When all strength is gone

David’s Victory over the Amalekites

30 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; ² and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. ³ When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. ⁵ Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶ Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

 ⁴ Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.

Have you ever cried until there was just no strength left to weep?  I have.  ‘The tears may stop, but the body keeps convulsing, dry sobbing, uncontrollably grieving.  Have you ever cried yourself to sleep?  Me too, I’m sure we all have.  This is a fallen world.  We are a fallen people, without Christ, all is truly lost.  God created a perfect world, a stunningly beautiful place.  It all began in a garden, the Garden of Eden, but Adam and Eve disobeyed God in that garden…and mankind fell, and all the earth fell with them.  And in this broken, fallen world, we will experience much heartache.  Have you ever felt like you just didn’t think you could go on?  You ask yourself, “How am I going to make it through this?”  I understand, I really do.  I have felt, at one particular time in my life, that it would be so much easier to just die, than to keep on, keepin’ on.  But God, He changes everything.

But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.   O, Lord our God, we need you, Precious Father, we need Your Word, Your promises, Your Grace; to make it through so much of this life.   We are mere branches, Jesus, You are the vine.  Apart from you we can do nothing.   Amen.

God is the called the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort in 2 Corinthians 1:3.   And He truly is, I know this.  I went to counseling for a year and a half with an incredibly Godly and wonderfully grace-filled woman.  I was so broken, so beaten down by a ten year long string of “just one more thing going wrong.”  There was little reprieve. I was angry, somewhat bitter, crushed beneath the weight of it all.  But this beautiful woman spoke some words to me that I will never forget.  In our first session, she asked me to tell my story.  When I was finished, she just looked at me and said, “Do you realize that you have suffered 4 out of the 5 most difficult things people can go through, all in the last 4 years?”  I timidly said, “No.”   But with her gracious mercy toward me, the floodgates opened, and all that pent-up pain found it’s way out… over time.  God had brought me to a safe person, a safe place, a house of healing.  And I am forever grateful to Him for this woman.  She knows who she is.

Now I can tell you first hand, that It is possible to make it through.  But not without God.  And it is absolutely imperative that we learn how to strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God, even as David did.  In the passage above, did you notice that the people were blaming David for what happened.  They were so angry with him that they wanted to stone him.  Ever been there?  People blaming you for all that is going wrong, judging you, looking down on you?  I have been there, too.  I was so devastated by it all, I started to believe those lies myself.  But God showed me how to believe Him in the most desperate of circumstances, and how to strengthen myself with His Word, even when I felt almost completely alone.   He is our strength, He is my strength, and He can be your strength…when all strength seems to be gone.

Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30:5)Turn this day to the Father of mercies and the God of all Comfort.  You will be forever grateful you did.