The Road from Bethlehem to Jerusalem Leads Past Ziklag

or: The Road to the Throne Passes Through the Road of Despair

I Samuel 30:6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people (his own troops!) spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved; every man for his sons and for his daughters, but David encouraged himself in the Lord.

Introduction:

David had left Judah and aligned with their enemies, the Philistines, but when the five kings gathered to fight, they did not trust David and his troops to stay loyal to the Philistines, They feared that David might turn and fight against them to restore his relationship with Saul. They insisted David return to Ziklag with his troops. God had so worked that David was saved from an impossible position of fighting against Israel although God had anointed him to be their future king. When they arrived back at Ziklag, the city was in ruins, burned with fire. All their good shad been taken by the Amalekites and their wives and children were carried off captive. The men grieved and wept, and then turned in anger against David. They blamed him for being in such a situation and talked of stoning him.

?David was now alone with his God. His family was not with him. He had left his nation because King Saul pursued him to kill him. His own men turned on him. Only God was there to help him. But David was able to encourage himself in the Lord. God was enough.

God is enough:

?When do we really understand that God is truly enough? When He is all we have. We see David in that situation. He is abandoned by everyone but encouraged himself in the Lord. David did not have all the promises in the Bible that we have. He did have the first books of Moses and perhaps a bit of history. Of course, he had no access to the New Testament and the writing prophets wrote centuries later. But he could recall that God was enough for some of the past heroes of the faith, men such as Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph and Moses. Each had found himself in great difficulty and God rescued him.

?David had to die to self-will:?

Is it our plans or God’s plans that ?we truly desire? We may know intellectually that God’s plans for us are always better, but is that what we want? Have we surrendered to His will? David got into the mess by his own plans. We do not read that David prayed to the Lord and that God told him to run to his enemies for protection.

The apostle Paul wrote: Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now lie in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Paul’s own thoughts and plans led him to persecute God’s people. God intervened and revealed Himself to Paul while on the road to Damascus. Paul asked two questions. Who art thou Lord? Then he immediately submitted himself and his will to the Lord Jesus. His second question was: Lord, what will you have me to do.?

God himself wants to rule and reign in our lives. If we allow Him to do so, He will change our will to align with His will. Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Our prayers are really not to change the mind of a reluctant God but to align our desires and our will with His will. His will is always best, and He has the almighty power to accomplish it.

?David learned to seek God’s direction:

?At that moment, the normal thing to do would be to pursue the Amalekites and try to rescue your families and get back your goods. But David learned to check out what he should do with God even when it seemed like a forgone conclusion. David called Abiathar the high priest to bring the ephod to enquire of the Lord. God told him to pursue, and that he would recover everything. David obeyed God’s instructions. They were enabled to find the camp of the Amalekites and smite the enemy so strongly that those who were not killed fled.

?I find it interesting that David had no further need for Ziklag after this time. His troops moved there to set up the kingdom. When he defeated the Amalekites, he gained far more spoil than he had lost, and he sent portions to those towns where he and his men had hidden out during his years of fleeing from Saul. Saul was killed in battle by the Philistines and the tribe of Judah came to anoint David as king in Hebron. Seven years later he was king over all Israel.

?Conclusions:

?Sometimes our own plans which seem good in our own eyes are enemies of the best plans, those of God Himself. Therefore, we may have to learn to trust the Lord completely and be willing to abandon our plans to His will. He may have to direct us to our own Ziklag to learn to trust him completely and die to self and to seek direction from the Lord, depending totally on Him.

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