Strengthening Yourself in the Lord

Good Morning, Welcome Online Viewers

I want to talk to you today about Strengthening Yourself in the Lord. Last week we talked about focusing on the Bigger Picture God has in the midst of unexpected events in the nation over this past year. God’s heart is to 1) gather a harvest of souls across the nations and 2) mature his Bride. In order to do that, he is shaking everything that can be shaken and he is waking up his sleeping Church. The events happening before our eyes is that shaking up and that waking up. Today’s message is more about how to respond to this shaking and waking.

David at Ziklag

Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 30:3-6. At this point, David has received a promise and an anointing from God that he would be the King of Israel. But he has had to flee from Saul, and he has been hiding in Philistia with 600 of his men. So he has already experience trouble.

But two chapters before stepping in to his promise, David experiences a massive loss.

1 Samuel 30:3–6 NASB95

When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

There was a time for the shock and the grief, but this defeat, this loss, demanded action. David was in a battle, his own men were ready to stone him, and he needed to act. So what did he do?

He strengthened himself in the Lord. Once David strengthened himself, he arose with 200 men, defeated the Amalekites, and retrieved all of their wives and children.

Some times, though we are in shock or grief, we must rise up and take action, we must strengthen ourselves in the Lord, ask God what to do, and act quickly. Amen?

Like David, we have to learn to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. How do we that?

David Strengthened Himself in the Lord

Though we do not see here exactly how David strengthened himself in the Lord, we can look at an entire book of the Bible to see how he did this on a regular basis. Do you know which book that is? The Book of Psalms. David authored 73 of the 150 Psalms.

I am convinced that if we as the Church want to learn how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God, how to rise up out grief and step back into battle to overcome the evil one, we will have to give ourselves in a consistent, dedicated way to the Book of Psalms.

The Lord convicted me of this some years ago (five years ago?), and since then, the Book of Psalms have been an indispensable part of my prayer life on a daily basis. The past couple of years, I have prayed through the book of psalms at least three times a year.

I don’t just read the Psalms - I pray them. I get these words in my mouth. I read aloud the words as written and then I personalize them, I put them in my own words. I say them, I sing them, I pray them. I use them to pray in to very specific situations in my own life, my family, my Church, my nation, the world. And it strengthens my inner man. If you pray one Psalm a day, you will read through it at least twice. Some days I do not always identity with that particular psalm, but that’s okay. I keep moving, and next time around, something in the Psalm will often relate to what’s on my heart.

Some Psalms are very joyful, declaring the goodness and awesome deeds of God. Others, you can tell David was having a very BAD day, pouring out his grief, disappointment, even anger. Anyone in here ever have a bad day? Are you looking for words to assist your prayers to God on those bad days? Get in the Psalms. Get the words of the Psalms in you, and them pour them out to God in your own words.

There are three main things David did in the 73 Psalms he authored - three things he did to Strengthen Himself in the Lord his God, not only in this instance, but on a regular basis.Here’s what he did:

He poured out his lament, asking for help.

He confessed sin, asking for mercy

He gave thanks and praise to God, declaring Who God is, what He had already done and what He had promised to do

Not necessarily in this order, sometimes only one of these in a specific psalm, other times a mix of all three.

Pouring Out

David poured out his lament. He told God about his difficult circumstance, his grief, pain, anger; what his enemies had done, what God had promised to do, yet had not yet done. David gets real with God. And he cries for help.

Psalm 6:1-4

O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your wrath.Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am pining away; Heal me, O LORD, for my bones are dismayed. And my soul is greatly dismayed; But You, O LORD—how long? Return, O LORD, rescue my soul; Save me because of Your lovingkindness.

In 1 Samuel 30, David and his men "lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.”

Hebrews 5:7 says about Jesus: In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety.

Pouring out our lament and asking the God who hears our cry for help strengthens our inner man. Why? He hears us, he comforts us, he strengthens us as we wait for His power to break through. Sometimes he does not even respond in that moment, but his hears us.

