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Day 81, or March the 22nd. What's your last resort?

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Our thoughts today are rooted in 1 Samuel chapter

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30, verse 6. David was greatly distressed because

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the men were talking of stoning him. Each one

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was bitter in spirit because of his sons and

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daughters, but David found strength in the Lord

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his God. First, the big picture surrounding this

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verse. The reign of Saul draws to a close shortly

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after he consults a medium in Endor. When she

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contacts Samuel, he has a message for Saul that

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I'm sure he didn't want to hear. What's more,

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the Lord will hand you and the army of Israel

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over to the Philistines tomorrow, and you and

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your sons will be here with me. The Lord will

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bring down the entire army of Israel in defeat.

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Chapter 28, verse 19. Significantly, Saul duly

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dies with three sons by his side, one of them

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being Jonathan. So David's path to the throne

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is cleared by the God he trusted all his life.

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And now, our action step for today. During his

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very eventful life, David regularly found himself

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in a depressed state. When his enemies were having

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victories, or the people were not at all supportive

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like they normally were, then his fallback position

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was always the same. He found strength in the

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Lord his God. It's interesting that God is not

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an anonymous power to which David turns, but

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someone he knows. It's not God, but his God.

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If this was our default position, wouldn't our

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lives and the health of our churches be improved

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beyond measure? We would stop hearing, why me?

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And why doesn't God do something? Instead, we

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would hear, isn't God amazing, having all this

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under his control, even though it's far from

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clear to me? If you read some of the Psalms of

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David, he does complain, but not forever. In

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spite of circumstances, David rejoices in God's

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supremacy and finds strength in his God. This

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is a verse well worth remembering. You may like

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to put it on your mobile phone so that it's displayed

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every time you switch it on. I think a paraphrase

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is permitted here. I always find strength in

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the Lord my God.