Strengthened in the Lord

Destroyed plans are deadly. Confusion comes. Bitterness. Maybe even anger.

When the idea of what we had hoped in doesn’t materialise it can put a pressure on our soul, which, when squeezed, can spew out all manner of responses. Dashed hopes administer a crushing blow to our confidence in the way forward. They can stop us dead in our tracks. Filled with paralysing anxiety we don’t merely question the foggy future, but even begin to question God’s goodness in the past.

Stuck in a season of waiting at the moment we have been forced again to search out the rock of certainty hidden in the miry waters of uncertainty. One particular story that has spoken to our need is the destruction of Ziklag in 1 Samuel 30. Lessons spring from both David and his men that can teach us how to deal with life’s disappointments well.

David has spent the last while gaining the trust of the Philistines, ready to go to war with them, and presumably take the opportunity to win victory for Israel. His ascent to the throne was never quick and simple. Both through circumstance and choice, David was playing the long game. It must have been hard for his band of merry men to stick it out with him, but he seemed to have a plan. He seemed to be in control. And finally, the day arrived where something would happen on the battlefield.

But then comes the first disappointment. The men are sent home from the battle lines. The plan of victory seems to have gone out the window. Never mind, always another day. David has promised them that he will rule, and he’s led them well so far. A small disappointment, but bumps in the road are normal, aren’t they?

The men return home. Or, more accurately, to the remnants of a home. The city is destroyed, their wives and children have been taken captive. Small disappointment has been overtaken by major trauma. All of their hopes and dreams have been crushed. All the promises of David, and therefore of God, seem ridiculous in light of the disaster in front of them. The merry men are not so merry anymore. The men grow bitter against David. Having cried themselves dry, they start to talk about stoning their captain, the one who has led them well so far. The irony is, that in chapter 22 these men had come to David because they were bitter in soul and found a solace in him. Now they are bitter in soul against him.

I imagine most of us can relate to their experience. We’re following God, confident in his promises, when disappointment hits. We might get a little downcast but press on. Then disaster of some form hits. Something that seems so contrary to the promises of God, or the way we thought he was leading us. And we’re blindsided. We who once came to him to relieve our bitter souls, find ourselves becoming bitter towards him for the turn things have taken. In the face of such experience, there are lessons that we can learn both from David’s respsonse and the wrong response of his men.

Firstly, David’s response. The leader of the company has the two disappointments that his men share, with the added pressure of their discontent and threats against him. He is greatly distressed by the situation, and one would hardly blame him for being bitter himself. Yet that is not his response. David knows where to find certainty. He knows the source of stability in chaos.

We read:

“But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” – 1 Samuel 30:6

David’s first port of call is not to rail against God, but to strengthen himself in the Lord. What does this mean exactly? Well, this passage doesn’t say, but we do get an idea from chapter 23 that gives us a good idea. In that scenario, Jonathon arrives on-scene and “strengthened his [David’s] hand in God”. He does this by reminding David of the Lord’s promise to take away Saul’s kingdom, and to make David his king. This was God’s revealed will, the certain, explicit promise of the big picture reality. In the disorienting distress of present circumstances, the bedrock was found in the ultimate. In the revealed will of God.

Theologians talk about the revealed will and the hidden will of God. Deuteronomy 29:29 speaks into this:

“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

The reality is that the Lord has revealed certain things to us. The ultimate. The lasting. The meta-reality of what will last and what will perish. The concrete hope of the future kingdom of Christ. His Word contains all this, so we can live in light of those ultimate realities. He even sometimes reveals some larger temporal realities in our lives, but not always.

Contrast this to the hidden will of the Lord. The way that he plays out the daily plans for those ultimate realities to come to pass. Not only can we not see exactly how that will happen, more often than not they are contrary to the expectation of man and appear as foolishness to the world.

So, the revealed will is the big picture promises. The hidden will is how the details are worked out.

David strengthens himself in the Lord. Jonathon strengthens him in the Lord. How? By pressing into the revealed will, rather than the hidden will. We may hear the bigger promise and fill in the gaps of how that will work out. Then when things don’t turn out the way we expected, we are shaken, and become bitter. The real source of stability is the concrete foundation of the revealed will of God, the things we are certain about. It is wonderful to see his hand leading, wonderful to see answered prayers, wonderful to see doors open, as confirmation of our journey, but they cannot be the bedrock of our faith. David’s strength came from the Lord’s certain promise that would be worked out in the muck of life, not matter how grim it seemed. And that is the source from whence we must draw our strength too.

But David doesn’t stop there. It is not that the hidden will does not matter at all. Once he has strengthened himself, he goes straight to Abiathar in order to enquire of the Lord as to the next steps. Having certainty in God’s promise, he is in the place to go to God in prayer, seeking his will in the moment. God is still willing to guide, direct, lead us on the path. He doesn’t drop meta-promises and then leave us to figure out the rest. He is always at work. But even still we don’t always understand his ways of working things out. What we do understand is his heart and plan as revealed in the story of Scripture. Then we take his guidance as it comes. In life’s disappointments and distresses, we would do well to follow David’s example and strengthen ourselves in God’s promises, and only then seek his guidance for the details. When we trust in what we perceive of the hidden will, we are setting ourselves up for bitterness.

There is also something we can learn from the men. They ought to have followed David’s pattern, yes. But also, they had been around David long enough to know better than to be bitter against him. The Lord’s Anointed was not the sort who would look upon the burnt city with indifference. He was not one who gave up easily like Saul. He would care about the destroyed homeland, about his men’s families, and most of all, about his own brides. The men ought to have trembled for the sake of the raiders who thought that entering David’s domain was a good idea. He is the king who will pursue relentlessly, even when others tire. He is the king who will care for the weak and abandoned along the way. He is the one who will destroy the enemy and return all that was lost. He does not look on the disaster with indifference. He is passionately involved in reclaiming what was lost. His men ought to have known better.

When we are tempted in the fray to doubt the goodness of God’s promises, and his heart, then this chapter is a challenge and a balm. It drives us to exercise the eyes of faith that trust in the eternal rather than the temporal. It grounds us upon the solid rock of God’s ultimate promises, no matter how confusing the details may be. It encourages us to ask for guidance from a place of trusting God’s revealed will. And it strengthens our hearts to see the King who is not indifferent to our needs but is in the business of passionately restoring all that was lost.

In the difficulties and disappointments, the ups and downs, the joys and the confusions, let us follow the lead of David and strengthen ourselves in the Lord.