Sermon for Sunday, September 22, 2024 at Unionville Presbyterian Church, BPC
Old Testament reading:
[Psa 28:1-9 ESV] 1 Of David. To you, O LORD, I call; my rock, be not deaf to me, lest, if you be silent to me, I become like those who go down to the pit. 2 Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to you for help, when I lift up my hands toward your most holy sanctuary. 3 Do not drag me off with the wicked, with the workers of evil, who speak peace with their neighbors while evil is in their hearts. 4 Give to them according to their work and according to the evil of their deeds; give to them according to the work of their hands; render them their due reward. 5 Because they do not regard the works of the LORD or the work of his hands, he will tear them down and build them up no more. 6 Blessed be the LORD! For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. 7 The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him. 8 The LORD is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. 9 Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
New Testament reading:
[Eph 6:10-20 ESV] 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
Gospel reading:
[Jhn 16:25-33 ESV] 25 “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. 26 In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” 29 His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30 Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” 31 Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? 32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Scripture reading:
[1Sa 30:1-31 ESV] 1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them?” He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue.” 9 So David set out, and the six hundred men who were with him, and they came to the brook Besor, where those who were left behind stayed. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men. Two hundred stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor. 11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights. 13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.” 15 And David said to him, “Will you take me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.” 16 And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
17 And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men, who mounted camels and fled. 18 David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. 19 Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that had been taken. David brought back all. 20 David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him, and said, “This is David’s spoil.”
21 Then David came to the two hundred men who had been too exhausted to follow David, and who had been left at the brook Besor. And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people he greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each man may lead away his wife and children, and depart.” 23 But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us. 24 Who would listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage. They shall share alike.” 25 And he made it a statute and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. 26 When David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, “Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the LORD.” 27 It was for those in Bethel, in Ramoth of the Negeb, in Jattir, 28 in Aroer, in Siphmoth, in Eshtemoa, 29 in Racal, in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, in the cities of the Kenites, 30 in Hormah, in Bor-ashan, in Athach, 31 in Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.
Introduction
The World’s Strongest Man.
When I was a kid, my twin brother and I would watch ESPN’s World’s Strongest Man Competition. And back in those days the victor was, for a few years, the Norwegian Magnus ver Magnusson. What a great name. It actually turns out that he wasn’t the man with the greatest peak strength, but was a great athlete combining strength, stamina, and skill to win the competitions. Yet, my brother and I considered him at the time to be perhaps the greatest strongman ever.
Well, recently I’ve been saying there is something more difficult than lifting weights. The world’s strongest man competitions, I contend, should have events like filing your taxes, and installing a new hot water boiler, or even choosing a restaurant that satisfies the entire family. Those are some real feats of strength!
But whether one is as strong as Magnus ver Magnusson or as crafty in fixing things as MacGyver, we must admit, with the children’s song, “We are weak, but HE (God) is strong.”
So likewise is David weak, and even “tall Saul” is not so mighty.
True strength, in the Bible, is not physical strength, or even the ability to sort out ones problems, but to have true strength — of focus, of ability, of courage — we must rely on the Lord. We must be strengthened of God.
Today we find that to have true strength, David looks to the lord. [REPEAT: To have true strength, David looks to the lord.]
I. David Returns to find Ziklag destroyed. (v. 1-5)
And he needs strength, because when he returns to Ziklag he finds it destroyed. A total disaster. The town is burned, and the women and children are taken captive.
It takes David and his men 3 days journey to get back to Ziklag. They had been sent home by the commanders of the army of the Philistines and so did not need to join them in battle.
In the last chapter we saw there were two threats to David; the Army of Saul and the Army of the Philistines. But we’ve all almost forgotten about the Amalekites.
While away, David’s resident-town of Ziklag is attacked. It is destroyed by fire and his two wives are among those that were taken captive.
When David and his men go to Ziklag they broke down in tears. “They wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.” You can imagine their crying was not a quiet whimper but a loud wailing.
And quite a change of mind and spirit it must have been when they returned. They came back glad that they did not fight for or against the Philistines. But now they realized their defenseless town was attacked.
And the Amalekites who attacked were “getting back at them.” David had previously been attacking other Amalekites in the Negeb. And now with their attack it is less total; they don’t kill the defenseless people; they taken them into captivity. Perhaps their motivations differ. For David, it was fulfilling God’s command to drive all of the heathen out of the land. For the Amalekites the goal is money or power; taken the captives so as to negotiate their release later.
After the emotion of sadness for the captivity of their women and children, the men take up next the emotion of anger. It is anger against David who let his happen. And they wanted to stone him.
They don’t look to the Lord; they let emotion override them.
II. David Strengthened in the Lord (v. 6)
But David now is strengthened in the Lord.
This is an improvement from where we saw David just a few chapters ago. Rather than looking to the Lord, he looked to his own heart and that caused despair which led him to leaven Israel and live in Philistia, in the town of Ziklag with his 600 men plus women and children.
What do the Scriptures tell us about the heart?
[Jer 17:9 KJV] 9 The heart [is] deceitful above all [things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
So all those 1980s love ballads were wrong.
Bryan Adams – “Straight from the Heart.” I don’t want that! The heart is deceitful about all things and desperately wicked.
