When We Turn to God

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1 Samuel 30 (ESV)

Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great…

Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.

But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.”

So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David… And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. We had made a raid against… that which belongs to Judah… and we burned Ziklag with fire.”

And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.” And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day… David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all.

David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.” Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor…

Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered… But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us…

as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.”

Continuing in 1 Samuel - Almost through the book!

As we have gone through the book, a constant theme is the battle and the contrast between king Saul, and David the anointed king. Not only have there been physical altercations and war with the enemies of God in which David has had success and Saul not so much...

…but we have seen a different battle. It is the spiritual battle that both Saul and David have been engaged in. Saul has fought against God and against his own sin and has been losing.

David has fought against his own sin and has had some ups and downs, as we have seen, but God has preserved him and protected him.

Now, in these last two chapters, we see the final stage setting for the reign of David to begin.

This all takes place while the Philistines are warring against Israel. We saw that as the Philistines drew up for battle that Saul fall to his own sin and be condemned by God, and we saw David put himself in a really bad position but be saved by God.

We can’t overlook the sovereignty of God in this. One sinner is judged, and another saved. One loses everything, one has everything provided for Him by God.

But neither can we overlook the choices these two men have made. One has turned his back on God. Saul has chosen his will over God’s. What he has in this world over his responsibility to God.

The other - David - has at times taken his responsibility very seriously and at other times has fallen pray to his sinfulness - I think we can all relate.

Well today, we are going to see just how sovereign God is, and we are going to see just how important it is for God’s chosen to take their responsibility very seriously. Both are required for God to fulfill His purpose.

So the story picks up where we left off last week.

David is dismissed by the Philistines who were going to war against Israel. And the scene now shifts to David and his men as they arrive home.

1 Samuel 30:1–2 ESV

On the third day - which means two days later - David and his men arrive back home. The narrative has jumped ahead in time here. We’ll see that the narrative over the last few chapters has jumped back and forth as we have gotten different scenes that all happen in the same time frame.

We have the scene of the Philistines coming to make war on Israel.

We had a break in that narrative to see the scene of Saul’s reaction to the attacking Philistines - his going to the medium at En-dor.

We came back to the battle scene last week and what happened between the Philistines and David right before the battle began.

Now we jump ahead in time by two days to see David return from the battle front to Ziklag.

And when he gets here, we are told of something that had already happened previously. Now, the timing of all these events will come into play in a little bit. And there will be a quiz after service.

But for now, note that these are past events that David finds out about when he gets to Ziklag. The Amalekites have already made the raid against the south of Judah, and Ziklag.

Now remember, Ziklag was given to David by Achish king of Gath, and we saw that it eventually became part of Judah’s territory. At this moment, it was part of Philistine territory.

And we saw that while staying in Ziklag, David told Achish he was making raids against the south of Judah, but was really raiding the pagans of the land, including the Amalekites.

Here, we see that as soon as Ziklag was left unprotected by David and his men as they went with the Philistines to go against Israel, the Amalekites retaliate. And they destroy the city and take all the people hostage - including David’s own family.

1 Samuel 30:3–6 (ESV)

And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.

So God protected David in the incident in the last chapter. David and his deception weren’t exposed before Achish.

But there are still consequences to the actions David has taken - to the choices he has made. Remember that “up and down” of David life we spoke about. We are in a down moment right here. His family is gone because the Amalekites retaliated because of what David did - he had been attacking them.

But the only reason David was here to begin with was because he ran from Saul. David may have been saved from making a choice in the battle, but he was not saved from all the negative consequences of his choices.

And worse, David’s own men are thinking about turning on him here. Their families have been taken away, too. And while they were part of the raids on the Amalekites, it was David’s decisions.

It’s like baseball. Even when the team plays poorly, its the manager that gets fired.

But note the irony: David ran for his life from Saul, and every choice he has made has led him here, to where his life is in danger.

Now think about all that has gone on since David came to the Philistines to escape Saul.

