Encourage Yourself in the Lord (pt.1)

What do you do when you don’t know what to do? When you’re blown away by some tragic situation? Or devastated by crushing circumstances? In 1 Samuel 30, King David, through the sovereignty of God, encountered similar conditions. Having been in Apek, David and his men returned to Ziglag and found the entire city destroyed by fire. The city of Ziglag was left virtually unprotected while David and all the men of Israel were approximately sixty miles away in Apek.[1]The Amalekites had besieged the city while taking all the women and children captive during the invasion. Totally overwhelmed by this dilemma, what did David do? How did he cope with this disaster? We learn a great deal about the character of David and how he dealt with adversity.

Notice the Crime Scene

1. The Crime scene involved the Amalekites (v. 1).
Under line the phrase “Amalekites had invaded.” The Hebrew word “invade”{paw-shat'} means to raid and strip. Who were the Amalekites? They were a roving band of marauders. A gang of corrupt, idolatrous, guerilla terrorists who made their living by looting other nations. Verse 26c tells us they were "the enemy of the Lord."If you remember correctly the Amalekites were the first to ambush Israel when they entered the Promised Land (Exodus 17:8-16).

2. The crime scene involved arson.
(v. 1c). “burned it with fire” v.3a “So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire;" With protruding, swollen eyes David and his comrades entered the hazy, smoldering city of Ziglag completely puzzled by the murky scene. What on earth happened? The lush, beautiful fields of grass were as black as ash. The dazzling multicolored flowers that once filled the landscape were charred, black, and lifeless. Picturesque farmhouses along the countryside were simmering with embers. The stores, the livery stables, and the synagogues were completely gutted by the blaze. The massive buildings were reduced to skeleton frames. Shocked, stunned, and surprised, the men surveyed the ruined city.

3. The Crime scene involved Abduction (vv. 2-3; 5).
Circle the words “taken captive”- is found 3 times. The women and children became prisoners. Two things would happen to the women and children:

a. They women would be raped repeatedly.
b. Both women and children would be sold into slavery.

4. Finally, the Crime scene involved Anguish (vv. 4-6a).
They began to frantically search for their women and children, but to no avail. Anguish and sorrow gripped their hearts as they began to weep with great travail. Completely devastated by the kidnapping of their families David and his men cried until they could cry no more.

a.Verse 6 described the distress (v. 6a). “greatly distressed”- the Hebrew word {yawtsar'} means to be in a bind or a strait.

b.Verse 6 also described the death threats.These detractors called for a full scale mutiny! They discussed assassination! They were ready to execute David!

c.Verse 6 also described the despair (v. 6b). “grieved”-{maw-rar'} it is translated bitterness the majority of the time. Bitter Christians are capable of doing some awful things.
Things were bad! David was in a leadership crisis.How would he respond?How do good leaders respond to adversity? Leadership guru, John Maxwell shares this observation. Maxwell says,

"How a leader deals with the circumstances of life tells you many things about his character. Crisis doesn’t necessarily make character, but it certainly does reveal it. Adversity is a crossroads that makes a person choose one of two paths: character or compromise. Every time he chooses character, he becomes stronger even if that choice brings negative consequences."[2]

In his book on leadership, John MacArthur said,

“True leadership is tested and proved in crisis. The real leader is the one who can handle the stress. He is the one who can solve the problems, bear the burdens, find the solutions, and win the victories when everyone else is merely flustered, confounded, and perplexed.”[3]

WHAT DID DAVID DO WHEN HE DID NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO?

I. HE WENT TO GOD (v. 6c). The very first person David spoke to was God (not his advisors, but God). Folks you can’t do it on your own!

1. Notice the Source of His strength. v.6 “David encouraged himself in the Lord His God” meaning David strengthen himself or made himself strong. Before he engaged in rescue and recovery he took the time to get spiritually fit!

How do think you would have responded to this tragedy?

a.Perhaps we would beat ourselves with guilt. “I should have done this or I should have that.” Its okay to reflect, but don’t get stuck on “WHAT IF.” In fact, David should not have taken all of the men with him. He virtually left the city of Ziglag defenseless. Hindsight is 20/20.

So many people focus on the past it destroys their future. You will never learn to encourage yourself in the Lord if you sit in the ashes of the past!

b.Perhaps we would have blamed Saul. God commanded Saul to exterminate the Amalekites (15:2-3). Saul disobey God and captured Agag and paraded him throughout the city (v. 8). Saul continued his narcissistic behavior and erected a Sadam Hussein type of
monument to honor himself (v. 12). Blaming Saul would be a good political tactic.

c.Some of us would get stuck on the “why factor.” David could have sat in the ashes completely defeated asking, “Why did this happen to me?”

d.Suppose you were one of David’s men, how do you think you would of responded to the situation? Probably like the other men, STONE HIM! The church of Jesus Christ is full of “Christian Assassins!” Every church seems to have their share of “congregational wardens” who monitor the church fellowship. Armed with THE WEAPON of mass destruction they enjoy sharing “the dirt” on various church members. These unsympathetic believers wish to enforce capital punishment on all those who mess up. Far too many believers are way too eager to place the hood over the offenders head and pull the executioners lever.

e. In rescue and recovery time is crucial. Time was of essence. Would you and I take the time to become strong in the Lord before we began our rescue and recovery efforts?The people were frantic and frightened! Their families had been kidnapped. Yet David took time and went to the Lord with his problem.

What do you do when you don't know what to do? Go to the Lord! David did and recovered all!


[1]Robert P. Gordon, I&II Samuel, Library of Biblical Interpretation, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), 199.

[2]John C. Maxwell, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), 3-4.

[3]John MacArthur, The Book on Leadership, (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2004), 45.