Encouraging Yourself in the Lord...

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.

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, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

I Samuel 30:1-6

Yesterday, daddy preached an excellent sermon on encouraging yourself in the Lord. Actually, we had two great services yesterday. The Lord is truly good, but anyway, getting down to business. I wanted to share a few of the thoughts that daddy shared yesterday in his message.

As the Scripture said above, the Amalekites had come in and taken the Israelites' women and children captive, and on returning from a battle of their own, they come upon this disaster. The men were totally devastated, weeping until they had no power to weep. David not only had the same distress, but his own men wanted to stone him, but David looked to the Lord for his encouragement! As Christians, when we are discouraged, this is the devil's way of getting our eyes off God and onto our selves. So here are the points that daddy shared! I hope that is as much of an encouragement to you as it was to me!

1. David went to the Lord His God. (Verses 7-8)
And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.

And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
David in his distress took his problems to his Lord. No one can carry your burden like the Saviour. 1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Psalms 55:22 Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

2. They found an Egyptian along the way. (Verses 10-15)

But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

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 a 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, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.

We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

The Egyptian became a blessing to David. I can tell you many times when I have been discouraged, and the Lord has sent me little blessings along the way to show me that He was still there, that He is still in control. Whether it was an answer to prayer or someone speaking a word of encouragement. This week, someone dropped me an email of encouragement. It was such a blessing! You never know what a simple note or a simple word spoken in encouragement will help someone that you may never know that is down or discouraged. And even when we receive those blessing, let us never forget where those blessings come from! The Lord always brings everything about in His perfect timing!

3. David gave God the glory! (Verses 21-23)

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.

Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart.

Then said David, Ye 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.

If you notice, David never took any credit for anything that was accomplished that day. He gave God the credit. May we never forget what the Lord has done in our life! All in all, the way to stay encouraged is to keep our focus on the Lord and what He has done and what He is doing! God has been so good!