David had been fighting the Philistines to protect his fellow Israelites. King Saul should have been focusing on the very same thing, instead of pursuing David to kill him. David and his men had camped in a village called Ziklag when the men left to pursue the Philistines.

Yet, the Amalekites took advantage of the men being distracted and they raided and took Ziklag and burned it with fire. They did not kill the women and children but they did kidnap them. The Amalekites looted the city as well.

When David and his fighting men returned to Ziklag, they were completely distraught. Don’t we tend to think that bad things shouldn’t happen to good people? We read in 1 Samuel 30:4: “Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.”

To show the point that even David was touched by the catastrophe, the historian tells us that his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigal were also kidnapped. Plus, David’s own people thought about stoning him to death because they were so upset apparently at David’s behavior and choice to leave the women in Ziklag while they fought the Philistines. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

Then we have a remarkable statement found in 30:6: “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”

There are times when we have to “strengthen ourselves” in the Lord. Jonathan was not around to encourage David as he had done in 23:16. Abigail was not there. Apparently there was no one who would speak up for David’s benefit. So, he had to engage in some “self-talk,” some self-cheerleading, a little mental dialogue.

Part of that encouraging self-talk involved prayer as the text tells us two verses later: “David inquired of the Lord.” So, when we have to engage in “self-encouragement,” prayer is a good place to start. But then when we pray, we have to trust God to do what is right for us. After David prayed, God gave him an answer and then the text said, “So David went…” (vs 9), that is, David trusted what God had told him to do. If you are going to pray, then you need to trust.

Knowing other aspects of David’s life, work, and personality, we know that David also wrote poetry and/or sang those poems and surely that was a way to “strengthen himself in the Lord.” Just as James writes to Christians, “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises” (5:13). If you need to be cheered, maybe singing praises will help.

Finally, when we read through David’s psalms, two aspects of his singing come to mind. First, David reflected on the nature of God in his singing. That ought to encourage us when we need it. Secondly, David reminded himself of God’s past actions, works, even miracles. David had Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, etc., in order to be reminded of what God had done for His people in the past. Thankfully, we also have Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, etc.

When there are those times when you find yourself alone but needing encouragement, here are some ideas that could help you “strengthen yourself in the Lord:” pray, trust, sing, remember.

Paul Holland