A Time For Recovery

1 Samuel 30:18-19 – “And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.” “And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.”

l. INTRODUCTION – THE STATE OF MEN IN BATTLE

-The church is beginning to understand the armaments that have been afforded to her. Revival has the capacity to awaken those things within the heart of even the most distant saint of God.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 – “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:” “(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)” “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”

-What Satan has embezzled from the Church, both individually and collectively is reaching a point of recovery.

· His plundering of our joy.

· His robbery of our victory.

· His kidnaping of our children who are caught up into a place of worldliness must stop.

· He has pillaged our prayers and mocked our worship.

· He has looted our peace.

-But there is always another side to the story. . . . . All of these things must be restored to a Church whose hope is not in itself but in Another. One who is much higher and more powerful than any thing in this world.

-The church must arise and pursue. The Church was never intended to be something that was stagnant and static, it is ever seeking to meet the challenge of it’s times. It is dynamic and pulsing with life.

ll. THE TEXT IN 1 SAMUEL

A. Leading Up To Ziklag

-To get the setting of the story for which 1 Samuel 30 is leading up to, one must understand that David is still having to deal with the onslaught of pursuit by Saul. We find in the opening chapter of 1 Samuel 29, that David was in a place called Aphek. Aphek was a three days worth journey from Ziklag.

-While David had been in Aphek, the Amalekites had been working destruction at the only safe place that David had in his life. If you will remember, the Amalekites were those people whom had badgered and provoked the children of Israel practically every step of the way when they left Egypt and even until the time they had settled in the Promised Land.

-Finally God had had enough. His instructions to Saul had been to totally annihilate the Amalekites. But Saul in the sad spiritual state that he was living in refused to fulfill the entire purpose of God. He only obeyed half of what God instructed him to do. Partial obedience is equivalent to full disobedience. And what Saul refused to deal with became in issue in the life of another.

-A principle that we all must realize is that our life does indeed affect those who are around us.

B. Trouble in Ziklag

-So now because of the Amalekites who had not been dealt with by Saul now began to heckle David and his men.

-In his absence they came and disrupted the lives of those in Ziklag. All of the wives of David and his men were taken. It was a very discouraging moment for David.

-David had 600 men. Of those, 200 were too weary to cross the brook Besor. So David allowed them to stay behind while the others pursued. Every church will have among it’s saints those who love for God burns high and their faith is real but at times their strength becomes weakened and they become depressed in spirit and more than anything, they need rest. Not criticism but rest.

-A lot of factors may have been involved in their weariness:

· They had been in an alliance with the Philistines against Israel.

· They had been forced to march for three days back to Ziklag. Sometimes the pace is wearying.

· They had to deal with the grief of their loss at Ziklag.

· Perhaps even the force of a swollen brook at Besor was enough to dishearten them.

-But whatever the case may be, they were allowed to remain in a place of restoration and rest.

-This same characteristic has to be found in this church. We must consider that there are those around us who need our encouragement and our support during times of weariness of battle. We will find that one of these days when we get to heaven that we helped someone else get there.

C. The Victory In Pursuit

-So David and his 400 pressed on and engaged the Amakelites (1 Sam. 30:9).