Encourage yourself in the Lord

"...But David encouraged himself in the Lord" (1 Samuel 30:6)

We begin our message with these familiar words: And David was greatly distressed" (1 Samuel 30:6). He had just returned from Gath, where King Achish had said to him, "Thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God." With those praises ringing in his ears, David and his men returned to Ziklag, anxious to be reunited with their wives and children. They found their city burned to the ground, their homes destroyed, and their children and wives gone. The Amalekites had invaded while they were in Aphek and had taken captive all that was precious to David and his men.

What a horrible day of infamy in the life of this anointed man of God. "Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep..." (1 Samuel 30:4)

The people rose up in anger, and there was talk of stoning David, because of their overwhelming grief. David himself was torn with grief, with not a tear left to shed. "And David was greatly distressed." They had come to the end of their rope, all hope gone and swallowed up in grief and despair.

Did all this calamity fall upon David because he was living in sin? Was he running from God? Far from it. If anything, David was running with God, but not understanding why the path led through such hard times.

Samuel had already anointed David king over Israel. He was declared to be a man after God's own heart, chosen and set apart to lead God's people. After a short time of acceptance in Saul's court and a glorious ministry of victory upon victory, he was forced to escape for ...