When it comes to confrontation in our lives and in our world, we tend to reduce the struggle down and think of “good guy, bad guy” scenarios. Like there are only two sides in every struggle.

Hollywood tells stories that way. In every action, sci-fi, or fantasy movie, there’s a clear cut good side and a clearly defined bad side.

We think of sports like that. My team are the good guys, the other team is the bad guys. The Giants are the good guys, the Cowboys and the Eagles are bad guys.

We like to think of things this way. Believe me, my whole system got turned upside down when I found out the quarterback of the Eagles was a commited Christian and really likable guy. It was a horrible day when I found that out!

We like black and white categories of good and bad.

We look at history that way. Think of the Revolutionary War. Who were the good guys? Now go ask an Englishman and see what he says.

World War 2? The Allies were the good guys, right? The US, England, and the USSR. That makes Joseph Stalin a good guy.

And we see how it’s in no way as cut-and-dry as we like to make it.

Let’s come back to what we’ve seen in the book of a Samuel. Who in this history is the good guy and who’s the bad guy? Well, very obviously, David’s the good guy and Saul’s the bad guy.

But what about the Philistines? Both Saul - the bad guy - and David - the good guy - battle against them. Are the Philistines the bad guys?

Well, what about the Amalekites. They’ve been a thorn in Israel’s side since the start. But here, they attacked not just Israelite, but Philistine land. And, they weren’t the original aggressors. David was. So are the Amalekites the bad guys?

Either way, David’s family and the families of David’s men - you know, the good guys - they paid the price.

So, we have bad guys fighting bad guys but affecting the good guys. Unless, of course, the book ever presents Israel as the bad guys. Has Israel at all been presented as the bad guys in this book?

And for that matter - has David done some bad things? He certainly wasn’t the good guy in the eyes of the Philistines, except for Achish, who we’d consider a bad guy. David certainly wasn’t the good guy in the eyes of those who wanted to stone him right at this moment, who we’d consider the good guys - even though here they are against the good guy.

While this may seem confusing, I think that’s a good thing. Because we need to think rightly about this, and quite honestly, as Christians, we need to realize that there is a huge gray area in the whole “good guy, bad guy” paradigm.

And as it turns out, we are the gray area. Christians.

Because there is a clear cut “good guy.” In fact, there is only one “good guy” - and I say this with all reverence - God is the only clear cut “good guy” - He is the only good in anything and everything.

In every struggle, in every battle, in every situation - God is the “good guy.”

And on the other side, are the bad guys. And, as we just saw, there are many bad guys. Sometimes, even the supposed good guys are like the bad guys.

But we need to realize, no matter how many bad guys there are, there is only one source of the bad. Opposition to God. What we might call sin. What led mankind astray, and even led the powers of darkness astray.

What led Israel astray and led Saul astray and has at times led David astray.

Listen, go back in history, look around at the world today, and we can identify all kinds of bad guys. But we need to realize that at the heart of it all, what we are seeing is opposition to God.

It’s opposition to God. To Him, His will, and His ways.

Even when bad people battle bad people, bad nations war against bad nations, bad powers struggle against other bad powers - it’s all the same badness.

Satan and the power of darkness are pulling the strings on all sides, but it’s really easy for them to do, because the heart of fallen man is so naturally and readily bad.

All of this is pretty black and white.

But then there’s us. The gray area. Sinners saved by grace. Those who have been born again by the Spirit of God but still struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil - we struggle with the bad.

And the struggle I’m talking about isn’t when we want to overcome bad with good. It’s that we struggle we have to be good because sometimes - and let’s just say it like it is - sometimes we prefer the bad.

Like we saw last week, sometimes we who follow God fall into a gray area. Maybe we don’t go over to total darkness - complete bad guy - but there are times we aren’t exactly the good guy and really don’t want to be.

And there are times we are closer to that side than God’s side and we look just like the bad guys - we act like them, talk like them, think like them.

And when that happens, what can we do?

Well, we need the “good guy.” We need to turn to God.

We need to turn to God, and do things His way.

