Finding Strength In The Lord

If the Lord will not be our strength and deliverer, nothing will. It has to be about the Lord. When the Bible says that the battle is ours but His (2 Chronicles 20:15), this means that there is a battle to be fought. Still, it's not us who fight, but Him. No demon or devil can hinder what the Lord has prepared for us.

1 Samuel 30

30 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; 2 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. 3 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. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 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.

7 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. 8 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. 9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.

10 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. 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; 12 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.

13 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. 14 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. 15 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.

16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. 17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped nota man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. 18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. 19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

20 And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil. 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. 22 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.

23 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. 24 For who will hearken unto you in this matter? 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. 25 And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. 26 And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord; 27 To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, 28 And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa, 29 And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, 31 And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.

David at this time was hated by Saul who wanted him dead. So David, his two wives and the six hundred men who were with him had to flee to Achish the son of Moach, king of Gath where Saul did not seek him. The king gave him Ziklag, and this is where our story starts. 

Saul did not know that he needed to treat David well, as soon he was going to be the king of Israel, adn the person to be near and sit next to. People need to be careful when choosing whom they point a finger on, as God's selection is not the same as that of man. God was with David, even in Ziklag (the enemy's camp). Still, David never forgot who he was. He never forgot his fellow Israelites, which is why he never fought against them. You should never fight against your brothers, your fellow Christians. As Christians, we need to fight against the principalities, not against our fellow brethren. Fighting against your fellow brethren means that you have lost identity. 

The Philistines wanted to raid Jezreel where the Israelites were located and on recognizing David, the lords of philistines denied David to go in battle with them so Achish sent David back to Ziklag. This shows that God does not contradict His word because David was not supposed to fight his own people (the Israelites). God is the one who was stopping David from fighting his own brothers. 

On returning to Ziklag, he found that it had been raided and their property including their wives, sons and daughters were taken captive. They wept and were bitter in soul and spoke of stoning David. But, David found strength in the LORD his GOD (verse 6). When you have cried and come to your end, that is the beginning of GOd. When you have lost it all, it is time for restoration, by God. When you have lost all, find strength in the Lord your God. In the days we are in, it is the strength we find in the Lord our God that will keep us. 

David was a man who sought God of what to do in this situation i.e. to pursue the Amalekites. After finding strength in the Lord, David inquired of the Lord. God approved him and assured him that he shall surely overtake and rescue. This word teaches us that in every situation, we should seek God’s approval before attempting to pursue. If God says pursue for you shall surely recover, then pursue and don’t look back on who is following you or accompanying you. Do not lift your feet to move, before inquiring of the Lord. Listen to the Lord, He may speak either by voice, a verse from the Bible, or by speaking to your spirit. Do not go, until you get a clearance note from God. When you pursue without inquiring of the Lord, you will find yourself in trouble. Even in voting, let God tell you who to vote for.  

According to verse 9. David went with the 600 men and when they reached the brook of Besor, 200 men were left behind and he still pursued with the 400 men he was left with. We should not look back, we should pursue! Despite leaving behind 200 men, he still was not bothered. Keep on moving like David, do not bother with the few who have stood you up and left you alone on your journey. God has told you to pursue, so do not lag behind looking at the ones who left you alone.

David found a lad who had been left behind, to show him direction. God will send you help, to show you direction.

David defeated all the enemies and captured everything back by

• Finding strength in the Lord
• Inquiring of the Lord
• Using the "weak" help the Lord provided. 

Strength is the capacity to endure. Anyone who finds strength in the Lord must:

• Seek direction from the Lord
• Press on even when everyone else is left behind
• Choose not to revenge against those who remain behind
• Know their God (Daniel 11:32)
• Lift their eyes to the Lord who never sleeps nor slumbers (Psalms 121)
• Declare ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13)
• Be assured God will strengthen them (Isaiah 41:10)
• Appreciate God as their only refuge and strength (Psalms 46:1).

Refer to Psalms 121; 73:26; 84:5; 28:7; 18:1; 118:14; and 46:1 for encouragement. 

When you find strength in the Lord, you will recover what you lost. Saul pursued David, and ended up destroyed. Herod pursued Jesus, and died. Do not pursue the anointed one of God, as you will perish. 

If you find yourself in a situation such as David's (pursued by your enemies), do not give up, as your help is at hand. If David gave up, we would not have had the story of him pursuing and recovering what he had lost. 

In all your mess, God will be glorified (Isaiah 61). 

Amen.


- Pastor Mary Mugo. 

(27/01/13 Sunday Service Sermon, Africa Transformation Mission. Pramukh Plaza, 6th Floor)

Pastor Mary Mugo is a Pastor at Africa Transformation Mission, a ministry under Christ Harvesters Ministries.