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DAVID_FINDS_STRENGTH_IN_THE_LORD_HIS_GOD.hwp|
1 Samuel 29:1–31:13 Key Verse: 30:6 DAVID FINDS STRENGTH IN THE LORD HIS GOD "David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God." Today's passage is about how David overcame his distress and found strength in the Lord his God. Problems is always waiting around us. There is no person who has no problems. Having problems are very natural. But important thing is how we deal with them. With God, problems are not problems anymore. Because we find strength in Him. God encourages us when we are in distress. Let's learn what our God wants us to do when we face problems. I. God Intervenes (29:1-11) In chapter 27, David ran away to the land of the Philistines because he knew it was the only safe place to avoid Saul's pursuit. David and his men were tired of running from Saul. If they went down to Gath and pledged their allegiance to king Achish, they wouldn’t have to run anymore. But human plan made things worse. David's plan came from his fear and unbelief. His fear made him caught in the gridlock. Look at verse 1. The Philistines gathered all their forces to fight against Israel. They met at Aphek. (The first APEC, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, must have taken place here at Aphek.) As the Philistine rulers marched with their units of hundreds and thousands, David and his men were marching at the rear with King Achish. What was David thinking about? There he is marching in the back. He can see the thousands of Philistines marching in front of him. These were the same men he once called "those uncircumcised fellows." They were basically the enemies of the living God. Now he's fighting with them. "Against my own people. What have I gotten myself into?" As David arrived at Aphek, he could see the Israelites, his people, across the valley. His face turned white and pale. He looked embarrassed so much that he couldn't do anything. He might have prayed, "O, Lord! Save me from this pit. O, Lord! I can do nothing right now. But you are my Savior and Deliverer!" Answering his prayer, God himself worked for solution. Read verse 4. The Philistine commanders were angry with King Achish. They still remembered David killing Goliath. They knew well the songs the Israelites sang. Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." Achish trusted David's loyalty and even called him an angel of God. Luckily to David, he couldn't ignore the other commanders' strong request. King Achish told David to go in peace. But David pretended to be dissatisfied with commanders' doubt about him to show his loyalty to King Achish. David might have thought that it was God's work. God helped him get out of the gridlock. David had to hold back his joy and praise of God. David acted well. "But what have I done? What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can't I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?" He is a good actor. If he lived at the present time, he would got the trophy of the Oscar for Best Actor. The Oscar for Best Actor for 2011 is ........ (Doodududududud....) David! Was David just lucky? Fate intervened? Not at all. God intervened on David’s behalf. David was saved not by circumstance, but by God’s grace. David didn't deserve to be rescued by God. But God didn't leave him alone and abandoned. Usually strict teachers say to their students, "You made things messy, so you must go and fix it." Our gracious God doesn't do so. He for himself cleans up all messy things in order. He doesn't rebuke our mistakes; rather, rescues us from the pit into which we fell down. David, though not perfect, was a man after God’s own heart, and God had a plan for his life. God still had much he was going to accomplish through David’s life, so God intervened on his behalf. God intervenes on our behalf too. Even before we were born. God said to Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” It’s no coincidence or circumstance that you are here. It’s not by chance that you came to know Jesus. It is completely by God’s grace. And his grace continues with us each and every day. His grace is sufficient to overcome all our sins and mistakes. 2 Timothy 2:13 gives us great encouragement. “…if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” II. David finds strength (30:1-20) Look at 30:1-2. David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. The reason the Amalekites didn't kill them, but carried them off was only "plundering." They lived on plundering. David and his men went back to Ziklag, where his men's families stayed. Then David and his men found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. David's two wives had been also captured. They didn't know if their families were still alive or killed or sold off into slavery. Their hearts must have been pierced by bitterness and torn into pieces and pieces by severe sorrow. Their bitterness and sorrow turned into fury towards David. Some of them said to each other. "Let's stone him." David heard them say so. How did the Bible passage say about David's heart and his men's heart? Let's read verse 6 together. "David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God." David's men were bitter in spirit and talked of stoning David. It started off with one man who said, “We shouldn't have attacked the Amalekites. They took revenge on us in return.” Another said, “We shouldn't have gone to join the Philistines for the war. Who made that decision?” Another said, “We should have killed King Saul when we had the chance? Then all our problems would have gone.” Still another said, “What were we doing standing next to those uncircumcised Philistines? We should never have been with them. If we had been here, this tragedy wouldn't have happened.” All their searching for causes led them to one conclusion: it was David’s fault. The men were utterly broken and discouraged. They considered it from a human point of view, so they easily fell into despair and discouragement. These men only saw what was around them, the destruction and despair. They looked for someone to blame. It was David. David was hurting too. His wives were taken away, too. He could have looked for someone to blame too. He regretted that he had received them when they were wanderers in the desert. They had been in distress, in debt, or discontented. They gathered around David for help. So David became their leader. They were all four hundred. David took care of them, fed them, and protected them from dangers. But now they plotted to stone him. So David were greatly distressed out of their emotional response. David could have blame God for this. But