Think about what we’ve seen in the book of 1 Samuel about doing things God’s way - like, let’s say, fighting the Amalekites. God’s command to His people was clear about this:

1 Samuel 15:2–3 ESV

Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”

Saul’s failure

And we saw a couple of chapters ago, Samuel said through the medium that this is why Saul was going to lose the kingdom and die.

Because he proved by his actions - by his own choices - that he wasn’t on the right side.

He didn’t just wade into that gray area, he wound up on the wrong side because he denied his responsibility to God and to his calling as king.

But we saw that even while David was on the run, he was doing the job of the king and fighting God’s battles against the Amalekites. We saw this multiple times. He was the one obedient to God’s will. He took his responsibility seriously.

And while David has stumbled plenty throughout his ordeal, and he has himself waded into that gray area plenty - you know, acting without considering God at times, being impetuous and giving in to his emotions, outright lying - the fact of the matter is that, for one of God’s own - for His chosen - God is always right there to keep us from going over to the wrong side, and to help us back out of the gray.

And that’s what we see here - once again - with David.

His own choices have led him here. His family has been taken. The families of his men have been taken, and now the men are turning on David.

It’s a real low point. And it’s because of his own choices.

So what can David do?

1 Samuel 30:6–8 (ESV)

David relies on God, and seeks Him and His word once again.

David turns whole heartedly to God - even in horrible circumstances - even while he is smack dab in the middle of the gray area and it’s difficult to determine if he’s a good guy or a bad guy - David turns back to God, seeks Him, wants His Word to guide him, and God leads him in the way he should go.

David is acting in faith. And he’s ready to go back to doing the job of the king - to fulfilling his calling as God’s chosen.

David is turning to God, and God is making him a good guy once again. David turned to God, and has come out of the gray area.

And you might say “wait! He is being forced to do this. The Amalekites came against his family and he has to go and save them. Not to mention, if he doesn’t do something, he’s gonna be killed by his own men”

Yes. That is 100% true.

But remember that God has chosen David. He has given him a calling, and He has made promises to him.

David has stumbled, yes - but he has been chosen by God and though his faith has wavered, it has never disappeared. It can’t.

And throughout his life - we’ve seen it! - God has given David opportunities to turn back and once again act in faith. And God has done it over and over, because David has faltered over and over.

In other words, though David has stumbled into the gray area many times, God has never, ever stopped working to pull David out of it.

It’s no coincidence that God worked it out so that David didn’t have to make that choice with the Philistines. David was spared by God from having to choose between betraying his own people or being found out by Achish and the army of the Philistines.

And even though it worked out for David’s good, David may have even felt - he seemed to by the way he reacted to Achish in the last chapter - David may have felt wronged by the Philistines. When Achish dismissed him, David said to him: “I’ve done nothing wrong - why are you sending me away?”

Even when David put himself in a bad position - I mean, David was drowning in the gray area at that moment. And even when those around him treated him unfairly. And even when the world came against him - through all of this, God was working out something bigger. Something greater for David.

God was making a way for David to come out of the gray area, and be who he was called to be. Who he was chosen to be.

Even though the world came against God’s people and all of David’s family was taken by the Amalekites - God has worked this all out - through what would all be considered “bad” circumstances and even “bad” people - you know, the bad guys - through it all, God worked it all out to put David in a position to take responsibility, to act in faith, and return to being a “good guy.”

But its even bigger than that. God was working out something even greater here.

Again, think about the narrative over the last few chapters. In chapter 27 we have the story of David joining with the Philistines in order to preserve his own life. He ran from Saul and knew Saul wouldn’t come after him if he was with the Philistines.

In chapter 28, we are told that “the Philistines gathered their forces” for war against Israel. So what happens? Saul goes to the medium of En-dor. And Samuel speaks to Saul, and tells him that Israel, God’s people in a very gray area at this point, would be defeated by the Philistines, and that he - Saul - would fall by their hand the very next day.

And Samuel tells him that David was finally going to take the throne. God’s promise was about to be fulfilled!

