I'm Taking My Stuff Back!

Antithesis:

I would dare to say that the living realisation, in heart and mind, of this personal possession of God is the difference between a traditional and vague profession and possession of religion. Explaining the difference - The man who contents himself with the general knowledge of God that comes from the world, and who can say no more than that Jesus Christ died for all, - has yet to learn the most intimate peace, and the most quickening and transforming power, of God.

Now I am not putting too much into a little word when I insist upon it that the very essence and nerve of what strengthened David, at that supreme moment of desolation, was the conviction that welled up in his heart that, in spite of it all, he had a grip of God’s hand as his very own, and God had hold of him. Just think of the difference between the attitude of mind and heart expressed in the names that were more familiar to the Israelitish people, and this name for Jehovah. ‘The God of Israel’-that is wide, general; and a man might use it and yet fail to feel that it implied that each individual of the community stood by himself in a personal relation to God. But David penetrated through the broad, general thought, and got into the heart of the matter. It was not enough for him, in his time of need, to stay himself upon a vague universal goodness, but he had to clasp to his burdened heart the individualising thought, ‘the God of Israel is myGod.’

the very essence and nerve of what strengthened David, at that moment of desolation, was the conviction that welled up in his heart that - in spite of it all, he had a grip of God’s hand as his very own, and God had hold of him.

Just think of the difference between the attitude of mind and heart expressed in the names that were more familiar to the Israelitish people, and this name for Jehovah. ‘The God of Israel’-that is wide, general; and a man might use it and yet fail to feel that it implied a personal relation to God.

But David penetrated through the broad, general thought, and got into the heart of the matter. It was not enough for him, in his time of need, to have himself a vague relationship, but he had to clasp to his burdened heart the individualising thought, ‘the God of Israel is myGod.’ David had courage, he had condidence, but what acarried him through was - GODFIDENCE! A confidence not in self, not in the worl, not in material positions - But in THE LORD!

Thesis:

There are times in our lives that are difficult to handle and process through and we need strength! We need strength to endure, strength to press forward, strength to hold on, and sometimes even strength to keep moving in the name of the Lord.Our ‘light affliction which is but for a moment’ leads on to a manifestation of the true power of God, and to the breaking of the day. Enouragement is a weapon of warfare.

Our ‘light affliction which is but for a moment’ leads on to a manifestation of the true power of God, and to the breaking of the day.

Actins of this text : Persue, Overtake, Recover

Concerning the confidence in God observe that:

I. IT SPRINGS OUT OF CONSCIOUS HELPLESSNESS. Few men walk in the reality of their own helplessness; and one purpose of Divine discipline is to produce it.

"When I am weak," said Paul, "then am I strong"

- when I feel my utter weakness under the pressure of trial, then I am constrained to depend on the Lord, and where I am weak he becomes strong.

True faith and spiritual power have their foundation amidst the "dust and ashes" of our life experinces.

Confidence in God began to revive in David when Ziklag was reduced to ashes. The same thing is what often happens with us:

1. Sudden and severe bereavement

2. The failure of cherished plans and purposes; the loss of property through robbery by men or accidents by fire or flood, the breakdown of health, the disappointment of long expectation.

3. The falling away of friends; their unreasonable anger and bitter atttitudes. He was left almost alone.

4. The remeberance of past sin. Trouble is a powerful means of bringing sin to remembrance.

5. The threatening of danger or terror.

Concerning the confidence in God which he exhibited (therein setting an eminent example to others), observe that -

6. The lack of wisdom and power to get us our of our distress or our mess .

When we become fully aware of our utter helplessness, two courses lie open before us - either to sink into despair or to fully trust in God.

.Concerning the confidence in God which he exhibited (therein setting an eminent example to others), observe that -

The Sufficiency of God - Attained

Attack The Text

1. Sudden and severe bereavement; wife and children, it may be, taken away with a stroke.

The realization that God is enough. At this point David had nothing. His family was gone, his belongs taken. All he had was the clothes on his back and his God.

2. The failure of cherished plans and purposes; the loss of property through robbery by men or accidents by fire or flood, the breakdown of health, the disappointment of long expectation.

