Strength and Insight

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

STRENGTH AND INSIGHT

1 Sam 30:1-8

30:1 David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day. Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, 2 and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old. They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way. 3 When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep. 5 David's two wives had been captured — Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the LORD his God. 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, "Bring me the ephod." Abiathar brought it to him, 8 and David inquired of the LORD, "Shall I pursue this raiding party? Will I overtake them?" "Pursue them," he answered. "You will certainly overtake them and succeed in the rescue."

NIV

This was a sad time for all six hundred men who followed David, for their home city was burned and plundered by the Amalekites. Their wives and children had been taken, and that could have been the hand of God, for in many raids, every living thing was killed. David and all his men wept bitterly and loudly for the loss of their loved ones until they had no strength left to weep. We cannot imagine that the men were so angry with David that they were talking about stoning him. But David found the strength in the LORD his God. This is one of our lessons, but there is another lesson as well. The second lesson is when David inquired of the LORD. Within this first lesson, we find that we can always find strength in the LORD. When Moses sang his song, he said, “The LORD is my Strength.” In one of David’s Psalms, he sang, “The LORD is my strength and my shield”. Habakuk said, “The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go in the heights.” And then we have those famous words of Paul, “ I can do all things through Him, who gives me strength”. We think we are getting the point that although we have no strength, even for the smallest things in life, we can turn to Jesus, and He will give us the strength to run like deer, to soar like eagles’ wings, to reach heights we never imagined we could. The second lesson is all about inquiring of the Lord. David needed to know what he was to do, and rather than making his own decision, he wanted to know what the Lord thought about the situation and whether he should pursue the Amalekites. Of course, the LORD answered him. We know that if we inquire of the Lord as to what we should do, he will answer. The question is always before us: do we make our own choices in life based on our desires, or our thinking that it is the best choice for our lives, or do we inquire of the Lord about any and all choices or decisions that we are faced with? “Oh, Lord, what am I to do?” “Lord, should I do this?” These types of inquiries should be our way of life, but is it? Let us find the strength in the LORD, and the direction for our everyday situations, and choices, for the Lord will give us strength and insight.