There was another popular song called “Listen to Your Heart.” I’m hear to tell you “DON’T Listen to your heart.”
Don’t “find strength within.”
LOOK to the Lord!
When David was in deep trouble here — all his possession gone, family gone, and friends ready to kill him — he was strengthened IN THE LORD.
III. David heard of the Lord. (v. 7-16)
We see a real contrast not only between David of chapter 27 and David of chapter 30, but also a contrast between David and Saul.
The difference is that God answered David. God did not answer Saul.
Saul had tried three different ways to reach God. Saul wanted him with the battle, and so he hoped for a dream from God, or a response through prophets, or by the Urim of the priests. But when God did not respond, Saul showed his true opposition to God when he want to a medium, the witch of Endor for an answer.
How different now for David. He goes to Abiathar the priest and says “get me the ephod.” And David inquires of the Lord “Shall I pursue after this band.” (the people who plundered Ziklag while he was away) And what happens? God answered IMMEDIATELY.
Why does God answer David, but God does not answer Saul?
We saw this before with Saul; he is not answered because he is not asking for the things of God.
[Jas 4:3 ESV] 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
So God did not answer Saul; but God answers David.
There is another way in which God answers David.
Not only does God say “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue,” He also provides a the circumstance of an exhausted Egyptian slave to give knowledge of the location of the Amalekites and the captives.
David gives the Egyptian some food, and in exchange for a promise to not kill him, the Egyptian (former slave of the Amalekites) tells David where the Amalekites have gone.
This man was dying in the desert. He hadn’t had food or water for 3 days.
And he was basically “kicked aside” by the Amalekites who were his masters. What a contrast we see now with David. David gives the man food and drink. David shows mercy upon the Egyptian.
And this man is now the key to David’s hopes to catch up with the Amalekites, engaged them in battle, and win back the captures.
The man explains:
“I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago. 14 We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherethites and against that which belongs to Judah and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
The Cherethites are most likely Philistines.
Then this man has knowledge of where the Amalekites have gone. And so, with David’s promise of safety for him, he shows David the way to their now common enemy.
This is an answer to prayer. (Presumably when David was strengthen of the Lord this included prayer.)
IV. David defeats the Amalekites. (v. 17-20)
Now, David catches up to the Amalekites and wins a great victory. He defeats many of them, and he gets the captives back. And only 400 escape. This is the same number of TOTAL troops of David. So the enemy was much larger. Probably more than 400 died and 400 escaped.
But David had (in addition to the Lord on his side) the element of surprise.
David arrived to the Amalekite camp WAY SOONER than they expected. They figured he was away at battle. And if he had returned home, he’d never known which way they had went. But by the providence of God, David was sent home early from the battle AND THEN found the Egyptian. Those two events made it decisive in David’s favor for him to surprise the Amalekites.
And the Amalekites were dancing and drinking too, making them woefully ill-prepared for the surprise battle that ensued.
It is like Jesus warns about the end of the world:
[Luk 21:34-35 ESV] 34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.
Now we see here the “Contrasting destinies” of Saul and David. While the Philistines defeat Saul, David defeats the Amalekites. For some chapters we have been following the Rise of David and the Fall of Saul. And that is about to be finalized in the next chapter when Saul is finally killed.
V. David divides the spoils. (v. 21-31)
But, finishing this chapter, we find that David divides the spoils from the victory.
David has left behind some men in the desert. 200 of them. But he has not cast them off, like the Amalekites casted off the Egyptian servant.
David, rather, acknowledged those 200 as fully deserving of their share of the spoils.
Here David really saves the day because the 400 who went into battle were really causing trouble.
But David decides to share the spoils with all, acknowledging that EACH AND EVERY PERSON has the same rights. And we must remember, those who stayed back did not do so because of lack of bravery; they were simply exhausted.
APPLICATIONS
Well, what is the theological meaning of this chapter?
There are some important, though lesser, doctrines in the text.
We might say “we learn to be generous.” Not only given to the Egyptian dying in the desert like the Good Samaritan gives to the man in need, but also being generous with the excess of spoils. David in both cases is generous.
We might also see here a warning against thinking there is safety in Ziklag, safety in anything apart from the Lord. Like the second half of Psalm 127:1 says “Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.”
But the greatest doctrine of this chapter is the emphasis on being strengthen in the Lord.
FIND YOUR STRENGTH IN THE LORD
– Strengthened to overcome emotions.
– Strengthen to find direction.
– Strengthened to make the right decisions.
Ultimately trust in the Lord who brings the situation for David from tragedy to triumph. That is the flow of this chapter. It starts off in great tragedy, and ends in great triumph.
When everything was lost, God brought David the victory; strengthening him and guiding him along the way.
This strengthening in the Lord is
prayer
trust
remembrance of his promises.
Ultimately, it is leaning on Christ. Going to the Lord. Seeking His will in all that you do that He would direct your paths.
Let us all pray that God gives us strength as he did to David,
that we may say with him, from his Psalm,
Psalm 28:7-9 – “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with song I give thanks to him. The Lord is the strength of his people; he is the saving refuge of his anointed. Oh, save your people and bless your heritage! Be their shepherd and carry them forever.