David Encouraged Himself In The Lord

I find myself in a similar situation to King David in the Bible. Not to bore you with the details, suffice it to say that I find myself in a place that is not very comfortable at all. Now my story is unlike David's in that I have not had my home attacked, and my wife and children carried off by Amalekites. But I do seem to be being pressed on every side right now, and like David and his men, at this point I want to just sit down and cry.

As I thought on my predicament today, these words came up from my heart, "David encouraged himself in the Lord..." I went to the online Bible I use, and looked up the story which is found in 1 Samuel 30:1 - 8. As I read it, this is what I found in it. Let me list it out for you in bullet points:

• David realized that there was trouble. (1 Samuel 30:1 - 3)
• David wept for his loss. (1 Samuel 30:4)
• David came to realize that he was really in serious trouble. (1 Samuel 30:6)
• David encouraged himself in the Lord. He put his trust in God. (1 Samuel 30:6b)
• David prayed to God, asking His direction. (1 Samuel 30:7 - 8)
• God answered David. (1 Samuel 30:8b)

So like David, this morning I realized that there was some trouble, and truthfully I was at a loss for what to do. While tears didn't actually fall from my eyes, they were there. So yes, in a way I actually wept over the trouble I found myself to be in. It wasn't until later in the day that I would come to realize that the trouble I had thought myself to be in earlier was nothing compared to what I now found myself in.

Like David, I have encouraged myself in the Lord a little bit. I've decided that tonight I will do more of that, putting my trust in the Lord above. I will also be asking God for His direction, and according to what I learned in 1 Samuel 30, I will expect that He will answer me just as He did David, because God is no respecter of persons.

Jesus said that in this life we would have trouble, but to be of good cheer, because He has overcome the world. And if my life is found in His life, then I too have overcome the world. The enemy likes to make us think that we are about to see the end, and that we will fail. The only thing is, he keeps forgetting that we win. If we are in Christ, then we win.

Today is just another day to prove to the enemy that God still reigns, and that this David can and does encourage himself in the Lord just as my namesake did. And because of that, we both can say, the Lord is my helper, in whom will I be afraid?