One of my favorite stories in all of the Bible (among many) is the story of David and his men at Ziglag as recorded in 1 Samuel 30. David and his men had been hiding among the Philistines as he had been pursued by Saul. The Philistine army became increasingly suspicious of David and his loyalties (this is a topic for another day) and would not hear of him riding into battle with them. They told him in no uncertain terms to leave.
When they arrived at Ziglag where they had camped they found in their absence the Amalekites had attacked their camp, ransacked and burned it and had ridden off with the women and children as captives. They were understandably upset at this remarkable event. The Bible tells us that they wept and wept until they didn't have any more tears to cry.......then they got mad. However, it is important to note that these "mighty men" of David weren't mad at the Amalekites or even at the devil - they were mad at David. They were so angry with David that there was talk of stoning him. They had become so bitter in their importunity that they were ready to turn on their best friend.
Let me just say this. When we allow bitterness to come upon us - it does something to us in our heart and in our head. Bitterness is a wicked opponent and extremely difficult to understand or reason with. So many times when men are wounded they turn on their brothers and sisters in Christ. In recent days I have had the occasion to encounter bitter brothers. They've been hurt, they've been betrayed, they have been bloodied in battle and they are bitter. They get in some corner of their world that only allows them to see that about which they are bitter and they just start lashing out at anybody and everybody. No one is safe from their piercing gaze and biting words. They were hurt and betrayed and they have cried out all their tears and now somebody is going to pay..............maybe everybody is going to pay................even those whom they love are made to pay because bitterness is worse than a heroin or cocaine addiction, it can never be satisfied, it can never be requited. There is never enough vengeance to calm it.
That's what was going on in Ziglag that bitter day. Those men were going to make somebody pay. I Samuel 30:6 says, "David was greatly distressed, for the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. BUT DAVID, encouraged himself in the Lord." Now here is where the men are separated from the boys, so to speak. While David's companions thought to take out their bitterness upon David - David "encouraged himself in the Lord." He had suffered the same loss as they, his heart was as broken as theirs were..........but instead of turning on his brethren - David got on his face before God. His cry was not "O Lord, look what has been done to me!" Rather, his cry was, "Lord, what shall I do?"
"Shall I pursue after my enemy?"
"Shall I overtake them?"
I had a good brother in the Lord call me this week with a very, very sad story. As he recounted the events that had taken place in his family during the past few weeks, my heart broke for him. Because of some choices that had been made by family members bitterness and anger were sowing their seeds in their family and in others as well. They had tried everything they could imagine to bring these circumstances to a happy and fruitful outcome......and they were running out of options. My counsel to them was: "If there is nothing you can do, then don't do anything. Get on your faces before God and cry out to him, 'God we have no might in this matter! We don't know what to do. Here we are before your face confessing our brokenness and emptiness. What do you want us to do?'"
Do you know what happend? God gave an answer and it was a different man who called me today to report that hearts had been changed, forgiveness had been requested and received, and the circumstance is moving toward a very positive outcome. Praise God for His attentive ear to our heart's cry.
That's what David did. He encouraged himself in the Lord. I think he reminded himself of previous circumstances where God had been faithful. He recounted previous battles in which God had allowed him to emerge victorious. He spoke to himself of wolves and lions and bears among the sheep; and, he reminded himself of a dead, headless giant named Goliath. He encouraged himself in the Lord. It amazes me how sometimes we are quick to praise God in a great moment and forget that great moment in another moment of distress. We need to encourage ourselves in the Lord.
God spoke to David and his mighty men who were by now clothing themselves in sack cloth and ashes. He told them (and this is obviously MY paraphrase) "GET UP OFF YOUR ASHES...........and pursue the enemy!" "Go and recover all that the enemy has stolen from you. David and his 600 men leapt upon their horses and pursued their enemy. There is so much rich truth in this lesson that I won't even try to cover it all in this brief post, but here this: The Devil is a thief and a murderer. He will continue without conscience until somebody stands up and says, "That's enough! Get your filthy hands off of MY property!"
God said, "Pursue, Overtake, and Recover." And that is just what David did - He pursued the enemy until he caught him, where he stepped inside his tent and said, "That's my wife, that's my kid, that's my treasure - and I am here to take it back."
Many in the church have sat around for too long whining and crying about our losses. The WORD for today is "Get off your ashes and go recover that which has been stolen!" Whether it is our nation, our community, our marriage, our home................we must stop giving up territory to a thief and a robber, look him in the eye and say, "That's enough! You're done here!"
For me, I don't intend to stand by while the enemy of God continues to steal, kill, and destroy with impunity. I intend to pursue him into the smelly places of our community and take back what the enemy has taken from this community and this region.
When someone "pursues" an enemy he is not trying to shoo him away - he wants to catch him, he wants to put his hands around this throat and exact vengeance. David was "shooing" the Amalekites away - he wanted to catch him and remove from his fingers that which belonged to David. Too often we are just "shooing" the devil away. We just want him to leave us alone. He may finally leave you alone, but he also will leave you without joy, without peace, without a family, without a job, without hope. If he has stolen from you - go get your stuff.
I'll write some more in the days ahead on this great story.
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