Day 81, or March 22. What's your last resort? Our thoughts today are rooted in 1 Samuel
30, verse 6. David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him.
Each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters, but David found strength
in the Lord his God. First, the big picture surrounding this verse.
The reign of Saul draws to a close shortly after he consults a medium in Endor. When
she contacts Samuel, he has a message for Saul that I'm sure he didn't want to hear.
What's more, the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel over to the Philistines tomorrow,
and you and your sons will be here with me. The Lord will bring down the entire army of
Israel in defeat. Chapter 28, verse 19. Significantly, Saul duly
dies with three sons by his side, one of them being Jonathan. So David's path to the throne
is cleared by the God he trusted all his life. And now our action step for today.
During his very eventful life, David regularly found himself in a depressed state. When his
enemies were having victories or the people were not at all supportive like they normally
were, then his fallback position was always the same. He found strength in the Lord his
God. It's interesting that God is not an anonymous power to which David turns, but
someone he knows. It's not God, but his God. If this was our default position, wouldn't
our lives and the health of our churches be improved beyond measure? We would stop hearing,
why me? and why doesn't God do something? Instead we would hear, isn't God amazing,
having all this under his control, even though it's far from clear to me? If you read some
of the Psalms of David, he does complain, but not forever. In spite of circumstances,
David rejoices in God's supremacy and finds strength in his God. This is a verse well
worth remembering. You may like to put it on your mobile phone so that it's displayed
every time you switch it on. I think a paraphrase is permitted here. I always find strength
in the Lord my God.