Sometimes You Have to Do It Yourself

Sometimes You Have to Do It Yourself

Text: 1 Samuel 30:6 (NKJV)

Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Introduction

In my humble opinion, one of the things I love most about the Bible is that it is brutally honest about its heroes. It doesn’t sanitize their stories or airbrush their struggles. The Bible gives us the highs and the lows, the victories and the valleys, the triumphs and the tragedies, the mountaintops and the midnight moments.

Unlike biographies that often highlight only a person’s accomplishments, Scripture tells the whole story. It celebrates their faith, but it also exposes their failures. It records their courage, but it doesn’t conceal their fears. It reveals their victories, yet it also uncovers their vulnerabilities.

That’s one of the reasons I know the Bible is true. If people had written it merely to impress us, they would have edited out the embarrassing chapters. But God, in His wisdom, preserved them because He knew we would need them.

And perhaps no biblical character illustrates that better than David.

If you were to ask me who my favorite hero of the faith is, without hesitation I would answer, David.

Not because David was perfect—he certainly wasn’t.

Not because David never failed—he failed in some very public ways.

Not because David never questioned, wept, or struggled.

David is my favorite hero of the faith because his life looks so much like ours.

He knew what it was like to defeat giants, but he also knew what it was like to battle depression.

He knew what it was like to wear a crown, but he also knew what it was like to hide in caves.

He knew what it was like to dance in victory, but he also knew what it was like to cry until he had no more tears left.

David experienced moments when heaven seemed to open over his life, and he endured seasons when everything around him seemed to fall apart.

What also draws me to David is that he worshiped God through every season of his life. Many of the Psalms were not written on easy days—they were written on hard days. David sang when he was surrounded by enemies. He prayed when his heart was overwhelmed. He worshiped while he was running for his life. He praised God while carrying burdens that would have crushed many other people.

His worship wasn't dependent on his circumstances; it was rooted in his relationship with God.

That’s why I identify with David.

Because somewhere between the palace and the cave, somewhere between the anointing and the adversity, somewhere between the promise and the fulfillment, I see myself.

And maybe that’s why you identify with him too.

Because if you’ve lived long enough, you’ve discovered that life is not lived only on mountaintops. Sometimes life brings you to a place called Ziklag—a place where dreams are burned, hearts are broken, friends disappoint, and you’re forced to discover that your greatest source of strength has never been people it has always been God.

And that’s exactly where our text meets us today.

And nowhere is that more evident than in 1 Samuel 30.

David returns to Ziklag expecting to find rest after battle, but instead he finds ruin. The city has been burned to the ground. His home is gone. His wife and children have been taken captive. The Bible says he and his men wept until they had no more strength to weep.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, the very men who had stood shoulder to shoulder with David in battle turned against him. Their grief became anger, and their anger found a target. The text says they spoke of stoning David.

Can you imagine that?

The enemy has taken your family, and your friends are talking about taking your life.

David looked around, and there was nobody left to encourage him.

No one to lift his hands.

No one to strengthen his heart.

No one to remind him of God’s promises.

And if we’re honest, all of us eventually come to moments like that.

Moments when the burden is too heavy for anyone else to carry.

Moments when no one else can make the decision to trust God for us.

Moments when our faith has to become deeply personal.

It is in those moments that David teaches us one of the greatest lessons of the Christian life.

The text says, “ he found strength in the LORD his God.”

David didn’t wait for someone else to motivate him.

He didn’t wait for someone else to rescue him.

He didn’t wait for someone else to remind him of God’s promises.

He made a personal decision to draw strength from the God who had never failed him.

He remembered that God had delivered him from lions and bears when he was a young shepherd, and he had delivered him from the hand of Saul numerous times. David knew where to turn for help. Church, that’s the message today.

There are some battles your pastor can’t fight for you.

There are some prayers your spouse can’t pray for you.

There are some valleys your family can’t walk for you.

There are some things in life that no one else can do for you.

No one can breathe for you. No one can believe for you. No one can forgive for you. No one can obey God for you. And there are seasons when no one can encourage you for you. There comes a point in every believer’s life when your walk with God must become personal.

There comes a time when your praise cannot depend on the choir.

Your worship cannot depend on the worship Leader.

Your faith cannot depend on the preacher.

Your confidence cannot depend on your friends.

There are some seasons when you’ve got to open your own Bible, fall on your own knees, remember God’s faithfulness, and encourage your own heart in the Lord.

