The Battle of the Fires

Battle Scars

The battle of the Lions - private life /attacks character.

The battle of the Giants - public life / attacks purpose / paints a picture of no hope.

The battle of the Spears - personal life / attacks the heart / attempts to steal destiny.

The battle of the Fires - princely life / attacks everything you care about.

Princely Life

The battle of the fires is a no-holds-barred, winner takes all fight! The stakes have never been higher! This is the once-in-a-lifetime fight when all the cards are stacked against you! And you’re in a position where you could lose everything that matters to you!

“The loss of business, reputation, and home; desertion by parents, children, and friends; misrepresentation, hatred and even death.” Under the name of Christian it is possible to glorify God in all these trials.” - F. B. Meyer

It All Burned to the Ground

1 Samuel 30:1–4 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. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 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.

The Character of God

In this text, David showed his great insight into the character of God, because he went to Him for comfort when everything and everyone was against him. He knew there was no one to turn to for strength in such an overwhelming crisis except the LORD.

Hosea 6:1 ESV

1 “Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

1. When Everything Falls

1 Samuel 30:6 ESV

6 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.

David did not attribute his victory to his personal bravery or military expertise.

The victory is from the Lord, and the spoil is “what the LORD has given us.” - David’s speech is befitting a true covenant king.

The Mark of True Leadership

Numbers 14:10 ESV

10 Then all the congregation said to stone them with stones. But the glory of the Lord appeared at the tent of meeting to all the people of Israel.

2. It’s An Emotional & Physical Battle

1 Samuel 30:8–10 ESV

8 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.” 9 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. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor.

After David inquired of the LORD, David went out after the Amalekites.

One third of David’s men could travel no farther than the Brook Besor because they were emotionally drained from their recent loss and physically exhausted from their three-day march to Ziklag.

3. It’s the Fight of Your Life

1 Samuel 30:16–17 ESV

16 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. 17 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.

4. You Must Fight to Recover All!

1 Samuel 30:18–20 ESV

18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”

Whatever size of objects had been taken, or whoever it was that had been abducted, David brings them all back.

Fiery Trials

1 Peter 4:12–14 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

“This is more than glorying in the name. It is so living worthily of all it means as to glorify God. If a man is known as a Christian and does not live as one, he dishonors God. To bear the name is to take a responsibility, a great and glorious one, but none the less a very solemn one.” - G. Campbell Morgan

5. The Stages of David’s Character Development

He Pursed the Heart of God

He became a Protector of sheep

He Defended God’s people

He became Known as the Warrior for the kingdom of Israel (God)

The Shepherd King of Israel

Conclusion: The Shepherd King

2 Samuel 23:2–5 ESV

“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. “For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?