was going on
in the dark. Now, what I'm talking about now
is something that you and I really can't understand or grasp or
enter into, but we can believe it. We can believe it. The smiting. Awake, O sword,
smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered. Oh, the smiting
that was going on on the cross. He took my sins and my sorrows. He made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary
and suffered and died alone. Now, why did the Lord Jesus Christ
suffer? Why did the Lord Jesus Christ
die? There's only one reason for suffering, there's only one
reason for death, and that reason is sin. My sin became his sin so that he became guilty
of it and God's wrath came down upon him and we're in the dark
about this this was a great transaction between the father and the son
that you and I could never really enter into but we can believe
and rejoice my sin became his sin and he was smitten by his
father and that's how my sins paid for by what he did but this
isn't the only smiting that was going on Some 4,000 years before
this took place, the Lord gave this promise. He said to the serpent, the serpent
is going to bruise the seat of woman's heel. He's going to bruise
your heel. The serpent bruised the seat
of woman's heel, but the seat of woman, the Lord Jesus Christ
crushed his head. And this is the smiting that
was taking place at this time. Satan was being crushed and smitten. And I love thinking about this.
I just love thinking about this. Satan believed that he had defeated
the Lord at this time. And he didn't realize this is
what crushed him eternally. The smiting that took place in
the dark. Now let's go on reading. And there escaping on a man of
him, say four hundred young men rode upon camels and fled. Now
why that detail? Why that detail? Well, that's
a reminder to us that we still have to deal with the flesh.
Those Amalekites did get away. And as long as you're living,
as long as I'm alive, I'm still going to have to deal with Amalekites.
They didn't, they weren't all brought up. Those fellows got
away. They're coming back and they're going to haunt you again.
We're taught that, but let's go on reading verse 18. 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 spoil
nor anything that had been taken to them. David recovered all. And David took all the flocks
of the herds which they draved before those other cattle and
said, this is David's spoil. David recovered all. And because of his recovery,
because of the Lord Jesus Christ, what he did on Calvary Street,
he recovered all. And now I lack nothing. Right now. Right now. I lack nothing. All that God requires of me,
I have. I lack nothing. Now this shows the completeness
of his work on the cross. There's nothing lacking. When
the Lord Jesus Christ said it is finished and died, why did his body not
decay? There's one reason, because he
actually made satisfaction for sin. The moment he died, complete
satisfaction was made. Everybody he died for, their
salvation was accomplished. I love thinking about that. You
know, I hate the view of Christ dying for everybody to make salvation
possible for everybody. There's no salvation in a message
like that. That's a false message. It doesn't give a sinner any
hope. When Christ said, it is finished, everything God requires
of me, I have, complete, nothing lacking. In him dwelleth all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete. nothing lacking in him. That's the gospel. David recovered
all so that there was nothing lacking. Now, notice verse 20, and David
took all the flocks and the herds, which they dragged before these
other cattle and said, this is David's spoil. Now, not only
did he recover it all, He had more than he did have. He took all the spoil from the
other places that the Amalekites had raided the Philistines, and
he had more than he had before this took place. Now, I have a whole lot more now than
I did if Adam would have never fallen. Adam had human righteousness. I have the very righteousness
of God. Adam had an innocent nature. I have a divine nature, a spiritual
nature, the product of God the Holy Spirit, begotten of God. Adam had an innocent nature.
That's a good thing, but mine's better. Adam was subject to fall. I can't. I can't. Impossible. Adam knew nothing of the joy
of forgiveness. He knew nothing of the joy of
the freeness of God's grace. Oh, we have it so much better.
David recovered even more. But the story is not over. Verse
21. And David came to the two hundred
men which were so faint that they could not follow David,
whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor. And they
went forth to meet David and to meet the people that were
with him. And when David came near to the people, he saluted
them. He treated them with respect. He asked them how they did. He
was concerned. I mean, they, they were tired. They couldn't
make it. He comes back. How you guys doing? I'm just,
he was so glad to see him. Verse 22, then answered all and
note the words, then answered all the wicked men and men of
Belial. children of the devil is what
that is. Every single one of these wicked
men and every word in the scripture is important. So notice it says
all the wicked men, all the wicked men. Then answered all the wicked
men and men of Belial, Those that went with David and said,
because they went not with us, we will not give them of the
spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and
his children, that they may leave them away and depart. Now they
didn't do as much as us. I mean, here we risked ourselves
to go save everybody and we exposed ourselves to so much danger.