Sometimes you have to do it yourself—but you never have to do it by yourself, because the Lord your God is with you.

This Text Teaches us a Theological Truth:

It is not a call to self-sufficiency; it is a call to God-dependency. David did not find strength within himself—David did not pull himself up by his own bootstraps.…..he found strength in the Lord his God.

He deliberately turned his heart toward the Lord until God’s strength became his strength.

The gospel points us even further. Jesus entered the deepest loneliness on the cross. His disciples fled. Friends abandoned Him. Yet He entrusted Himself to the Father. Because Christ endured ultimate abandonment, believers are never truly alone. When we strengthen ourselves in the Lord, we draw near to the One who has promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

As we unpack this text , the Holy Spirit shows us why there are seasons in life when sometimes you have to do it yourself. Not because you are alone, not because people don’t matter, but because there are moments when your faith must become personal, your dependence must become intentional, and your confidence must rest in God alone.

The text reveals three reasons why sometimes you have to do it yourself.

I. YOU MUST CONFRONT YOUR PAIN..

“Now David was greatly distressed…”

The verse opens with no attempt to soften David’s reality.,,,,,,The text begins by saying, “David was greatly distressed.” means to be pressed, hemmed in, squeezed into a narrow place with no apparent escape.

David wasn’t simply having a difficult day.

He was trapped emotionally.

He was exhausted physically.

He was burdened spiritually.

As we examine David’s distress, the text reveals two realities that every believer must face whenever life falls apart.

A. His Circumstances Were Crushing

Notice the progression of the narrative.

David is not standing on a battlefield—he is standing in the ashes of his own city. When David and his six hundred men returned to their home in Ziklag, they expected rest after a three-day journey. Instead, they were met by devastation.

Text says: “So David and his men came to the city, and there it was, burned with fire; and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.”

The Amalekites had invaded the city, burned every home to the ground, and carried away every woman and child.

Imagine arriving home expecting to embrace your family, only to find smoke rising from the ruins and deafening silence where laughter once filled the streets.

Humanly speaking, David had every reason to collapse

David teaches us that confronting our pain is not a sign of weak faith; it is the first step toward experiencing God’s sustaining grace

This is one of the great theological realities of Scripture: God’s people are not exempt from overwhelming moments.

Psalm 34:18 (NKJV)

“The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Application

There are seasons when life leaves all of us standing in the ashes of broken dreams. Faith is not pretending you don’t hurt; faith is refusing to let your hurt have the final word.

The fire burned his city, but now the trial threatened to burn his faith.

A. His Circumstances Were Crushing B. His Confidence Was Challenged

David had walked with God for years. He had defeated Goliath. He had escaped Saul. He had witnessed God’s miraculous protection over and over again. Yet even seasoned believers can experience moments when adversity causes them to wrestle with discouragement.

The enemy’s objective is never merely to destroy your circumstances; his greater objective is to destroy your confidence in God.

If Satan can convince you that God has abandoned you, he has weakened your faith before the battle is even over.

Yet David refused to allow his emotions to rewrite what he knew about God.

His circumstances changed.

His companions changed.

But God had not changed.

Proverbs 3:5–6 (NKJV)

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.”

David’s understanding could not explain Ziklag, but his trust remained anchored in the Lord.

Isaiah 26:3–4 (NKJV)

“You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.”

David had every reason to question God’s plan.

He had been anointed king, yet he found himself standing in a burned city.

Sometimes God’s promises seem far away when pain is close.

The enemy wants your circumstances to redefine your confidence in God.

Anybody can praise God after Goliath falls.

Anybody can worship when the bills are paid.

Anybody can shout after the victory.

But can you worship while your city is still burning?

Can you trust God while the smoke is still rising?

That was David’s test.

Illustration

A building cannot reveal the strength of its foundation until the storm comes. Sunshine doesn’t test a foundation—storms do. Likewise, adversity reveals whether our confidence rests in circumstances or in Christ.

Transition

David faced tremendous internal pressure, but what happened next made his burden even heavier.

I. YOU MUST CONFRONT YOUR PAIN.

II. YOU MUST CONTINUE WHEN PEOPLE FAIL.

“For the people spoke of stoning him…”

David wasn’t just fighting the Amalekites.

Now he was facing opposition from those closest to him.

Sometimes your deepest wounds don’t come from your enemies.

They come from disappointed friends.

