RECOVER EVERYTHING THAT THE ENEMY HAS STOLEN FROM YOU : ROADBLOCKS ON THE ROAD TO DESTINY.
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DAVID’S ZIKLAG EXPERIENCE
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OUTLINE
1.LAUNCH
2.LOSERS
3.LOSS
4.LAMENTATION
5.LOYALISTS
6.LORD
7.LOOT
THE MESSAGE
RECOVER EVERYTHING THAT THE ENEMY HAS STOLEN FROM YOU : ROADBLOCKS ON THE ROAD TO DESTINY.
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DAVID’S ZIKLAG EXPERIENCE
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1.LAUNCH :
David was a shepherd boy spending his days taking care of the sheep when God launched him into his destiny. The Prophet Samuel came to his home and anointed him as the next King of Israel. David carried that anointing upon his life and looked forward to the fulfillment of his destiny and the plan of God upon his life. However he soon started facing the most difficult challenges of his life. Soon after he defeated Goliath and won some victories for his people , King Saul became jealous of his growing popularity and sought to kill David . Now David had to flee to save his life .
We should not be surprised when we also face such attacks of the enemy after the Lord anoints us for His purpose .
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 16:10-13
" Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, "The LORD has not chosen these."
So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?" "There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep." Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."
So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah."
2.LOSERS :
When David was fleeing from King Saul , a large group of losers , people who were frustrated and disappointed with life joined him and he became their leader . David transformed these people into a disciplined army and their lives now had purpose and meaning. He took these people in their miserable condition and lifted the level of the quality of their lives. They owed a lot to David for the transformation of their lives .
We may also have helped many people in their distress and transformed their lives and they may owe us a debt of gratitiude .
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 22: 1-2
" David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there.
All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him. "
3.LOSS
Once when David and his men returned from a venture they found that the Amalekites had raided their town Ziklag and taken captive all the women and children and burned down their town. David and his men had lost all their wealth and their families. It was a total disaster that they were facing . It was a major shock to David.
David carried the anointing and the promise of God. He was called to be the next King of Israel. But before the fulfillment of his destiny , he faced a severe attack of the enemy. It looked as though everything was lost .
We may also face situations when it looks as though we have lost everything even before the promise of God is fulfilled in our lives and our destiny is yet to be attained.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 30:1-3
" David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it,
and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.
When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive."
4.LAMENTATION
When David and his men realised what had happened , they began to weep and kept on weeping until they had no more strength to weep . They were completely heart broken and discouraged . They had lost all hope for their lives . They were shaken to the core by this tragedy.
Even though David was anointed to be the future king of Israel , he had to go through this heart breaking experience before he could become King.
We may also go through heart breaking experiences on the road to destiny in our lives .
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 30:4-5
" So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.
David’s two wives had been captured—Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. "
5.LOYALISTS
David was in great distress and agony . He had lost all his wealth and his family . Now in the midst of this great tragedy he faced an even greater challenge . His own men who were his supporters and loyalists until then , now turned against him because they were so bitter over the loss of their families. These men no longer remembered all the benefits they received from their association with David . They wanted to stone him . Now David was all alone in this terrible trial . There was no one to stand with him in his hour of need . In this time David turned to the Lord.
We may also experience the pain and loneliness of being all alone in the hour of distress. Those whom we have helped and those who have been our supporters may also turn against us due to their own sufferings . Like David we must turn to the Lord who will never fail us nor forsake us.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 30:6
" David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. "
6.LORD
David found strength in God . He encouraged himself in the Lord . He did not give up hope . He did not get discouraged in this situation. He sought the word of the Lord . All the human voices around him spoke against him. David looked beyond the human voices and sought the voice of the Lord. In the midst of this hopeless situation the Lord spoke to David . The word of God was a word of hope and encouragement. The Lord told him to pursue the enemy as he will surely recover everything that was taken away from him. The voice of God was such a life giving source of faith and confidence in the midst of a hopeless situation.
When we face a hopeless situation we must seek the Lord and hear His Voice . The word of God will turn our despair into hope and confidence and enable us to triumph over every situation.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 30:7-8
" Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." Abiathar brought it to him,
and David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."
7.LOOT
David obeyed the voice of God and pursued the enemy and recovered everything that he had lost and in addition to that he took all the spoils of the enemy . He ended up more prosperous than he was before . What the enemy thought was the destruction of David , ended as a great triumph for David and he was more blessed now after this experience . He went on to become the greatest king of Israel and fulfilled the destiny that God had prepared for Him . David did not lose hope because of the severe attacks of the enemy that he faced before the promise of God was fulfilled in his life . He triumped in every battle because he found his strength in God and went forward to fulfill his destiny.
We must receive God’s direction and strength to recover everything that the enemy has stolen from us . The Lord wants us to be victorious and triumph over every attack of the enemy. We must go on to fulfill our destiny and the plans and purposes of God for our lives . We should not lose hope when we face the attacks of the enemy on the road to destiny.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I Samuel 30:9-20
" David and the six hundred men with him came to the Besor Ravine, where some stayed behind,
for two hundred men were too exhausted to cross the ravine. But David and four hundred men continued the pursuit.
They found an Egyptian in a field and brought him to David. They gave him water to drink and food to eat-
part of a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of raisins. He ate and was revived, for he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and three nights.
David asked him, "To whom do you belong, and where do you come from?" He said, "I am an Egyptian, the slave of an Amalekite. My master abandoned me when I became ill three days ago.
We raided the Negev of the Kerethites and the territory belonging to Judah and the Negev of Caleb. And we burned Ziklag."
David asked him, "Can you lead me down to this raiding party?" He answered, "Swear to me before God that you will not kill me or hand me over to my master, and I will take you down to them."
He led David down, and there they were, scattered over the countryside, eating, drinking and reveling because of the great amount of plunder they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from Judah.
David fought them from dusk until the evening of the next day, and none of them got away, except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled.
David recovered everything the Amalekites had taken, including his two wives.
Nothing was missing: young or old, boy or girl, plunder or anything else they had taken. David brought everything back.
He took all the flocks and herds, and his men drove them ahead of the other livestock, saying, "This is David’s plunder."