The words of the original convey even more forcibly than those of our translation the thought of David’s own action in securing him the hold of God as his. He ‘strengthened himself in the Lord his God.’ The Hebrew conveys the notion of effort, persistent and continuous; and it tells us this, that when things are as black as they were round David at that hour-it is not a matter of course, even for a good man, that there shall well up in his heart this tranquillising and victorious conviction; but he has to set himself to reach and to keep it. God will give it, but He will not give it unless the man strains after it. David ‘strengthened himself in the Lord,’ and if he had not doggedly set about resisting the pressure of circumstances, and flinging himself as it were, by an effort, into the arms of God, circumstances would have been too strong for him, and despair would have shrouded his soul. In the darkest moment it is possible for a man to surround himself with God’s light, but even in the brightest it is not possible to do so unless he makes a serious effort.

3. The falling away of friends; their unreasonable anger and bitter reproaches. It must have been peculiarly painful to David to bear the mutiny of his own men, to witness the selfishness of many of them (ver. 22), and to learn what little confidence could be put in man (). He was left almost alone.

Here is one of the many eloquent ‘buts’ of the Bible. On the one hand is piled up a black heap of calamities, loss, treachery and peril; and opposed to them is only that one clause: ‘But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.’

Everything else was gone; his property was carried off by raiders, his home was smouldering embers,his house was left to him desolate; his heart was bleeding. But the Amalekites had not stolen God from him. Though he could no longer say, ‘My house, my city, my possessions,’ he could say, ‘My God.’ Whatever else we lose, as long as we have Him we are rich; and whatever else we possess, we are poor as long as we have not Him.

4. The upbraiding of conscience for past sin. Trouble is a powerful means of bringing sin to remembrance ().

God is enough; whatever else may go. The Lord his God was the sufficient portion for this man when he stood a homeless pauper.

Attained and Sustained

5. The threatening of danger; the presence of "the king of terrors" ().

6. The lack of wisdom and power to deliver from distress. When we become fully aware of our utter helplessness, two courses lie open before us - either to sink into despair or to cast ourselves wholly upon God. That the latter may be taken trial is sent; it is taken by him whose heart is in the main right with God, and it is never taken in vain.The words of the original convey even more forcibly than those of our translation the thought of David’s own action in securing him the hold of God as his. He ‘strengthened himself in the Lord his God.’ The Hebrew conveys the notion of effort, persistent and continuous; and it tells us this, that when things are as black as they were round David at that hour-it is not a matter of course, even for a good man, that there shall well up in his heart this tranquillising and victorious conviction; but he has to set himself to reach and to keep it. God will give it, but He will not give it unless the man strains after it. David ‘strengthened himself in the Lord,’ and if he had not doggedly set about resisting the pressure of circumstances, and flinging himself as it were, by an effort, into the arms of God, circumstances would have been too strong for him, and despair would have shrouded his soul. In the darkest moment it is possible for a man to surround himself with God’s light, but even in the brightest it is not possible to do so unless he makes a serious effort.

That effort must consist mainly in two things. One is that we shall honestly try to occupy our minds, as well as our hearts, with the truth which certifies to us that God is deed, ours.

If we never think, or think languidly and rarely, about what God has revealed to us, by the word and life and death and intercession of Jesus Christ, concerning Himself, His heart of love towards us, and His relations to us, then we shall not have, either in the time of disaster or of joy, the blessed sense that He is indeed ours.

If a man will not think about Christian truth he will not have the blessedness of Christian possession of God. There is no mystery about the road to the sweetness and holiness and power that may belong to a Christian. The only way to win them is to be occupied, far more than most of us are, with the plain truths of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. If you never think about them they cannot affect you, and they will not make you sure that God is yours.

But we cannot occupy ourselves with these truths unless we have a distinct and resolute purpose running through our lives, of averting our eyes from the things that might make us lose sight of them and of Him.

David had his choice. He could either, as a great many of us do, stand there and look, and look, and look, and see nothing but his disasters, or he could look past them; and see beyond them God.

