1 Samuel 30:6 “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.”
David had come a long way from the cave of Adullam. He started off as a young man with no weapon, no bread, and no place to go. Now he has a city, and he has a troop that is known abroad as the “Might Men of David.” However, success does not mean that he is without problem. A universal truth is that no matter who you are, how righteous you live, or where you dwell there will be trials and tribulations. That is why brother James encourages us to, “count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.”
David’s men came back weary, tired, and ready for a cleansing. Instead of comfort they find discouragement: their home city burned to the ground, and their families taken. The people who had gathered themselves to David and fought alongside him for the last 8 chapters became greatly grieved. They thought of stoning their fearless leader. David then did something that rings throughout time as an encouragement to Pastors today: David encouraged himself in the Lord.
Our ministries are not much different than 1 Samuel 30. We see as Paul writes his second letter to Timothy that he sits in prison a second time – this time waiting for death. Paul felt great oppression of depression. 2 Timothy 4:16, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me.” Demas had forsaken, Alexander the smith had done much evil, and alone in an old world prison Paul faces discouragement. We too face such times. These times come when we’re down, when everything cannot seem to be worse it begins to rain on our heads. These times come when we’re up, after a big youth rally where several decisions made, and people saved, we find ourselves in the dungeons of despair.
What can we do then when trials come and it feels as if our ministries, our own youth group, is desirous to stone us? Those times when those we seek to encourage are going through loss, forsaking their decisions, and when we turn around to find that Ziklag has been burned to the ground? Discouragement uniquely comes to every person and encouragement will be unique to each as well, but as we look at David we find some ideas of what David used to fuel his encouragement.
1. Enquire of the Lord – 1 Samuel 30:8 “And David enquired at the Lord.”
It may seem trite and a non-answer, but the connection we have with God is the most powerful tool of encouragement we have. It has to be remembered that we can bring anything to God in prayer. When we begin coping with our grief in any other way besides the Lord, we endanger ourselves as preachers. Go before the Lord, lay our your complaint, and enquire at the throne of grace what you should do.
2. Remember your Investors – 1 Samuel 2:18 “But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.”
1 Samuel 23:6 “And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
David surely looked down at the mantle the priest Abiathar brought and remembered how he had even gotten where he was. He remembered the anointing that the recently passed Samuel had given him. He remembered being without food and without weapon as he was given grace by Ahimelech to be given the shewbread and Goliath’s sword. The investments made into our ministry were made by men who hazarded their lives and faced their own discouragements. Remember your pastors, your Sunday school teachers, your fathers and mothers of the faith that granted you the opportunity to be in the ministry today.
3. Continue in Kindness – Ephesians 4:32 “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.”
Immediately after beginning their pursuit of those that destroyed Ziklag and held their families hostage, David comes upon an Egyptian slave. They feed and keep him alive as the Egyptian helps them find the Amalekites. As they pursue further, 200 men become faint. David finds a brook for them to rest as they continue pursuing. These were men who had thought about stoning David, and yet look at his kindness. Look at the kindness given to a man who had burnt down his houses. David never forgot the people for the city. When we are discouraged, we need to channel encouragement in order to be encouraged ourselves.
Thought: When you are down, what do you turn to for encouragement? What drives you to keep going to plan a great comeback for Ziklag?
Jesse Mccammon | Pastor
Flora Calvary Baptist Church | Flora, IL
