1 Samuel 30:7-8 (NKJV) 7 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, “Please bring the ephod here to me.” And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
This week we have been studying the role of Faith in God as it applies to walking as supernatural people here in the natural world. Our base scriptures have been from Hebrews chapter 11 especially verses 1 and 6. We have learned that we must have faith to please God and that faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. I like to define faith as the thing that bridges the gap between the world of the natural and the world of the spirit.
Yesterday we looked at David and the tragedy at Ziklag. He was hiding amongst the Philistines because Saul was committed to killing him. There was war between Israel and the Philistines, which put David in a difficult position. The Philistine King protected him from Saul. He could not appear disloyal. However, he did not want to fight against his own people. He went to battle and God moved so that the Philistines sent David and his men home. He did not lose the confidence of the Philistine King and he did not have to fight Israel. This was a great faith victory.
When they got home to Ziklag they found that the Amalekites had attacked and carried away their families and possessions. David and all his men were understandably distressed. David’s men blamed him for the disaster and threatened to stone him. David had a choice to make. He could fall into depression and despair or he could encourage himself in the Lord. He chose the latter.
I believe he must have remembered all the times God moved on his behalf. Despite his emotional distress, I am sure he began to praise God for all he had done. This is one of the most important lessons we must learn if we are going to be successful as supernatural people. We will always face things that challenge our emotions. We have a choice we must make. We can give in to the devil or we can “encourage ourselves in the Lord.”
When we are under emotional attack, the last thing we want to do is come to church and praise God. We want to give in to the weight of the emotions. However, doing that will only result in defeat. We need to do what David did. We need to remember that God saved us and that his great love will not fail us. We need to praise and worship him. As we do that, the same thing will happen to us that happened to David. Hope, the possibility that God could do something for us, will rise in our hearts.
As David felt the hope come into him, he called Abiathar, the priest. The bible says here that he “enquired of the Lord.” Hope had begun to work in him but he knew he needed to give substance to the hope. He did not have the written Word in the same way we do today. There was a channel for the Word of the Lord available to him. The high priest wore a type of vest called an “ephod.” The priest that was with David had this ephod.
In the ephod were two stones called the Urim and Thummim. Although this seems strange to us today, when Israel needed to know the answer to a question they would take these stones out of the Ephod and the priest would cast them on the ground. If they came up one way it meant yes, if they came up the other it meant no. God anointed these stones so they always gave the correct answer according to the will of God.
David needed a promise to give substance and evidence to his hope. He hoped to go after their families and get them back. He could not do that in faith without knowing the will of God in the matter. When the stones were cast, they told him it was God’s will to go after them. The Lord also spoke through the priest, Abiathar, and gave him this promise. “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and recover all.”
Now David had a promise. When he encouraged himself in the Lord, hope that it was possible to get his family back had come. The hope had pushed aside the negative emotions. The hope that God could do something to change this terrible circumstance was enough to enable David to overcome the despair that wanted to swallow him. Now hope had substance and evidence.
There was a great deal of physical evidence that said they would never get their families back. They did not know how long they had been gone. They did not know for sure what route the raiders might have taken. They did not know if they would be strong enough to get their families back. They did not know if their families were dead or alive. Hope says that God can help them. Hope told David that if God could help him kill the lion, the bear and the Giant, he could help him in this situation. He also had the recent faith victory that kept him out of a war he could not fight in good conscience. However, now he had more.
When he told his men they were going after the Amalekites, he was not simply saying, “I know it is impossible but we need to try.” Instead, he was coming to them in confidence. The physical evidence had not changed but David had another kind of evidence. He had the evidence of the promise of God. He went to his men and said, “Don’t worry boys; God just gave me a promise. We will overtake them and we will recover everything. If we are going to recover them that means they are still alive.”
Someone might have said to David, “What proof do you have?” David would have answered in bold confidence, “My proof is the promise of God! Let’s go get our families back!” Hope, which is always in the future, was given substance by the promise. It was no longer a future possibility. The Promise made it a present reality in David’s heart. There was no doubt about it. They were going to recover all.
When we face a need of any kind, we must do what David did. We must come against the oppression of our emotions with the truth of praise and worship. We must remember who God is and that all things are possible because we have relationship with him. Then we need to enquire of the Lord. In our case, we do not have to resort to the Urim and Thummim. We can go to the written word of God and find a promise. God tells us they are all “yes and amen” in Jesus. (2 Corinthians 1:20)
Just as David went to the priest that was with him, we need to go to our High Priest. He name is Jesus! His Holy Spirit dwells within us. He will lead us to the right promise for our situation. As we meditate on that promise, the faith God has injected into the written Word of God will be released in our hearts. The same thing will happen to us that happened to David.
That faith will solidify the hope that God can do something. It will become fact that God will do what he said he would do. Our hope will have a new substance and every time we look at the promise, we will see the evidence that God will give us victory.
Tomorrow we will go with David as he gets his family back. Today, encourage yourself in the Lord. Ask your high priest, Jesus to lead you to just the right promise for your situation. Meditate on that promise until hope gains substance and you can see the evidence of God’s provision before you. This process is not always easy. Remember that Hebrews 11:6 says we must diligently seek him to get the reward. Although it may be require some work, this process always produces results.
1 Samuel 30:8 (NKJV) 8 So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”
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