10 years ago I could not have imagined just how difficult and sad the next two years would be! Bev and I were enjoying life together and then came the cancer diagnosis, her long struggle with treatment, and her death. It was every bit as traumatic and dramatic as it sounds. Do I believe that I am unique in this world? Of course not. Life can be going along just wonderfully and bam! we hit a wall: sickness, death, divorce, business failure, a child who becomes troubled … This proverb is surely true. "People are born for trouble as predictably as sparks fly upward from a fire." (Job 5:7, NLT)
What choices will we make in those times? Will we fall apart, become bitter, retreat into self-pity or simmering anger at God and the world? OR, will we make the better choice?
David was anointed by Samuel to be the next king in Israel. While he waited to take the throne, he served King Saul as a brilliant military strategist, played his harp in court, and generally brought good to the nation. The people loved him and his growing popularity ate at Saul until his jealousy drove him into an insane (literally!) obsession with David’s murder. David eventually became a fugitive and found himself living among Israel’s enemies, the Philistines.
A low point in his life came when David and his army returned from a campaign to find this had happened in their absence. "Three days later, when David and his men arrived home at their town of Ziklag, they found that the Amalekites had made a raid into the Negev and had burned Ziklag to the ground. They had carried off the women and children and everyone else but without killing anyone. When David and his men saw the ruins and realized what had happened to their families, they wept until they could weep no more. David’s two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel, were among those captured. David was now in serious trouble because his men were very bitter about losing their wives and children, and they began to talk of stoning him.” Take note of the fact that David was not above grief and sorrow. He joined his men in ‘weeping until they could weep no more.’ He was no Stoic, unwilling to allow himself to feel or express his emotions. BUT, he becomes an example for us in what he did next.
“But David found strength in the Lord his God." (1 Samuel 30:1-6, NLT) He knew his great resource was in the Lord YWHW, the “Great I AM” and so he turned to prayer. The details are spare but given what we know of David’s love for the Lord it is not hard to imagine that he went to be alone, taking his harp and singing the songs he had written over the years, songs we know as the Psalms. Perhaps he wept as he sang. Perhaps he choked on the words of faith as he gave voice to truths that seemed to be lies in the moment. Might he have sung this?
"Of David. A psalm. I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD." (Psalm 40:1-3, NIV)
What we do know is that he found encouragement, comfort, and wisdom to move forward in leadership. He rallied his men and with God’s help recovered all that was lost in a hard fought battle.
Do you know how to find your strength in the Lord?
Do you know the power of worship,
the value of quiet retreat to prayer?
Will you still your emotions and turn your mind and heart
to the Presence of the Holy?
For so many years of pastoral ministry, when I found myself wrestling with challenges or nearly overwhelmed by the human needs that came my way, I found such peace in the sanctuary. I would go into the church, find a corner, and lay on my face in prayer, often just quiet, sometimes softly singing, occasionally weeping. What renewal I found in those moments, when I was like a child before his Father, acknowledging my need and His promises!
Jesus shows us the pattern of being ‘encouraged in the Lord’ in His Gethsemane experience. After the Last Supper, as he knew the Cross was just ahead, he did this. "Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak.” He went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.” When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing." (Matthew 26:36-44, NIV) He prayed and prayed and prayed until His soul found peace in the will of God and then He went to give Himself on the Cross where He reconciled the world to the Creator! Oh, Lord, show us how to find Your strength that we would fulfill Your will in our lives!
The word from the Word is both a challenge and a promise. Make your resolve today and always. "Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord, no matter what happens. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay. And a righteous person will live by faith. But I will have no pleasure in anyone who turns away.” But we are not like those who turn their backs on God and seal their fate. We have faith that assures our salvation." (Hebrews 10:35-39, NLT)
(Video of this blog at this link)
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A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
A mighty fortress is our God
A bulwark never failing
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe
His craft and pow'r are great
And armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal
Did we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing
Were not the right Man on our side
The Man of God's own choosing
Dost ask who that may be
Christ Jesus it is He
Lord Sabaoth His name
From age to age the same
And He must win the battle
And tho' this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us
We will not fear for God hath willed
His truth to triumph thru us
The prince of darkness grim
We tremble not for him
His rage we can endure
For lo his doom is sure
One little word shall fell him
Martin Luther, Public Domain
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