Beauty For Ashes

1. He encouraged himself by remembering past victories.

2. He encouraged himself by remembering the Lord’s mercies.

3. He encouraged himself by focusing upon God’s faithfulness.

4. He encouraged himself by affirming God’s goodness.

5. He encouraged himself by praising God’s greatness.

6. He encouraged himself by deliberately turning away from discouragement.

7. He encouraged himself by altering his attitude and outlook; seeing beyond the difficulty to focus on the solution.

8. He encouraged himself by embracing his strong friends.

9. He encouraged himself by seeking the Lord’s will by using the resources available to him.

Permit me now to call a meeting of all past and present Ziklag dwellers. You know who you are.

Some have just recently discovered their Ziklag has gone up in smoke. The Ziklag they once enjoyed has turned into a heap of ashes with all its attendant feelings of anger, resentment, discouragement, sorrow, guilt, pain, grief, hand wringing, floor walking, sleepless nights, loss of appetite, blaming yourself, blaming others, and perhaps even blaming God, characteristics.

Past and present Ziklag dwellers have only one thing to say about their experience. There’s really only one honest way to put it: Ziklag stinks! Ashes stink. Sitting in the ashes of one’s disappointments is the pits. There’s nothing beautiful in ashes. However, not only do some choose to sit in the ashes of their defeat, they (as incredible as it is to contemplate) actually feed on the ashes. We know David didn’t do this and we know the reasons why. However, a burned

down Ziklag provides one an opportunity to do this.

I have used the phrase “feeding on ashes” because it is a concept found in Isaiah 44:20. Reading the context of the verse we learn that the theme grows out of the stupidity of cutting down a tree and then using part to build a fire to warm onself, part to cook breakfast, and the rest of the wood to carve into an idol to bow before and pray for health and prosperity. “Shall I bow down before a block of wood” (vs. 19), is the question God is asking people to think about. That’s a good question! And, of course, to our enlightened eyes and understanding it is about the dumbest thing one can imagine an intelligent person doing. We say, “I’d never do such a stupid thing!” Maybe we wouldn’t. But they did. And God says, “He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has

turned him aside; and he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, ‘Is there not a lie in my right hand?’”

It is beyond ludicrous to think one would eat ashes. As far as I know, there is no actual food value in ashes; no vitamins or minerals, hence, no nourishment. They are good for nothing. And this is precisely the point the Lord is making in His metaphorical use of the term, “he feeds on ashes.”

He isn’t accusing them of literally eating ashes. He is saying that their embracing idols, which is a work of their own creation, is futile, empty, worthless. This is because, “A deceived heart has turned him aside.” The result is, “he cannot deliver his soul,” neither can he see the fallacy or admit to the truth that, “there is a lie in my right hand.” In other words, he is holding his just-carved god in his own right hand. He just doesn’t get it. Maybe, sometimes, we don’t get it either.