Encourage Yourself in the Lord

Encourage Yourself in the Lord
1 Samuel 30: 1-6
Small plane crash in Colorado … all survived
Family was encouraged reading Bible …
Psalms 22:1-4 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them.

Problems of life we face …
Marriage …
A child ….
Work or financial stress …
David hated by King Saul …
1 Samuel 22:1-2 David escaped to the cave of Adullam. 2 And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him…
David tried to find safety in Philistine territory ….
David tried to find safety in Philistine territory ….
1 Samuel 30:1-6 came home to find houses burned, wives and children taken captive …
6 Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters.

David’s secret….
David turned to God for encouragement …

1 Samuel 30:6 But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
We live in a noisy world …
Silence and solitude are hard to find in today’s world …
Encouragement in solitude …
Moses in the desert forty years …
Elijah in the cave when discouraged …
Jesus often withdrew to be alone with His Father
Comfort in solitude with God
Chance to be alone, to be quiet, so you can talk with God, meditate on God’s word for you
Tools for solitude …
The tool of scripture …
Psalms 19:8-10 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 10 More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
Psalms 119:92 Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.

Tools for solitude …
The tool of singing …
David wrote many psalms of praise to God
Habakkuk 3:17-18 Though the fig tree may not blossom, Nor fruit be on the vines; Though the labor of the olive may fail, And the fields yield no food; Though the flock may be cut off from the fold, And there be no herd in the stalls — 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
(Paraphrase: “I will jump for joy in the Lord.”)
Tools for solitude …
The tool of singing …
“Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father! There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, thy compassions they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever wilt be.”
“When peace like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll- whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”
Tools for solitude …
Psalms 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3 Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling.
Psalms 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Two young men of faith …
Two young men of faith …
Two young men of faith …
Encourage Yourself in the Lord
1 Samuel 30: 1-6