Ordinary people, extraordinary God – David: Facing a terrible disaster (Part 1)

1 Samuel 27:1-7 ; 30:1-6

Here we see David facing a real disaster in real time. We know the outcome, but David didn’t know how God would work in and through him in this situation. It was the same for many other biblical characters. The situation at Ziklag looked dark and hopeless to David. Many Christians are facing disasters and dark situations in the world today. Jesus says we will have trouble in this world  (John 16:33). The question is what will we do when we face trouble, trial, illness, etc? Will we be able to encourage ourselves in the Lord as David did?

This story poses questions of:

1. How to handle grief (1 Samuel 30:3-6) – Do not bury your grief. It comes back alive and eats away at us. Do not keep grief to yourself. You need the help and prayers of others to help you through your troubles. David and his warriors wept aloud until they had no strength left.
2. How to handle blame (1 Samuel 30:6) – We love to blame others when disasters happen. Here we see the men blaming David. David had 600 warriors who wanted to kill him. David must have started to believe it was his fault. He had fled to the land of the Philistines in 1 Samuel 27 when he became full of fear of King Saul. Instead of seeking the Lord he had “thought to himself”. In 1 Samuel 30:6 David did not focus on himself and looked to God. He looked back at all God had done for him in the past. This time David “encouraged himself in the Lord”. He focused on God rather than the mess he was in and his faith in God was restored.