Then, in chapter 29, the story returns to what David was doing while all that other stuff was going on. And we begin once again with “the Philistines gathered their forces” to fight against Israel. This is bringing us back to where we were at the start of the previous chapter.

How do we know that? Because when they gathered their forces for war, the incident with David and the Philistines we looked at last week happened. And today, in chapter 30, we are told this is happening two days after that. And in verse 17, we are told the battle recorded here takes another whole day.

Sometime in those first couple of days is when Saul went to the medium and heard of his impending death which would happen the next day.

And we’ll see next week, chapter 31 flashes back again to the other scene of the battle between Israel and the Philistines, and we’re going to see Saul’s death, which is the day after Saul went to the medium of En-dor, which was no more than a day after the Philistines invaded Israel.

So we have this scene shifting between Israel’s battle against the Philistines, and what Saul is doing int he meantime, and what David is doing in the meantime. It’s great writing, how this is woven together so masterfully.

But what we see is that through it all - even while David doesn’t know what’s happening in Israel, even though he doesn’t know that Samuel has prophesied to Saul that the time has come for David to take the throne...

...even though he doesn’t see what a great thing it is that God has intervened and spared him from taking part in that battle one way or the other, and even though he can’t see how this situation with the Amalekites can be in any way good, especially considering his men are about to kill him...

…what has been happening throughout all of this is that God has been working out every detail. Most of them, David didn’t know about. Some he did, but he didn’t understand how they were in any way good.

But God - and God alone - has worked it all out for David to have this opportunity return whole heartedly to God, take the mantle of king, act in faith, and go defeat the enemies of God even as Saul was likely already dead at the hands of Israel’s other enemy.

God has worked out a chance - yet again - for David to take responsibility for his calling.

And this is all in black and white, in the Bible, over the course of only five chapters, spelled out so we can see the timeline and all that happened. And even though it is clear once you see it, I have to be honest, I didn’t see this until about the 20th time I read this book.

It’s right there for us to see, and yet I missed it for so long. How glorious it is that God worked all of this out down to every detail even through what are horrible worldly circumstances - even while David had stumbled multiple times into that gray area…

…what God was doing, was giving David a chance to get out of the gray area and be who he was called to be.

I missed it even though it was right in front of me.

I could be describing my own life. Maybe I could be describing your life.

Because, how much more do we do that in our own lives? Oh, how often we are blind to what God is doing. How easily we forget that He is sovereign over it all and that no detail - no matter how small - is ever outside of His gracious providence.

How often we get caught up in those details, and miss the big picture unfolding so very clearly right before our eyes!

How often we miss the hand of God because we wade right into the gray area and we focus on all the wrong things. Like David did. How often we get caught up in our way and forget God’s ways. How often we focus on our own will and forget God’s will.

How often all of this happens, and yet every time, God is there - right there - holding us back from going further into the gray, calling us back to Him, working out every detail so that we will have the opportunity to do what David did here and strengthen ourselves in Him and turn to Him.

How often we don’t realize that’s happening and we keep ourselves mired in the gray.

And it’s so obvious. God is at work in every detail, at every moment, and it’s happening right in front of us, and we miss it.

And like me reading the book of 1 Samuel, we miss it over and over and over again no matter how many times the same thing happens.

So realize: there is no gray area in our God. But God is with us in the gray.

If He has called you, He is in every detail. He is giving you every opportunity to be what He calls you to be.

He is not going to go back on a single promise, and He is not going to leave you to get back to Him on your own - He never has and He never will.

We just need to see it. We need to believe it. We need to remember Who the “good guy” is and seek Him.

And if you are here and you think that what you are going through is different. That if God was with you and God was really over the details that you wouldn’t have gone through that you have, or be going through what you are. If you think your circumstance mean that God has left you - then you aren’t paying very good attention to what David has been through.

And God has been there the whole time. And He has worked out every detail to bring him back and make him what God called him to be.

