The Enemy Of Depression
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1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
2 And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3 And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife.
4 And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.
5 And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
6 Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.
7 And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
8 And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
9 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
11 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
12 And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
Family
Giant
Saul
David saw Doubts, Discouragement
Spiritual battles were evident in David’s life - The devil filled David’s heart to number the people
David’s Soul
A voice contrary to God’s word
God’s plan to make you who you should be
Treasures in darkness
David - Faith, music, strength
defeat, depression, discouraged
No matter how dark our life becomes, God is not finished developing and growing you
David didn’t know where to turn
He didn’t know who to go to
You’ve felt like that - Turn to the Lord
What do we do when we don’t know what to do?
The Enemy wants us to begin:
Doubting that God cares
Doubting that the church does not work
Doubting that somehow they were taught wrong
The Enemy wants us to think:
God failed you
God’s word is not trustworthy
God lied to you
The pastor doesn’t care
Your church doesn’t love you
Sometimes life can get so dark that every moment must be managed by actively trusting in the Lord.
When times get so hard that hour by hour it’s a struggle
Minute by minute we must be in prayer because it’s so difficult
That is not the worst place to be...
The worst place to be is thinking we don’t need God
We must have faith building times
Remember David presented himself as a crazy man
A place in Ziklag = we shouldn’t be trying to gain shelter from the world’s crowd
We weren’t satisfied with what God provided
We weren’t content with what God has allowed
Why do mental breakdowns happen
Why do emotional breaks happen
In much part because we depended on people for our happiness and they didn’t come through
We relied on people to provide us joy
We expected people to be reliable
We put more faith in people than God
Satan wants you to judge God’s actions
Satan wants you to put God on the witness stand and answer our accusations
David came to a place in his life that his victories as military leader could not get him out of his problems
David came to a place in his life that his position and anointing as a king could not help him
David came to a place in his life his reputation in the eyes of people couldn’t help him
God will can take everything away that we put confidence in so that we depend on Him alone
God took all the power out of those things that people rely on
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
There is a problem when a Christian wants to be accepted of the Lord
David went to the world to find provision, protection, and became defeated in his mind
1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
2 And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
The victories of the past are not enough for today.
The Lord has new victories for His people that are won by faith.
Anger causes people to run away from the situations in life that God has allowed to develop them and to build them.
A person gets angry at their spouse - they run to the world for a solution, or for another relationship
A person gets angry with another christian - they run to the world for comfort for relationship
A Christian gets mad at God’s timing and decides to go to Gath to find a spouse - they are there - you won’t enjoy your life if you find a philistine spouse but there are plenty
The enemy will say anything you want him to say in order to deceive you and me.
8 And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
9 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
11 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
12 And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
The Amalekites were a group of people that God told Joshua to completely destroy
David lied to the enemy to appease the enemy
Making himself look good in the eyes of the enemy
If you and I are serious about the truth
Serious about the gospel
Serious about Scripture
The world wants Christians as their servants
The Philistines will go to fight against the Israelites
they want David’s help to destroy God’s people
We serve, we give, we invest - not for reward but for the Lord
There will be those who are amon our ranks
Something happens in their life for which they cannot trust the Lord
They will try to hide and pretend as if we did something to them
1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.
2 And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.
The world offers “secure” positions
The world wants you
1 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
1 Samuel 29:2–3 (KJV 1900)
2 And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish.
3 Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?
David was with the philistines for years...
4 And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?
5 Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
6 Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not.
Imagine the world praising you for doing wrong
God is good
God is merciful
God is kind
God is wonderful
7 Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.
8 And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
David knows he’s not required to fight and proclaims allegiance to the king
You will always made to feel welcome by the world
You will be asked to fight against God’s people
Satan’s goal is to make us enemies of God’s People, God’s plan, and God’s Person -
Siding with the adversary, speaking against God’s people
We are not perfect as a church
David is proclaiming allegiance as a traitor to his own people
Backsliding is making seemingly small convenient decisions with the misguided belief of being able to control the consequences.
No one that dabbles in the world’s activities or philosophies ever intends to be deceived to the point of wasting their life.
No one that sides with the world ever intends to be overcome by their decisions.
You don’t have to make huge decisions to find yourself in trouble in our relationships and our communion with Lord.
“Obey my voice.”
Jer 11:8 Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil heart:
Backsliding is evidence of a heart that is not trusting God
1. God Will Use Grief To Correct Us
1 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.
Imagine:
Deceived the king of Achish
Probably thinking we’ve got this under control - we really know what we’re doing...
They come back to an empty settlement - everything is gone
As far as they knew, they were gone forever
God used loss to teach
God used sorrow to humble
They slew not - that is God’s grace
God will use sorrow to correct us
1 Samuel 30:3 (KJV 1900)
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.
1 Samuel 30:4 (KJV 1900)
4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
2. God Uses Rejection To Teach Us
God uses rejection
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.
Rejection
Grief
Lonely
King without a throne
Husband without a wife
Captain without an army
This is the chastisement of God
We will never be safe in the enemies camp
But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God
Your circumstances should no
No matter how dark you can encourage yourself in the Lord
No matter how painful, you can encourage yourself in the Lord
God loves us
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 inquired 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.
Abiathar was taking care of Abiathar the priest
The depths of the valley to the mountain of victory
Correction = Teaches, and Strengthens
David lied
David manipulated
David lacked faith
19 Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.
God can use our failures to train us
1 David’s failures brought Him to a place of seeking God
2 God’s grace led him to a strength of leading others
3 God’s leadership gave David strength to fight
1 I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: So shall I be saved from mine enemies.
4 The sorrows of death compassed me, And the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5 The sorrows of hell compassed me about: The snares of death prevented me.
6 In my distress I called upon the Lord, And cried unto my God: He heard my voice out of his temple, And my cry came before him, even into his ears.
God is still working on us even if we’re running
God’s sovereign
He’s good
The metamorphosis of a butterfly is a remarkable process that involves a complete transformation of its body. It starts with an egg laid by the female butterfly on a suitable host plant. From the egg, a tiny caterpillar emerges, which spends most of its time feeding and growing. As the caterpillar grows, it molts its skin several times until it reaches its full size. At this stage, it forms a chrysalis or pupa, which is a protective casing around its body. Inside the chrysalis, the caterpillar undergoes a dramatic transformation, as its tissues and organs are broken down and reassembled into the adult butterfly. After several days or weeks, depending on the species and environmental conditions, the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis with fully-formed wings and a new body. The butterfly then spends some time pumping fluids into its wings to expand them and dry them out. Once the wings are fully extended and dried, the butterfly takes its first flight, ready to explore the world in its new form.