How to Encourage Yourself in God

so eaten up with envy and paranoia that he mistakenly thinks David is trying to steal his throne. So he tries to take David’s life on several occasions.

David has to flee to the nation of the Philistines, enemies of Israel, where he and his soldiers fight for the Philistines as mercenaries. But one day the Philistines go to fight the Israelites and David and his army are sent home. When they arrived at their temporary home in Ziklag they find that the Amalekites, a band of marauders, have raided their town, burnt their homes to the ground and taken their wives and children hostage.

David and his men were already tired and hungry. They thought they were coming home to the welcome and warmth of their families, to rest and food, but instead, they come home to a shocking scene of emptiness, desolation and loss. These strong warriors, these grown men, were so overwhelmed by their sorrow that the Bible says,

"Then David and the men with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep." 1 Samuel 30:4 (Amp)

Man was that ever a sad day! It was a bad day. It was hard to love life on that day. These strong men cried until they couldn’t cry any more.

Perhaps you’ve had days like that, days when the sun refused to shine, days when your heart ached so violently that you wished you could imagine yourself to be someone else and somewhere else.

But wait; though it doesn’t seem possible, things get even worse for David! Pick up the story in 1 Samuel 30:6a (Amp).

"David was greatly distressed, for the men spoke of stoning him because the souls of them all were bitterly grieved, each man for his sons and daughters."

These men look around at what’s left of their homes smoldering on the ground and as the smoke rises from the ashes so does their hurt and anger. They need an outlet for their emotions and they choose to take things out on their leader.

This was one of the most difficult situations imaginable. Away from his real home, chased by a mentally ill king, living like a vagabond, forced to side with the enemy, and now his own men speak of mutiny by making him a scapegoat for their misery and threaten to kill him.

I want you to sense the desperation of this dark chapter in David’s life. One reason I want you to sense it is to know that you are not alone when you face feelings of desperation. This was rock bottom for David. This was the end of the rope. This was heartbreak hotel. David had nobody. His family wasn’t there to console him and his associates lost their grip to the point they want to kill him.

Most people would have been totally overwhelmed by this turn of events. Most would have thrown in the towel. But in one of the most dramatic 180-degree-turns in history the Bible says this in 1 Samuel 30:6b (Amp).

"But David encouraged and strengthened himself in the Lord his God."

This is one of the many reasons you’ve got to love the Word of God! This is why you’ve got to love being a child of God – and if you’re not a child of God why you ought to become one!

Even in life’s darkest days there is hope! There is a source of encouragement! You don’t have to believe the circumstances and what they look like when you can believe instead that God is going to work things out somehow!

David became so encouraged and so strengthened in the Lord that he rallied