If you are here and you think that what you have done is different - that your sin is so egregious that God has let go of you and left you to wallow in the gray - if you think God is done with you because of what you’ve done - then you haven’t paid attention to what David has done.

Did his sin have consequences? Yes! It always does. But has it left David outside of God’s loving providence? Not for a moment. Has God abandoned him? Not for a moment.

Has God nonetheless worked out every detail - in spite of David - has God not worked out every detail to make David exactly what He called him to be? Yes, at every moment!

Well, here, David finally sees it. He finally realizes that God has always been ready and able to make him what He called him to be.

All David had to do was believe that God was in control. That God was in every detail.

All he had to do, was turn to God, and hear Him, and obey.

Because we see, God had already worked it all out, through everything that has happened - good or bad - to give David this opportunity to be what he was called to be.

Brothers and sisters, we can’t miss our opportunities.

Because God has a plan for us.

No less important than His plan for David.

And David turns to God - he strengthens himself in YHWH his God, and he seeks God’s Word - oh how that subject comes up so often in this book - and what does David do when he knows what God says?

He acts in faith, and obeys:

1 Samuel 30:9–10 ESV

So all 600 men pursue after the Amalekites, and a third of them become exhausted and can’t continue on. This just tells us how hard they pursued the Amalekites - some of these experienced soldiers were exhausted.

Ziklag to Besor is about 20 miles. It’s almost the distance of a marathon. I can understand how some of these men were too exhausted to go on.

So David and 400 men go into the land of the Amalekites.

But how in the world was David going to find his family? I think this was a few years before Life 360 was a thing.

I mean, David turned to God, had enough faith to believe His Word, and accepted his responsibility to be who God called him to be - and he acted. He obeyed.

But now what? Was it now all on David to figure it out? Did he have to do this alone?

Not for a moment.

God is still working out the details. Even in the middle of the struggle - of David’s struggle - of my struggle - of your struggle - God doesn’t ever stop carrying out His plan.

And when we are like David here, and we put ourselves and our wills and our ways aside and turn to God, we will start to see His sovereign hand and His gracious provision.

It’s always there, but we will be able to see it while it’s happening.

Look at what happens:

1 Samuel 30:11–15 ESV

They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.”

So an Egyptian - a prototypical bad guy in the Old Testament - who worked for the Amalekites - bad guys - is sitting there, in the open country, as David is trying to find his family.

This isn’t a coincidence.

And he agrees to take David and his men to the army of the Amalekites as long as they promise to spare him.

I mean, the details of this account would be unbelievable if we didn’t believe in a God Who is sovereign over every detail.

Think about it. The whole time - through the good and the bad - over the last few chapters, over the course of the whole book - God has worked it all out to bring David to that moment of opportunity. While David didn’t know it; and David didn’t see it.

And when that opportunity came, David turned to God and accepted his responsibility to God - the God that worked it all out for him.

And God continued to work it all out.

God continued to provide exactly what David needed.

And yet, there was still work for David to do. He still had a responsibility to be what God called him to be.

1 Samuel 30:16–20 ESV

And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

In His providence, God worked it all out to give David the opportunity to act in faith and fulfill His calling.

And David did, so God worked it all out so David could continue to act in faith and fulfill his calling.

We see here that interplay between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. It is a mystery how exactly that works in every situation, but it’s no mystery that the Bible says this is how it works.

God will provide and sovereignly bring about His will - but we have a responsibility to act in accordance with His will in order for it to be brought about.

Let me say that again.

God will provide and sovereignly bring about His will - but we have a responsibility to act in accordance with His will in order for it to be brought about.

(evangelism - is the saved are elect, they are going to be saved, so why evangelize?)

Because God will provide and sovereignly bring about His will - but we have a responsibility to act in accordance with His will in order for it to be brought about.

(prayer - if God is sovereign and His will will stand - why pray?)

Because God will provide and sovereignly bring about His will - but we have a responsibility to act in accordance with His will in order for it to be brought about.

God sovereignly ordains what happens and how it happens, and us fulfilling our responsibility is how it happens.

God does it through His people!