They did nothing. They just sit back. They don't
get what we get. We did a lot more than they do
and we had a lot more coming to us. Reminds me of the 11th hour workers. Remember them?
You're making them equal with us? When we've borne the burden
and the heat of the day, and we've done so much work, and
they get the same thing we do? We work 12 hours, they work one
hour, and you're giving them the same thing? That's not fair! That's not right! These fellas
are saying the same thing. You know, that's always been
an issue. It's always been an issue. People have always wanted
to have a more. You ever thought about how contrary
to love that is? I want a better place than you. I want you to have a shack and
me to have a mansion. That whole idea is so contrary
to love, it's so contrary to grace. If you're wanting a place,
you ought to be fighting for the lowest seat. And every one
of us ought to really believe in our hearts that we belong
in the lowest seat. That's where I belong. And that's
the one we ought to be fighting for. Not a higher seat, but a
lower seat. Let's go on reading. Verse 23. Then said David, you shall not do so my brethren
with that which the Lord hath given us. who hath preserved
us and delivered the company that came against us into our
hand. Now, there are three words here
I want you to notice. The Lord gave. The Lord gave. The Lord preserved. And the Lord
delivered. He did all these things. We're not giving ourselves the
credit for doing this. The Lord did this for us. Now, don't you know, in every
aspect of your salvation, it's what the Lord's done. Do you
believe? Where'd you get faith? He gave
it to you. Do you repent? Where'd you get
the repentance? He gave it to you. Do you love? Do you love the Lord as he is?
Do you love his attributes? Do you love what he... Who gave
you that love? The Lord did. Have you persevered up to this
time? How come? Because the Lord's preserved
you. Every aspect of salvation from election to glorification
and everything in between is by grace. The Lord gave, the
Lord preserved, and the Lord delivered. Then said David, verse
23, You shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath
given us, who hath preserved us and delivered the company
that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto
you in this manner? But as his part is that goeth
down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by
the stuff. They shall part alike. They'll get the exact same thing. And it was so from that day forward
that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto
this day. You know, it's still going on
right now. It's still going on right now. You see, believers
are saved the same way. What could I do that could be
added to the righteousness of Christ that would make my standing
better? What could I do? Do I really
have that high opinion of what I do that it could actually make
me better off? And what do I think of my brethren?
Do I want to step on them to bring myself up and give myself
a higher position? That's also contrary to the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are saved the same
way. Now let me tell you, there's
one reason why I'll be saved. One reason. You know what it
is? Christ died for me. That's the
only reason. But that's a good reason. That's
a good reason. Do you just got the minimum requirements?
No, I've got the most God can ask for. I've got the maximum. I've got the most holy, omnipotent,
omniscient God could ask for. Every believer, you're going
to be saved because Christ died for you. You're going to be saved because
you have his righteousness that's been given to you. His sin, or
your sin became his sin, and his righteousness becomes yours. That's the gospel. That's the
way a sinner is saved, by the grace of God. Therefore, we're
saved the same way, we believe the same thing, and we get the
same thing. And that's a rule all the way
up to right now. And I'm glad it's that way. I'm
glad it's that way. I can identify with these fellows
who were too faint. I can identify. You can too. But the Lord is so merciful.
Now look, look in verse 26. And when David came to Ziklag,
he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah. He is back in,
going back into Israel. He'd been gone 16 months, but
now he sends the spoil to the elders of Judah, even to his
friends saying, behold, a present, a blessing for you of the spoil
of the enemies of the Lord. Now the men of Belial, the wicked
men, they wanted to keep it for themselves. David made it a present,
a blessing of the Lord. These are David's spoils. And these are the spoils of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He recovered all. We got carried
away, couldn't defend ourselves. He went to the cross and he recovered
all and more. And these are Christ's spoils.