Day 81, or March the 22nd. What's your last resort?
Our thoughts today are rooted in 1 Samuel chapter
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.