Confessing Sin

David not only poured out his lament asking for help; he confessed his sins, asking for mercy. Psalm 5 David confesses and asks for mercy after committing adultery with Bathsheba:

Psalm 51:1-3 Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness; According to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings. Wash me thoroughly from my guilt And cleanse me from my sin. For I know my wrongdoings, And my sin is constantly before me.

Did you know that sometimes the trouble we face is due to our own sin? Not every time, but sometimes it is, and a lot of those times, we know it. Our own decisions, our own presumption, our own compromise that led to the trouble we are in. What do we do?

We confess our sins to God. We must do this out loud. We own up to the sin, we do not make excuses, we take responsibility, like David did. And when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to cleanse us of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). Amen? This strengthens us by releasing us of the weight of the sin and encountering the mercy and goodness of God who forgives us and cleanses us.

Thanksgiving and Praise

Finally, in the Psalms, David gave thanks and praise to God.

Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

David even commanded his soul to hope in God and praise him when he did not feel like it.

Psalm 42:5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence.

Did you know that you can command your soul to do something it does not feel like doing? Even if you are in despair, even if your soul is disturbed, you can command your soul to hope in God and praise him for the future breakthrough.

David gave thanks and praise to God for three things:

Who He is

He gave thanks and praise to God for Who He is:

Psalm 103:8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

Psalm 93:1 The LORD reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The LORD has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.

Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

When we declare Who God is, our inner man is strengthened. We have poured out our lament, we have confessed our sins, but we also must turn our gaze toward the God in heaven. We must declare and magnify his name above every other name, every enemy, every circumstance, every emotion

What He has already Done

David gave thanks and praise to God for what He had already done in the past:

Psalm 40:9–10 NASB95

I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

We have to remind ourselves of what God has done in the past, and we have to testify in the assembly. This strengthens us in the Lord our God by building our trust as God. We remember how he has taken care of us in the past, specific circumstances, and it helps us trust him for our current one.

Every time my wife and I have a major financial transition or need, we out loud declare financial breakthroughs in the past (examples). Fear, anxiety, and worry break off of us, and we walk in peace. And any time fear or discouragement try to come back, we have to declare OUT LOUD who God is and what he has done.

What He has Promised

Finally, David strengthened himself in the Lord his God by declaring what God had promised to do.

Psalm 31:3–4 NASB95

For You are my rock and my fortress; For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me. You will pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, For You are my strength.

Because he knows who God is and what God has done, David is confident to declare what God will do - what God has promised to do. When we focus on what God has promised, our souls can break free of despair and rest in hope.

God’s promises fall in to two broad categories:

What God has promised in his Word - available to all believers: provision, protection, healing, mercy, forgiveness, help, wisdom, guidance. All of these things are in his word. The Psalms are full of these promises. Get these promises in your mouth and declare them in faith over your life, your family, your church, your nation, Amen?

What God has promised you personally - his voice, visions, dreams, prophetic words. Write them out, speak them out regularly, and thank God for them in advance. This will strengthen you in the waiting period.

Putting on the Ephod

There are a few important things David did after strengthening himself in the Lord.

1 Samuel 30:7-9 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.” So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him...

He put on the ephod: He put on the garments of the priest. He entered the presence of the Lord. Even though he was a king, he knew he was a priest first.

He inquired of the Lord: “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” God says Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.”

He quickly obeyed the Word of the Lord. Once he received his answer, he moved on it. And the Lord led him into victory. When God says move, its time to move.

Conclusion

Church, God is gathering a harvest of souls in the nations and maturing his Bride. In this upcoming shakings, we must learn to strengthen ourselves in the Lord. We must come into his presence and receive his counsel on how to respond to trouble. We cannot stay in our grief and disappointment and confusion forever, and we cannot let these emotions dictate our actions, we must learn to inquire of the Lord, hear His voice, and quickly obey.

This is what maturity is going to look like in this coming season. These pressures are not just going to go away. Some of them are demanding a very specific response to recover what has been lost. Others are preparing us for greater shakings to come.

But it is all unto God gathering a harvest of souls and maturing his Bride before His Son’s return.

Let’s stand.