Peter had his choice whether he would look at the water, or whether he would look at Jesus Christ. He chose to look at the water; ‘and when he saw the wind boisterous he began to sink’-and when he looked at Christ and cried: ‘Lord, save me!’ HE WAS LIFTED. . Make the effort not to let the sorrowful things, or the difficult things, or the fearful things, or the joyous things, in your life, absorb you, but turn away, and, ‘look off unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith.’ David had to put constraint upon himself, to admit any other thoughts into his mind than those that were pressed into it by the facts before his eyes; but he put on the constraint, and so he was encouraged because he encouraged himself.

Attack The Text

David in three situations

C. Bradley, M. A.

at Ziklag in his distress, on his way to the Amalekites, and among the Amalekites.

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;

Verse 1. - But as he had gone first to Gath, where no doubt Achish collected his vassals, and then marched northwards with the army for two days, he must altogether have been absent from Ziklag for some little time. The Amalelkites.

and when the fighting men of Philistia and of Judaea were marching away to war, it was just the opportunity which they wished of invading the defenceless country. The south. I.e. the Negeb, It was the name especially given to the southern district of Judah, and turned westward towards Ziklag. implies that they spread themselves over the country to drive off cattle and booty, but with no intention of fighting battles.

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.

Verses 2-5. - They slew not any. No resistance was made, as the men of war were all away. It was probably for thus leaving their wives and families absolutely defenceless that David's people were so angry with him. the number of women must have been large. The Amalekites spared their lives, not because they were merciful, but because women and children were valuable as slaves. All the best would be picked out, and sent probably to Egypt for sale.

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.

Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.

And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

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.

Verse 6. - The soul of all the people was grieved. Hebrew, "was bitter." Their great sorrow . But, as is often the case with those in distress, from grief they turned to anger, and sought relief for their feelings by venting their rage upon the innocent. Possibly David had not taken precautions against a danger which he had not apprehended; but, left almost friendless in the angry crowd who were calling out to stone him, he encouraged himself in Jehovah, his God. Literally, "strengthened himself in Jehovah, and summoned the priest to ask counsel and guidance of God by the ephod. DAVID'S PURSUIT OF THE AMALEKITES (vers. 7-16).

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.

Verses 7, 8. - Looking only to Jehovah for aid, the answer is encouraging. Literally it is, "Pursue; for overtaking thou shalt overtake, and delivering thou shalt deliver."

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.

So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.

Verses 9, 10. - Having obtained this favourable answer, David starts in pursuit with his old band of 600 men. So rapid was his march that one third of these dropped out of the ranks, From ver. 24 we find that David also left with them as much as possible of his baggage. Stragglers had no doubt been falling out for some time, but would here be rallied, and obtain rest and refreshment.

But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.

And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;

Verses 11, 12. - An Egyptian, the slave, as we read in ver. 13, of some Amalekite, left in the field, in the open common, to perish. He had become faint and could not travel as fast as they did, and so was left behind with no supplies of food, for he had eaten nothing for three days and three nights.

And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.

And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.

Verse 13. - To whom belongest thou? As he was probably unarmed, and his garb that of a slave, David asks who is his owner and what his country. He learns from him besides that he was left behind three days ago because he fell sick.

We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.

Verse 14. - As David retained Ziklag , he appears to have chosen the men who were to guard his person from this neighbourhood, having probably been struck by their stature and martial bearing when dwelling among them. Evidently the Amalekites, beginning on the east, had swept the whole southern district of Judah before entering the country of the Philistines, where they no doubt burnt Ziklag in revenge for David's cruel treatment of them.

And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.

Verse 15. - To this company. Better, "troop." The word signifies a band of soldiers, robbers, or the like. Required by David to act as his guide, the Egyptian consents upon condition that David bind himself neither to kill him

And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.

Verse 16. - When he had brought them down. Though left behind, the Egyptian knew the course which the Amalekites intended to take, and was thus able to bring David quickly up to them, as they would move slowly because of their large booty of cattle. On overtaking them David found them dispersed in scattered groups abroad upon all the earth (literally, "over the face of all the land"), eating and drinking, and dancing. More probably, "feasting." The word literally means keeping festival; but though they had solemn dances at festivals, yet, as is the case with our word feasting, "enjoying themselves as on a festival."

