Ziklag is a city that speaks to us of sorrow & stress.

I - The Troubles – 30:1-6

a - The Sorrow – 30:1-5

This is without debate a great loss.
-These men wept until they had no more strength to weep..
-The good news is that it is not as bad as it appears.
-Their women & children were alive (they had not been slain), their greatest possessions had merely been stolen (not burned), and this city Ziklag was not even their city.
-But the truth is that we very rarely recognize the “good” in our sorrow, we only see the “bad”.
-But regardless of the fact that it ended up fine … for now these men were completely broken with sorrow.
(2 Kings 20:5) Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears…
(Job 16:20) My friends scorn me: but mine eye poureth out tears unto God.
(Psalms 6:6-8) I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears… the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.
(Psalms 56:8) Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?

b - The Stress – 30:6

-Stress comes about when you add trouble on top of trouble, causing greater pressure.
-David has not only the trouble of their wives/children being kidnapped, their possessions being stolen, Ziklag being destroyed, but now he has an army of 600 men that blame him and want him dead!
-Unfortunately, as we will find out in a minute, this was all brought on by David and his lack of faith and trust in God.
-When we step outside of God’s will it can only go bad for us.
(Hosea 8:7) For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…
-Thankfully, the Lord is willing to hear and help with our stress.
(2 Samuel 22:7) In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried to my God: and he did hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry did enter into his ears.
(Psalms 120:1) A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me.

*Many, not all, but many of our sorrows and stresses are brought on ourselves!

a - A Lack of Foresight – 28:1-2

-The reason Ziklag had been plundered by the Amalekites is because David and his mighty men were joined with the enemy (Philistines) and were preparing to fight against Israel.
-What if David had come face to face in battle with his very best friend Jonathan? What if David had come face to face with God’s anointed Saul? What if David had come face to face with other friends and loved ones while fighting with the enemy?
-Many times we make bad decisions without ever thinking of the future consequences. Many people - “Sacrifice the future on the altar of the present”
-How many of us are paying dearly today for some bad decisions made years ago?
(Proverbs 22:3) A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. (prudent = attentive to possible hassard)

b - A Lack of Faith – 27:1-2

-One would naturally ask why David joined with the enemy.
-The reason was – his lack of faith and trust in God.
-Instead of finding refuge in the Lord God – David decided he could find refuge in among the enemy.
-Here is a man that has been anointed by the prophet; the Spirit of the Lord has descended upon him.
-1Sam. 18:12 says that Saul is afraid of David because the Lord was with him.
-1Sam. 18:16 say that all Israel & Judah loved David
-He killed a lion & bear with his hands; he killed Goliath with a stone …
-And yet now his faith has grown weak and he begins to fear Saul.
-His faith and trust in God begins to fail.
-Much like what happened to Elijah
-We need to guard our faith and make sure it does not falter!
-Jesus, several times, rebukes those of “little faith”.
(Luke 22:32) But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not…
(Galatians 6:9) And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
(Luke 18:1) And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;

a - Encourage Yourself – 30:6

-To many times we depend on others to lift us out of our sorrow & stress.
-We really should learn to encourage our self and lift our self up.
-Many moms wonder why their baby isn’t walking yet – the reason is because you never put him or her down on the floor long enough to learn!
-We need to grow up in the Lord enough to walk on our own and not always depend on other people.
-One of these days there may not be another person around to pick you up and then what will you do?
(Psalms 142:4) I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul.
(Psalms 69:20) Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.

b - Encourage Yourself In the Lord – 30:6

-Now, what you use to encourage yourself is – the Lord.
-The believer has so many tools to encourage themselves in the Lord
1. Reading & meditating on the precious Word of God
2. Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs
3. Prayer & meditation (to find mercy & grace to help in time of need)
4. The “Comforter” the Holy Spirit
5. The preaching & teaching of God’s word
6. The fellowship of other believers
7. The testimonies of others and the recollection of our own testimonies
(Psalms 42:5) Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
(Psalms 142:2) I poured out my complaint before him; I showed before him my trouble.

c - Enquire of the Lord – 30:7-8

-In our sorrow and stress we should not further mess things up by doing our own thing. We should seek God and his leadership.
-Too many time we do our own thing and mess ourselves up real good and then try to get out of the mess by doing our own thing again!
-When will we learn to bring God into the equation and stop trusting ourselves?
(Proverbs 3:5) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
(Proverbs 3:7) Be not wise in thine own eyes…
(Proverbs 23:4) ...cease from thine own wisdom.
(Proverbs 28:26) He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.

d - Engage Your Problem – 30:9-10

-Don’t just sit there and wallow in your sorrow & distress – get up and with the Lord’s help face the problem head on!
-So what if the problem is larger than you – you and the Lord are a majority!
-The Scriptures are FULL of illustrations of how the Lord’s people get the victory time after time.
(1 John 4:4) Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
(Luke 18:27) And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.
(Luke 1:37) For with God nothing shall be impossible.