David didn't do so. Look at the second part of verse 6. "But David found strength in the LORD his God." The KJV says “but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.” How could David find strength in God at this most difficult time? David didn't focus on the problem, but focused on the solution. David closed his eyes and his ears from the things that were going on around him. The burning houses, the sound of weeping, and the whispers of the men plotting to stone him, he didn't saw and listen. He felt he was literally all alone. He couldn't trust anyone. So he turned to God he could trust and who was able to help and encourage him in the most difficult situations. He remembered God who gave him strength. He remembered God who gave strength when he met with danger from lions. He remembered God who gave strength when he faced the giant Goliath. He also remembered God who gave strength when he was unfairly treated and pursued in the desert by King Saul. He felt God was with him, so he praised God composing many poems of praise. Now he looked up at the Sovereign God who would rescue him from severe distress. He might have forgotten God for a while, but right soon he remembered that God was with him. He found that God is faithful and would hear him if he cried out to him. Then he found strength in the Lord God. Practically, it’s hard to ignore the noise of life around us. It’s not quite like 600 hundred weeping soldiers. But our problems can be just as loud and just as discouraging. As you know well from the news, there happened great earthquakes and tsunami in Japan. It was extremely awful. What is worse, one of the nuclear power plant facilities exploded. We're not sure what it really is. But it is the worst tragedy we've met these years. I pray that all mess may be fixed up completely as soon as possible. We heard from the news that we are still having economic crisis. Inflation is soaring high, and unemployment problem is getting worse. My daughter is preparing for university entrance exam. She is now in great despair because of fear of failure and competition between students. Last week, I was almost dead because of a lot of work in the beginning of new semester. I was crushed with super and ultra mountains of workload. When we look around, we hear only problems, which is loud and discouraging. Our disappointment, sorrow, and fear can be overwhelming. How can we be encouraged and strengthened? It is by remembering that God gives us strength. Our God is much greater than our problem, our worries, and our sorrows. Tomorrow Brother Philip is leaving for his home country Kenya. He said that Kenya is full of problems. He said that he is worried about his future life. He said whenever he looks around, all are problems. But God wants him to remember God who gives strength. In John 5:8, Jesus said to the paralyzed. "Stand up! Pick up your mat and walk!" Whenever we look around and focus on problems, we cannot but sit on the mat of despair, sorrow, fatalism, and complaint. But God gives strength to stand up and walk, picking up the mat of despair, sorrow, fatalism, and complaint. Isaiah 60:1 says, "Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you." Let's block our eyes and ears from problems. Instead let's hear the word of God that gives us strength. Open your bible, then you will be remind of the word of living God. Read verse 7-8. Then David asked Abiathar the priest to bring him the ephod. This is for inquiring of the LORD, “Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?” “Pursue them,” God answered. “You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue.” God answered his prayer and gave a clear direction to take action. Prayer is the direct line to God. We have a direct line to God too through Jesus. Hebrews says he is our high priest who intercedes on our behalf. We have to pray to know God and to know God’s will for us. Prayer is like the key that starts the engine. Here we can learn that through God's word and through prayer, we can find strength and direction to face life’s challenges. Even when everyone and everything around us seems to disappoint or fail us let us be encouraged to know that God will never disappoint or fail us. He is faithful and able to overcome any of our problems. III. David, the shepherd king (30:21–31:13) The rest of the verses in chapter 30 are about David’s graduation from his training in the wilderness and caves. He had been on the run from Saul for at least 8 years. But these years were not for nothing. God used them to prepare David to become the shepherd king of Israel. In the closing verses of chapter 30 we see what David’s reign would be like. Look at verse 11. David met an Egyptian on the way to rescue the captives from the Amalekites. He was a slave of an Amalekite. His master abandoned him when he became ill and useless. But David accepted him. With the help of the Egyptian, David and his men raided the Amalekites. Look at verse 18. David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives. But in the process of distributing the plunder, there happened a dispute over the ones who didn't went down to the battle. But David wanted to share the plunder equally. Look at verse 24. "Who will listen to what you say? The share of the man who stayed with the supplies is to be the same as that of him who went down to the battle. All will share alike.” Here we see how David would rule his kingdom like a shepherd for Israel. He recognized that though he was a king, the true king is God himself. He knew that all good things including this victory belongs to the Lord. As a shepherd, he cared for even the weakest among them, and did not abandon those who had earlier wanted to stone him. He was humble, compassionate, and forgiving. He looks like the true shepherd king, Jesus. Chapter 31 is a story about the tragic end of King Saul and his sons. The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. Eventually Saul was to die alone on a lonely mountaintop along with his armor bearer, not surrounded by family and friends peacefully in his bed. So he took his sword and fell on it. The Philistines cut off his head and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. Saul's death made us think deeply what our life must be like. From his tragic end, we can learn that we should not be arrogant, disobedient, or swayed by our emotional sinful desire. Let's read the key verse again. "David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God." (30:6) Let's not look around us. Let's not focus on problems. When we look up at Amighty God, we can find strength the Lord our God. |
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