1 Samuel 30:1-19 KJV
1 And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;
2 And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way.
3 So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives.
4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep.
5 And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God.
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
9 So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed.
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor.
11 And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water;
12 And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights.
13 And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick.
14 We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire.
15 And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company.
16 And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah.
17 And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled.
18 And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives.
19 And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all.

Yesterday I was listening to a beautiful sermon on the I Samuel 30 text on the fact that David encourage himself in the Lord(verse 6). The fact the men wanted to kill David. David had to search his own soul to encourage himself in the power of his God. I want to go at different angle then the minister I heard sermon. It important to the believer to know one thing there are some lessons that only can be taught by the Holy Spirit. There some lessons that can only be learned through years of experience of learning to rely on God when you are out numbered. David began his lesson with lions, bears, and moved on to the giant Goliathe and many more adversaries. This idea of people wanting to kill David was not new. In fact when out number there is only one recourse but to pray. Yet it takes years of training to not be fearful of those that might cause you harm, but to fear the one that made heaven and earth. To fear so much that you go to him in your hour of need.

To encourage oneself one must reflect on the work God has already done in your hour of need in the past. To understand God's ability to be the victor in the battle and in the hour of difficulty. The men were at least still listening, even though they wanted to kill King David. To encourage ourselves in the time of difficult takes training a lesson that must be learned by who the Holy Spirit. The teacher not seen in the passage but one that is taking David into the battle field of faith knowing what God has already done and can do in his life in his current situation.

This is a battle we can not ignore. It is a battle cry we can not deny within ourselves. Our strength must come from the Lord to stand before our opposition and lead. David inquired of the Lord and lead his men in battle. over 600 men began the journey and two hundred became weary to the point they travel not with David but remain at a brook. In a field David's men found Egyptian that was sickly but they feed and gave him something to drink and he was restore to health. He gave information to the king and lead them to the ones that had taken captive their women, and taken their things. David lead the troops into battle and recover it all plus supplies.

God provision after the battle was increased and shared even among those left behind. God provision by his Spirit begans on the walk of faith, and it does not end their but continues through out life walk of faith. Lesson we learn by his Spirit is not to give up and quit but to press on in faith as the Lord leads us, whether in battle or in our daily personal life. The Holy Spirit in the New Testament was teaching spiritual warfare and not battle against armies of countries, towns or villages. It about battling the devil or the evil through the act of love and compassion for our fellowman. It about compassion of God working in our humanity. It does not mean God can not work in the lives of people to wage war in countries, but that not what God is trying to teach his people. David was a king that took his God into his work zone. Do you take God into your work zone to teach how to work, how to play when appropiate. Take God on the frontline of the grocery store in the cashier lane, or in the battle field of the department store, factory and so forth. Where is our faith. Who going to teach you how to be compassionate toward others? It will be the Holy Spirit expecially on a bad day. The day you want to revenge is the day God steps in and intercedes how he took you through another trial of faith. We need those memories to hold us in our station of well doing and keep going forward with the grace of God into the battle field of spiritual warfare, not battles of fist and guns. We need God's word to hold us in our place and to be able to pass the word along of his will for our life to trust in God to encourage not only ourselves but others in the Lord. To bow humbly in the Lord's presents and allow him to lift us up in the battle field of faith. Learning to humbly trust in Spirit.

Dear Heavenly Father, teach us to encourage our soul because of the work you perform in our life, in work and our play. Teach us to live according to your Spirit and to remember the battle fields of past so we know your work will continue in our life as we stand in humbleness of the moment of your grace as you win the battle before us. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: James 4:10 KJV
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

Isaiah 41:1-20 KJV
1 Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength: let them come near; then let them speak: let us come near together to judgment.
2 Who raised up the righteous man from the east, called him to his foot, gave the nations before him, and made him rule over kings? he gave them as the dust to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow.
3 He pursued them, and passed safely; even by the way that he had not gone with his feet.
4 Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.
5 The isles saw it, and feared; the ends of the earth were afraid, drew near, and came.
6 They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.
7 So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smootheth with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is ready for the sodering: and he fastened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
8 But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend.
9 Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away.
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
11 Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish.
12 Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought.
13 For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.
14 Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the LORD, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.
16 Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel.
17 When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:
20 That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.