A. Their Grief Produced Blame

The men were hurting.

Their wives were gone.

Their children were gone.

Instead of processing their grief, they searched for someone to blame.

David became the target.

Hurting people often hurt people.

B. Their Loyalty Proved Fragile

These same men had followed David into battle.

Now they wanted to stone him.

Human loyalty often fluctuates with human emotions.

But God’s faithfulness never changes.

Application

There will be seasons when people misunderstand your motives.

Friends disappoint.

Family fails.

Support disappears.

You cannot anchor your soul to people because people are inconsistent.

Anchor yourself to the God who never changes.

Illustration

Ships are safest when anchored to bedrock beneath the ocean—not to another drifting ship. If both vessels drift, both are lost. Likewise, don’t tie your faith to another person’s emotions. Anchor yourself to the Rock of Ages.

Transition

David had lost his city.

David had lost his family.

David had nearly lost his friends.

Not only we see, I. YOU MUST CONFRONT YOUR PAIN.

II. YOU MUST CONTINUE WHEN PEOPLE FAIL.

III. YOU MUST CULTIVATE GOD’S PRESENCE

“But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.”

Everything changes at the word “but.” …But David strengthened himself…”

That conjunction becomes the turning point.

The words “But David” are significant because they mark David’s refusal to let his circumstances write the final sentence of his life.

The verse could have ended: “David was greatly distressed… and the people spoke of stoning him.”

A. He Remembered God’s Faithfulness The narrative moves from: despair to hope, from grief

to grace, from weakness to renewed faith.

Notice what had not changed: The city hadn’t changed.

The families hadn’t returned.

His children were still missing.

His possessions were still stolen.

His men were still grieving.

The threat of being stoned was still real.

The “but” announces that while nothing around David had changed, something inside David had changed.

Yet David changed.

The first miracle wasn’t around David.

The first miracle happened inside David.

A. He Remembered God’s Faithfulness

Surely David remembered…

When a lion attacked his father’s sheep, God gave him victory.

When a bear came against the flock, God preserved his life.

When Goliath mocked the armies of Israel, God delivered the giant into his hands.

When Saul hunted him through the wilderness, God protected him again and again.

David’s past became evidence of God’s present faithfulness.

He had too much history with God to believe God would abandon him now.

Sometimes you have to preach to yourself before you can preach to anybody else.

So David did not stop at remembering God’s faithfulness..

B. He Reached for God’s Strength

Because remembering yesterday’s victories will encourage your heart, but reaching for today’s strength will sustain your soul.

Notice carefully what the text says.

That little preposition “in” is the theological heartbeat of the verse. It identifies the source, and the location of David’s renewed strength. It doesn’t say David strengthened himself by himself. he found strength outside of himself, in the Lord.

It says he strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

The phrase “his God” is deeply personal.

Not merely Israel’s God.

Not merely the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Not merely Samuel’s God.

His God.

David would later declare:

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

He did not say, “The Lord is a Shepherd.”

He said, “My Shepherd.”

Again, in Psalm 18:2, David testified:

“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust…”

Notice how many times David says “my.”

Not because God belongs exclusively to David, but because David belongs to God through covenant.

David leaned into a relationship he had cultivated long before the crisis arrived.

Every child of God ought to have some “But David” moments.

There ought to be moments in your life when everything around you says quit… But David…

When your emotions tell you to give up… But David…

When your circumstances tell you it’s over… But David…

When people walk away… But David…

When the doctor’s report isn’t what you prayed for… But David…

When your family is in turmoil… But David…

When the money runs low… But David…

When you’ve cried until you have no more tears to cry… But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.

Sometimes You Have to Do It Yourself.. It is the moment you decide:

I may be hurting, but I’m still trusting.

I may be broken, but I’m still believing.

I may be discouraged, but I’m still praying.

I may be under pressure, but I’m still praising.

I may not understand God’s hand, but I still trust God’s heart.

Every child of God needs a “But David” testimony.

When everyone else is falling apart… But David…

When everyone else is talking defeat… But David…

When everyone else is throwing in the towel… But David…

Have you any rivers; that you think are uncrossable? And have you any mountain, that you can't tunnel through? God specializes in things that seem impossible. And he will do what no other power, Holy Ghost power, can do. Have you ever been on your bed of affliction? And the doctor has done all that they could do. God, oh he specializes in healing all matters of diseases. And he will do what no other power Holy Ghost power can do.