That’s what’s happening here. God had every detail work out, just so, to give David an opportunity to act in faith and fulfill his responsibility as God’s chosen.

And when David seized that opportunity, turned to God and sought His Word, and when David obeyed - God’s job wasn’t done. He was still working it out for David to succeed because he acted in faith.

And God’s will was done.

And in the end, God not only gave back to David what had been lost, He provided even more abundantly.

After all David had been through - even when he felt like God abandoned him - go read the Psalms, that happened often - even when David felt like God had abandoned him, God was working it all out.

After all David had done - even when he sinned and waded deep into the gray area - and we have seen it happen and it will again - even when David felt like he deserved to be abandoned by God, God was working it all out.

And David was given an opportunity to be the king. To be who God called him to be. And in faith, he seized the opportunity. And he came out of that gray area and did what he was called to do.

And God continued to work even as David worked - and God returned to David what was lost. His family. The families of his men. Their belongings. But even more, God gave him more than what he lost. He wound up with more.

And not just the spoils of war. David’s faith was strengthened. God’s provision became obvious to him. And he became more of who God called him to be.

When we turn to God in faith after we stumble or we stray into the gray area - God not only restores us, but if we act in faith and seek Him and His will - He provides even more abundantly for us.

Like with David, God will use even the struggles - even the “bad” - to fulfill His purposes in us.

Even when we don’t see how He’s doing it, I assure you - if you have placed your faith in Christ and have been born again - I assure you that God is using everything you have gone through and are going through to fulfill His purpose.

All we have to do is turn back to Him, repent of our failure, and act in faith once again.

All we have to do, is seize the opportunity before us.

All we have to do, is take responsibility for who we are called to be.

And if we do, God will not just fulfill His purpose in us, He will do something even greater. He will fulfill His greater purpose.

Because, when we turn to God and we take responsibility for who we’re called to be, He does not just provide abundantly for us, He will also provide abundantly through us.

1 Samuel 30:21–31 ESV

Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.” It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.

Through His providence and David’s obedience, God provided for David. He gave him success and restored to him what was lost.

Through His providence and David’s obedience, God provided for all those who acted in faith. Those 400 men who went into battle against the Amalekites.

Through His providence and David’s obedience, God provided for those who didn’t go to battle. Even those who couldn’t go were blessed through David’s obedience.

Through His providence and David’s obedience, God provided for all of His people - for all of those around David. The people of Judah. God’s chosen people.

Through His providence and David’s obedience, God continued to work out His plan for David.

Here we see that David’s obedience blesses those of Judah, including those in Horeb, where David will be crowned king, which God just sovereignly worked out over the last 5 chapters of the book, which David took responsibility for, and which God continued to work out.

And like David here, we have an opportunity before us. We always do because God is always working out His purpose for us, even when we believe quite the opposite.

So let’s turn to God, strengthen ourselves in our God, hear our God, and obey.

Let’s take responsibility for what we are called to be.

Wee need to learn to trust not what we see, how we feel, or what we want - have faith that God is working it all out for you, for me, for us together, and for all of His chosen - and to do that, we need to seek His Word, hear Him, and obey.

…believing that He is in control, and working it all out, and that if we take responsibility to be who we are called to be, He will do something greater than we can imagine

Be what we are called to be for each other - we need to take responsibility for our calling knowing God will bless those around us

(our gifts and how our obedience to God in using them blesses the entire community)

Your obedience is not just about you. Don’t ever rationalize anything by saying “that’s between me and God.” Nothing is. Christianity is not an individual religion.

When we are what we are called to be for each other, then we as a church can be what we’re called to be for the world. There are dying people out there that don’t know what true life is.

We need to get to them. God wants to bless them through us - to give them and us so much more than we can imagine. To restore what was lost for those who don’t know Him.

And that starts by living outside of the gray. Living as a light in the midst of the darkness.

And we need God if we’re going to do that.

So let us turn to God this morning, together in prayer, repent of the choices that have led us away, and commit to be what we are called to be.

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