Sermon Tone Analysis

Title: A Word for Desperate Times

Theme: Hearing from God in Bad Times

Series: A New Years Message

1 Samuel 30:1- 6, “David and his men reached Ziklag on the third day.

Now the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag.

They had attacked Ziklag and burned it, and had taken captive the women and all who were in it, both young and old.

They killed none of them, but carried them off as they went on their way.

When David and his men came to Ziklag, they found it destroyed by fire and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive.

So David and his men wept aloud until they had no strength left to weep.

David's two wives had been captured--Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.

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.”

Let the Holy Spirit of Christ place this truth deep into your spiritual heart, “…But David found strength in the Lord his God.”

What we are seeing today

What we are seeing today is what is often described in Scripture as, “For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of retribution…” (Isaiah 34:8) Considering that this world and everything in it is God’s creation, Christians and nations are to heed to what is written in Psalm 2:11, “…Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling.”

Psalm 19:9 says, “The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.

The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.”

The exhortation from the New Testament is “…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”

(Philippians 2:12)

The Word of God holds blessings for obedience and chastisement for disobedience.

Serious scholars of God’s Word know that there are times when God has a day of vengeance (naqam) and long seasons of retribution or recompense (sillum) for the sins willfully committed by people who live in a nation with the motto, “In God we Trust.”

(Leviticus 26:25; Deuteronomy 32:35, 41,43; Ezekiel 24:8; Micah 5:14; Isaiah 34:8; Hosea 9:7; Judges 5:8)

Isaiah 34:8 is the key passage for the introduction of this message which is placed under the heading “Judgement Against the Nations.”

God allows war to come and He allows conflicts to arise within the spiritual heart, (Romans 7:23; 2 Corinthians 10:3; Ephesians 6:12; 1 Timothy 1:18) to show us our great need of Him in every part of our lives.

Romans 1:18-32 warns of the many sins that will be manifested in lives of people because they did not think it “worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God.”

“Jesus” said, “…You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of birth pains.”

(Matthew 24:4-6) Jesus is describing the events leading up to His return from heaven and the events that will precede His second coming.

In the Middle East we hear of wars and peace treaties and then in no time at all, again there is war.

This world is seeing major natural disasters and financial instability.

Everything people find security in has been or may even now be stripped from them.

People have lost jobs and homes, and many of our armed forces are out in some kind of battle.

These service men are returning home to find that an enemy has invaded their camp.

Their spouses and children have been dragged into some kind of captivity that includes bondage to the flesh, the world or the lies of the devil.

While calamity strikes, everyone is blaming anyone in authority and rebellion of the tongue breaks out.

Bitterness of spirit is found in the hearts of many today, just as in the time of David in Ziklag.

I would propose to you that David, the man after God’s heart had illumination of the God he served and he sets before us truth that can be grasped in desperate times.

Just what is that truth and how can Christians live a life worthy of the gospel they proclaim?

The Bible says, “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.”

(Philippians 1:27)

In our opening text David was a regular human being holding a place of leadership, a man chosen by God to do a work for Him.

David was greatly distressed because his family was taken captive, his place of security or rest was burned by an enemy, and the men he led were considering killing him.

Christian or non-Christian, God in His sovereignty has given you a place of leadership or responsibility.

Just like David, bad things are going to happen to you because we live in a sin cursed world.

Someone is going to blame you and they will consider ways of destroying your credibility.

The things you found security in will someday be taken away or at the very least be revealed to you as a false security.

Those for whom you have sacrificed time and strength at some time may be taken from you by the world, the sinful flesh or because of the lies of the devil.

Those for whom you are responsible will speak against you.

It is at that moment you can choose to have the heart of David (Acts 13:22) or be listed among those whose hearts grew cold (Matthew 24:12) or remained unmoved toward God.

(2 Corinthians 3:14)

Let the Holy Spirit keep the veil off of your heart and trust in Christ as you prayerfully consider the following truths that will enable you to “…[find] strength in the Lord… God.”

Believe what the Bible says about Him

The first step to finding strength in the Lord in desperate times is to believe what the Bible says about Him.

