Finishing well
1 Samuel 30:1-20
A great ending – everything restored!
Surely this was the goodness of God that nobody was lost during this raid and the following rescue mission
In the middle of the story we see David at a very low point though…
V4 They all wept
V5 Like the others David has lost his wives
V6a The men were talking of stoning him – just when it looked as bad as it could get it was about to get worse!
Climbing rock / climbing mountains – a point described as the crux – usually somewhere in the middle of the climb – the point at which a party succeed or fail – on Everest it’s the Hilary step, on the Snowdon horseshoe it’s the Crib Goch ridge, what comes afterwards is relatively easy but fail at the crux and you have failed the whole climb
The crux for David was not a fight with against a hoard of Amalekites with his little band of 400 men – it was a leadership issue
David had lost the confidence of his men – remember they were a rough old bunch of disaffected people – they had followed him up to this point but now they were bitter and discouraged and ready to stone him – he needed to regain their confidence and lead them in a rescue mission
How did he become their trusted leader again?
He exercised leadership over himself!
V6b found strength in the Lord his God – literally strengthened or encouraged himself in Yahweh his God
It is great when others encourage you – it is great to follow a good leader – but there will be times when no one stands with you and you will need to encourage and lead yourself – when it happens will you stand or fall?
David’s band of 600 men had been a great encouragement to him during his exile from Saul – while the mad old king was hunting him down, 600 stood with him and gave him hope but right now they were no encouragement at all – they were ready with the stones!
There will be times when people around have nothing to offer you but stones and discouragement – need to know how to come through these times into victory
Swimming – survival training – how to increase your chances of surviving being adrift in open water
You can learn all sorts of things like this but what we also need are soul survival techniques
Psalm 23:1-6 A psalm of David
The green pastures and quiet waters sound great, but what else do we have here?
V4 The valley of the shadow of death
V5 Enemies
Read David’s life story and you will see a number of enemies and a number of occasions when death threatened him
V3 Here in the middle of the psalm we are told that the Lord restores his soul
It is this that enables him to face everything else in confidence
The story we read earlier had its share of enemies and the shadow of death – their families had not died but the shadow was certainly there!
The preacher just finished his sermon for the day and proceeded toward the back of the church for his usual greetings and handshaking as the congregation left the church. After shaking a few adult hands he came upon the seven year old son of one of the Deacons of the church.
"Good morning, Jonathan," the preacher said as he reached out to shake Jonathan’s hand.
As he was doing so he felt something in the palm of Jonathan's hand. "What's this?" the preacher asked.
"Money," said Jonathan with a big smile on his face, "It's for you!"
"I don't want to take your money, Jonathan," the preacher answered.
"I want you to have it," said Jonathan. After a short pause Jonathan continued, "My daddy says you're the poorest preacher we ever had and I want to help you."
What people say about us can have a powerful effect – a good compliment can lift you for days – a sharp insult can last a lifetime!
How did David strengthen himself in the Lord?
I believe he spoke to his soul
Let’s look at some of the psalms David wrote…
Psalm 103:1-5
David reminds his soul of the goodness of God
He is not telling his brain that God is God or that he forgives sins or heals diseases
Who knows that God forgives?
Who knows that God heals?
These are easy questions for our minds – sometimes our soul can forget though and discouragement sets in
There will be times when the natural state of your soul is that it has no thought of praising God – you will need to tell it to do so
Your soul needs leadership and it is your job to provide it
When you speak the truth of who God is this is not just a mind game – your soul hears
Remember words are powerful – the world was created through God speaking – Jesus raised the dead through the spoken word – they do affect your soul
If all your soul hears is “woe is me” then it will not praise and your inmost being will suffer – which will also affect your outer being
Psalm 57:1-11
Written at a time of stress
V1 in you my soul takes refuge. His body was hiding in a cave but his soul took refuge in the Lord
V8 Awake my soul!
Some days I wake up in the morning with ease. Other days the alarm clock has an important job to do
Some days you will find praise bubbles out of you – your soul is awake!
Other days it will not do so – your soul is asleep!
It’s your job to do the waking up!
Not always an easy job as anyone with teenage children will know
Still needs to be done though
Psalm 42:1-6a
This is not proven to be a Psalm of David but it could well have been
V5,11 and 43:5 put your hope in God
He addresses his downcast soul directly and tells it to put hope in God
Climbing rock with the children – talk them through it – talk them through the times when they say, “I can’t do it” – talk them through “the crux”
You need to talk your soul through life!
Psalm 62:1-6
A psalm that reminds us that God is strong and faithful
Not just one for reciting to each other – once again David speaks to his soul
V5 Find rest, O my soul, in God alone
Your soul needs directing as to where to find rest
Your soul will at times just want to watch TV, eat junk food and sit around – you are tired and stressed and your soul says, “Give me a break and I’ll not cause you any bother”
Sometimes you need to remind your soul that rest is found in the Lord and give it some spiritual input
Psalm 131:1-3
When in trouble or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!
Picture here of a weaned child with its mother (at least 2, maybe even 4 or 5) – more than a baby – one who can be spoken to and they will understand
Mothers are great at calming children down – speaking gentle words that will bring calm and peace at a time of distress (unlike dads who are more likely to say, “It’s not too bad”, “Stop making a fuss” or “Get over it”)
Again this is an active process – you need to exercise leadership – you need to see when your soul needs quieting and do so
Learning to paddle canoe – watch the front – as soon as it gets a little out of line correct it – longer you leave it the harder it will be!
Learn to discern the state of your soul – when it begins to get flustered speak words of comfort to it – tell it to trust God!
David strengthened himself in the Lord, David spoke to his soul – how’s your soul doing?
You can’t change what brought you to this point, but you do have a choice about how you move on!