DEFEAT OF THE AMALEKITES AND RECOVERY OF THE WOMEN AND SPOIL (vers. 17-20).

And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.

Verse 17. - From the twilight. It has been debated whether this means the evening or the morning twilight; but the words which follow, "unto the evening of the next day," literally, "of (or for) their morrow," seem to prove that it was in the evening that David arrived. Moreover, in the morning they would not have been feasting, but sleeping. David probably attacked them at once, and slew all within reach until nightfall. The next morning the battle was renewed; but as David had but 400 men, and the Amalekites covered a large extent of country, and probably tried to defend themselves and their booty, it was not till towards the next evening that the combat and the pursuit were over.

And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.

Verses 18, 19. - Recovered. Hebrew, "rescued," or "delivered." The word occurs again in the second clause of the verse, and is there translated "rescued." Had carried away. Hebrew, "had taken." In ver. 19 recovered is literally "caused to return," i.e. restored.

And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thingthat they had taken to them: David recovered all.

And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David's spoil.

Verse 20. - This verse, which is made unintelligible in the A.V. by the insertion of the unauthorised word which, is really free from difficulty. After David, as related in vers. 18, 19, had recovered the cattle carried oft by the Amalekites, he also took all the flocks and herds belonging to them; and his own men "made these go in front of that body of cattle, and said, This is David's spoil," i.e. they presented it to him by acclamation. It was this large booty which he distributed among his friends (vers. 26-31). DAVID ENACTS A LAW FOR THE DIVISION OF THE SPOIL (vers. 21-25).

The realization that God is enough. At this point David had nothing. His family was gone, his belongs taken. All he had was the clothes on his back and his God.

Here is one of the many eloquent ‘buts’ of the Bible. On the one hand is piled up a black heap of calamities, loss, treachery and peril; and opposed to them is only that one clause: ‘But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.’ There was only one possession in all the world, except his body and the clothes that he stood in, that he could call his own at that moment. Everything else was gone; his property was carried off by raiders, his home was smouldering embers. But the Amalekites had not stolen God from him. Though he could no longer say, ‘My house, my city, my possessions,’ he could say, ‘My God.’ Whatever else we lose, as long as we have Him we are rich; and whatever else we possess, we are poor as long as we have not Him. God is enough; whatever else may go. The Lord his God was the sufficient portion for this man when he stood a homeless pauper. He had lost everything that his heart clung to; wives, children; Abigail and Abinoam were captives in the arms of some Amalekites; his house was left to him desolate; his heart was bleeding. ‘But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God’ and the bleeding heart was stanched, and the yearning for some one to love and be loved by was satisfied, when he turned himself from the desolation of earth to the riches in the heavens.

Attained and Sustained

That effort must consist mainly in two things. One is that we shall honestly try to occupy our minds, as well as our hearts, with the truth which certifies to us that God is, in very deed, ours. If we never think, or think languidly and rarely, about what God has revealed to us, by the word and life and death and intercession of Jesus Christ, concerning Himself, His heart of love towards us, and His relations to us, then we shall not have, either in the time of disaster or of joy, the blessed sense that He is indeed ours. If a man will not think about Christian truth he will not have the blessedness of Christian possession of God. There is no mystery about the road to the sweetness and holiness and power that may belong to a Christian. The only way to win them is to be occupied, far more than most of us are, with the plain truths of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ. If you never think about them they cannot affect you, and they will not make you sure that God is yours.

