Word of Encouragement (10/11/2023)

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." (1 Sam. 30:8)

This David did after he returned to Ziklag, which King Achish of Gath (one of the five major Philistine cities) gave to him when he fled from Saul and sought refuge under Achish. By God kind intervention, David was spared from fighting against his people when the Philistines attacked Israel. But when he came back to Ziklag, he and his men discovered that the Amalekites raided the town and took captive all who were there, including the women and children.

This inquiry to God did not come right away. David and his men wept until they had no strength left. And David’s men tried to stone him to death, blaming him for this tragedy. How sad! Instead of turning to God, they resorted to blame their leader and tried to kill him. What would happen to them if they killed their leader? But this kind of reaction is more common than not, isn’t it? Some people hold on to that sense of bitterness and anger as if they could not live without it. Does it make them happy? Certainly not. But they hold on to it because it gives them the sense that they are right. And the more miserable they get, the more they are convinced that it is all someone else’s fault. I had some friends, whose lives were driven by their bitterness against their parents for whatever wrong they think their parents had done to them. Many of their decisions were just to spite their parents. But ultimately, it was their own lives they were ruining. Intoxicated by this anger, they refused to turn to God, who alone can heal and restore them. How blessed is the man, who turns to God for help!

But we are told, “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God” (v. 6). What does that mean? He summoned Abiathar the priest and inquired of the LORD whether he should pursue the raiders. Isn’t this encouraging? The first step in strengthening yourself in the Lord is to pray, even in the direst of circumstances, even when you feel like you can’t take another step. How wonderful is this arrangement of God! Prayer doesn’t cost us anything! We don’t have to pay money to pray. We don’t have to travel far to pray. We don’t have to pass any IQ test to pray. We don’t even have to get good at praying to pray. God didn’t command us to pray well. If He did, who of us could pray to God’s satisfaction? I’m so thankful that God commanded us simply to pray. We can stutter. We can stumble on our words. We may not even know what to pray, just weeping and groaning out of pain. God does not mind at all as long as you open your heart and mouth to pray in obedience to His call.

Strengthening yourself in the Lord includes a lot more, but praying is the first step. All our efforts to strengthen ourselves and do what we need to do will be in vain if we do not go to God first to seek His will and ask for His strength to aid us. But I hope that you see how significant this first step is. Think about the dramatic difference between BP and AP—BP (“Before Prayer”) and AP (“After Prayer”). They wept and wept and wept as if the world came to an end as if there were no God. But when David strengthened himself and inquired of the LORD, everything began to change! Soon, they were on their way to rescue their families, caught up with them, slaughtered them, rescued their families, and gained much spoil!

Whatever your situation is, however trying it may be, I trust that you can strengthen yourself in the Lord your God because God has bound Himself to you in Jesus Christ. Let us not just grumble and blame others. Let us go to the Lord in prayer and see how God is faithful to His promise to be our Helper in times of need!

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