Read some sweet words this morning that encouraged my soul. Thought I’d briefly share. 1 Samuel 30…reading about David’s continued adventures. He decides to spend some time living in the Philistine territory because it’s not exactly fun being chased around by Saul all the time, right?? He’s there for a year and a bit, going on raids with his men to fight the enemies of Israel(even though he’s not entirely forthright to the Philistine king about this!). Anyway, the Philistines gear up for a big campaign against Israel and David and his men get recruited for the cause. David puts on a good face (I do honestly wonder what his backup plan was…? Would he have betrayed the Philistines mid-battle? I am most curious) but the Philistine high command ends up kicking him out, fearing his possibly inevitable betrayal. So that’s all the backstory. David and his men trudge back to the city the Philistines had given them…only to see smoke rising high, the city in ruins. The cursed Amalekites had raided the city and taken all the inhabitants captive. At this point…David and his men can do nothing but cry – indeed, the text says they “lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.” But following that…David’s men were pretty upset with him and decided to blame David for the loss of their families so they started talking about stoning David!! Now this is where David was at. His city that he’d lived in for the past year was destroyed. His men were turning on him and talking about killing him for something that surely wasn’t his fault. And last but certainly not least…David’s family had been taken too. So it makes sense that the text says “David was greatly distressed.” I think I would be pretty distressed as well. So what was David’s response to all this? He had spent time crying, yes. Emotions are good and proper and part of what it is to be human, yes? But…what did David do next? Well – “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” And following that line, he sought to communicate with God and ascertain what his next steps should be.

I think this is a good lesson for us all. Surely we are in dire straits at times (maybe our whole city hasn’t burned down and our closest companions aren’t talking about killing us and our family hasn’t been kidnapped by our worst enemies…but well…we still suffer, right?) and surely we feel as if there is nothing we can do to make things better and surely all is just crumbling around us. Yet. Let us remember that our strength does not come from our circumstances or our surroundings or our friends (who may turn against us!) or even within us (because really – what strength do we have…? We are oh so weak at times). No – our strength comes from the Lord. So let us strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God when all else seems dim. Let us remember that no matter how greatly distressed we are in the moment, we can find strength and comfort in our God. Let us flee to him. We may weep first, yes. But then, let us turn to God and rejoice in the love and strength He has to offer. Strengthen yourself in the Lord this day, dear friends.