But we cannot occupy ourselves with these truths unless we have a distinct and resolute purpose running through our lives, of averting our eyes from the things that might make us lose sight of them and of Him. David had his choice. He could either, as a great many of us do, stand there and look, and look, and look, and see nothing but his disasters, or he could look past them; and see beyond them God. Peter had his choice whether he would look at the water, or whether he would look at Jesus Christ. He chose to look at the water; ‘and when he saw the wind boisterous he began to sink’-of course, and when he looked at Christ and cried: ‘Lord, save me!’ he was held up-equally of course. Make the effort not to let the sorrowful things, or the difficult things, or the fearful things, or the joyous things, in your life, absorb you, but turn away, and, as the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews says, in another connection, ‘look off unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith.’ David had to put constraint upon himself, to admit any other thoughts into his mind than those that were pressed into it by the facts before his eyes; but he put on the constraint, and so he was encouraged because he encouraged himself.

There is another thing which we have to make an effort to do, if we would have the blessedness of this conviction filling and flooding our hearts. For the possession is reciprocal; we say, ‘My God,’ and He says, ‘My people.’

Unless we yield ourselves to Him and say, ‘I am Thine,’ we shall never be able to say, ‘Thou art mine.’ We must recognise His possession of us; we must yield ourselves; we must obey; we must elect Him as our chief good, we must feel that we are not our own, but bought with a price. And then when we look up into the heavens thus submissive, thus obedient, thus owning His authority and His rights, as well as claiming His love and His tenderness, and cry: ‘My Father,’ He will bend down and whisper into our hearts: ‘Thou art My beloved son.’ Then we shall be ‘strong, and of a good courage,’ however weak and timid, and we shall be rich, though, like David, we have lost all things.

CLOSE:

II. IT LAYS HOLD OF ALL-SUFFICIENT HELP. "When David could not comfort him self in his wives, nor his children, nor his goods, nor in anything under the sun, he could in something above the sun. And the reason is: God is the God of all consolation, the spring of comfort; if any water, it is in the sea; if any light, it is in the sun; if any comfort, it is in God - there it rests, there it is when nowhere else.

God is all-sufficient; there the heart finds every want supplied, every good thing lodged. As God is all-sufficient to furnish us with all necessaries, so infinite in power, wisdom, goodness to help us against all evils feared or felt"

1. His great name . "Hope thou in God"

"Hope, said I, Is of the joy to come a sure expectance, The effect of grace Divine and merit preceding. This light from many a star visits my heart; But flow'd to me, the first, from him who sang The songs of the Supreme; himself supreme Among his tuneful brethren. 'Let all hope In thee,' so spake his anthem, 'who have known Thy name'" (Dante, 'Par.' 25.)

2. His intimate relationship to his people. "Jehovah his God."

3. His past doings on their behalf. When David formerly fell into despondency (ch. 27.) he seems to have forgotten all these, and failed to receive the encouragement which they were adapted to impart. But now he remembered them and "took courage."

4. His faithful promises. "The free expressions of his goodness and beneficence," the unchangeable assurances of his almighty help in time of need.

"The mistake we make is to look for a source of consolation in ourselves; self-contemplation instead of gazing upon God. He is not affected by our mutability, our changes do not alter him. When we are restless he remains serene and calm; when we are low, selfish, mean, or dispirited he is still the unalterable I AM. What God is in himself, not what we may chance to feel him in this or that moment to be, that is our hope" (Robertson).

III. IT MAKES USE OF APPROPRIATE MEANS. "He encouraged (strengthened) himself," etc. by -

1. Repressing fear

2. Directing the thoughts toward God

2. Directing the thoughts toward God, the ever-present, invisible, eternal Protector of his servants, and stirring up the heart to renewed trust in him. "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" (; ).

3. Inquiring of the Lord.

4. Obeying the will of the Lord (vers. 9, 10), and cooperating toward the fulfilment of his promise. Despondency led him to flee from difficulty and danger, but faith and hope incited him to go into their midst, and made him "as bold as a lion." "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me."

IV. IT IS CROWNED WITH COMPLETE SUCCESS. By the help obtained of God fear is removed, strength renewed, and confidence inspired (ver. 9).

1. The object which is sought is providentially discovered (ver. 11).

2. The enemy is completely defeated (ver. 17).

3. That which has been lost is recovered (ver. 19).

4. Much more than has been expected is gained (ver. 20). A few days after David's own people were about to stone him on the ruins of Ziklag the royal crown was laid at his feet.