1 Samuel 30:3-6

"So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. And David's two wives were taken captives.... And David was greatly distressed; for the people spoke 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."

During the reign of King Saul, David avoided being killed by the king by living among the Philistines. During this time he became closely tied to the king of the Philistines, even to where he was ready to go to war against Israel with the Philistines. But the princes of the Philistines did not want him along, fearing that when the battle got hot he would change allegiances, and fight against them. So the king reluctantly sent David home. When he and his men arrived at Ziklag, the scene described above took place. While David and his army were preparing to go to war against the Israelites, the Amalekites came and burned their home town, and took all the spoils, women, and children.

Understandably, everyone was upset. What a loss they had suffered. But there is a difference in the responses. The majority of the men looked for someone to blame. In their grief they even considered killing David. This would not, of course, restore to them their losses. But they wanted some kind of satisfaction for them, and killing the one that they considered to be responsible would bring a measure of that. How much like today is this response? Time and again we hear of individuals and companies being sued for things that are, when analyzed, really the responsibility of the person bringing the suit. So these men determined to take it out on David. We are told that he was greatly distressed by this. And who can blame him.

And here we find the second response; David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. In the midst of a very difficult situation David threw himself upon God. He was sorrowing the loss of his wives and family, and distressed at the murmurings of his army. To where did he turn? To his God!

As he encouraged himself in the LORD, David asked Him advice concerning what he should do. More specifically, he asks if he should pursue the enemy. The LORD tells him to do so, and even tells him that nothing would be lost. True to His word, the LORD restored everything to David. As the story goes on David gathers his army and pursues their enemies. They were able to retrieve everything that was lost. Nothing that was taken from their city was lacking at the end of the battle.

From David we learn that trusting God can sometimes be a lonely stand. We are not told of anyone else that encouraged himself in God. Only David. Jesus told His disciples that the world would hate them and, by extension, everyone that believes in Him. Elijah himself figured that he was the only one left in Israel that was the LORD's. But that did not dissuade him from believing God. And God told him that there were many more who were His in Israel.

We also learn that no matter what those around us are doing, or no matter the situation in which we find ourselves, we can still find encouragement in the LORD God Almighty. He knows us better than we ourselves. He paid the price of His Son to gain us for Himself. He cares more about our cares than do we. And so we should certainly be encouraged in Him. For He has given us great and precious promises that have an eternal fulfillment. His eye is on the sparrow. There is no place in the universe to which we can flee that He is not there. He has an eternal plan in which all of the events of our lives all play an important part. Let us trust Him, be encouraged in Him, more and more!

HJK