David Encouraged Himself in The Lord

1Sa 30:6
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.

This verse is also translated ” But David found strength in the Lord his God.” That word “strength” means fastening upon. It gives me an image of fastening upon someone’s arm to grasp a hold of them and not let go. It might be that someone is about to faint or stumble and fall, but they grab someone’s arm to steady themselves.

Maybe that is what David did with God when all of his and his army’s families had been carried off by the enemy, and those left blamed David for it. In verse 4, it says that the troops wept until they had no strength left to weep. He clung to God and God’s strength upheld David. I wonder why the King James version reads it as encouraged. Could it be that we lose courage when we feel we have no strength to go on, and receiving strength from God encourages us to keep going?

I need to cling to God when loss afflicts me, whether perceived or actual – because perceived losses hurt just as bad as physical losses. I need to grab a hold of Him as if to save my life when my head is swirling in the whirlwind of my thoughts and emotions and I feel like I’m going down for the last time. I need to encourage myself when I have wept until my strength is all gone by clutching the One who can sustain me with His mighty right arm. When nothing else makes sense, I must go to God and hide myself in the shadow of the almighty.

Penny Haynes
http://ChristianWomenWithDepression.com