Hebrews 13:5b – 6 says, “‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.

So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?’" Psalm 46:1 says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

Psalms 18: 1-3 says, “I love you, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.

He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

Psalm 18 is a song offered by King David who sang this song to the Lord when God delivered him from his enemies.

(The Treasury of David, Spurgeon; The Expositors Bible Commentary; Thru the Bible) This song of praise to God opens with a Hebrew word translated, “I love you (raham).”

In its active verb form (ruhamah), it can mean to find mercy.

The word pictures a deep, kindly sympathy and sorrow felt for another who has been struck with affliction or misfortune, accompanied with a desire to relieve the suffering.

This active verb occurs forty-seven times in the Old Testament, with God being by far the most common subject and His afflicted people the object.

The Lord God is compassionate but it is not because any deserve His compassion.

It is solely because God in His sovereignty shows it to whom He chooses.

(Exodus 33:19; Romans 9:14-16; The Complete Word Study of the Old Testament) The phrase, “I love you” that David is expressing communicates a full understanding of this and it is an intimacy based on past experiences.

(The Expository Bible Commentary referring to G.Schmutter and Eine Lexikalisce; 1 Samuel 17:37; 24:1-16; 26:1-2)

What the Holy Spirit wants you to grasp is that David was expressing a supernatural love that came from God to David and that enabled David to love the Lord with a true love.

Therefore, finding strength in the Lord in desperate times comes with Holy Spirit illumination about who God is and an understanding of His love.

Christians can know this love just as the beloved John did who wrote, “We love because He first loved us.”

(1 John 4:19)

Missionary David Brainerd was a soldier of Christ who knew God’s love and then passed the Lord’s love on to the American Indians in New York, New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania.

By almost every standard known to modern missionary boards, David Brainerd would have been rejected as a missionary candidate.

He was tubercular, and from his youth was frail and sickly.

He never finished college, and was expelled from Yale for criticizing a professor and for his interest and attendance in meetings of the “New Lights,” a religious organization.

He had only a few converts, but became widely known because of writings about him.

His personal diary inspired William Carry, Henry Martyn, Robert McCheyne and Jim Elliot.

(School of Tomorrow; Wikipedia Encyclopedia)

God is still using his writings today to inspire and convict the Christians world-wide on matters of true Christian service.

(Missionary Biographies, World Missions) Brainerd’s first journey to the Forks of the Delaware to reach that ferocious tribe resulted in a miracle of God that preserved his life and revered him among the Indians as a “Prophet of God.”

Encamped at the outskirts of the Indian settlement, Brainerd planned to enter the Indian community the next morning to preach to the Gospel of Christ.

Unknown to him, his every move was being watched by warriors who had been sent out to kill him.

F.W. Boreham recorded the incident.

He writes,

“But when the braves drew closer to Brainerd’s tent, they saw the paleface on his knees.

And as he prayed, suddenly a rattlesnake slipped to his side, lifted up its head to strike, flicked its forked tongue almost in his face, and then without apparent reason, glided swiftly away into the brushwood.

‘The Great Spirit is with the Paleface!’ the Indians said; and thus they accorded him a prophet’s welcome.”

David Brainerd, like King David was a faithful servant of the Lord and that incident in Brainerd’s ministry illustrates more than Divine intervention of God in his life – it also shows the truth that God shows His love to those who will love Him enough to trust Him with their entire lives regardless of the circumstances they face and the enemies who stand against him.

David Brainerd was humiliated by being thrown out of college, and he constantly battled bitterness and disappointment from his expulsion from Yale.

However, in June of 1742 he began several days of fasting, prayer and seeking God and found himself totally focused on what the Lord called him to do even when people and circumstances were against him.

(Missionary Biographies, World Missions)

Like David, Missionary David Brainerd, in desperate times found strength in his Lord.

It all begins with being able to Biblically say, “I love you, O LORD, my strength.

(Psalms 18: 1) Holy Spirit illuminated Christians are able to say to the Lord, “I love you” because they understand God’s love for them.

Biblically seek God’s will