When There is no Encourager
by an Old Disciple
“And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved…but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.”~ 1 Sam. 30:6
“Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none.”~ Psa. 69:20
What is one to do when there is no one to encourage him? David answers that perplexing question: at such times we become a self-encourager. As Matthew Henry writes, “When he was at his wits’ end he was not at his faith’s end.”
David and his 600 men had just returned from a victorious battle, but on arriving home found an enemy had destroyed their city, Ziglag, and taken their wives and children captive. It was a time of immense distress in his life.
His closest and dearest friends misunderstood him. They had forgotten he had lost as much as they. While others dispirited one another, his spirit encouraged him in the Lord his God! Is it any wonder such a man stole God’s heart?
David knew from experience that after darkness comes light; after trouble, peace; after evil, good; after defeat, victory; and after loss, gain! As Doctor Lloyed~Jones says, “David learned to talk to himself at such times.”
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee...” Psa. 42:5-6
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If you’d like the Biblical insight to the issues of our day my son Andrew’s link is here.