Today's message. MY MONTH OF DIVINE ACCELERATION
By pastor Sam Atewe.

Text: 1samuel 30
 The story of David. Why are we reading this?
This is because there are some forces that are attacking us.
Whatever we have lost, God will help us to recover it all.
1 Samuel 30:8 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.
1 Samuel 30:8 KJV
http://bible.com/1/1sa.30.8.KJV

☆Pray always
Luke 18:1, John 10:10, 1Peter5:5,
Job1:13
Job stood for God.
Don't give up on God. Because God Will not fail you.
Isaiah 41:10

What  David did
(1) Encourage yourself in God
(2) praise and worship God.
(3) Don't talk foolishly 1samuel30:7
(4) Hear from God.
(5) Don't ask God how he will do it, just put your trust in God.
(6) Treat everyone rightly. You don't know who God Will use to help you.
Before this year comes to an end God Will bless you
(7) Learn to share with others. Be a blessing to others.


CONTRIBUTION
d. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his
God: It took a lot to bring David to this place, but
now he is here - God is his only strength.
i. David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
This was backslidden David, wayward David, "fight
with the Philistines" David. Why would God
strengthen him? Because God is rich in mercy and
grace, and because David was now completely
broken, ready to be filled. Sometimes we think we
have to achieve God's blessing or strength, but
David shows us another way.
ii. David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
He received the strength, and felt it flow through
himself, and was bold enough to ask for it and
receive it from God. Before this, he didn't see
himself as weak, but after coming home to a
burned-out ghost town, David knew he was weak
and needed God's strength.
iii. David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
He didn't wait for someone else to strengthen him.
He didn't say, "Well LORD, if You want to strengthen
me, that's fine. I'll just wait here until You do it."
David knew that the LORD's strength was there for
those who wait upon Him, so he strengthened
himself in the LORD his God. God's strength was
there for David all the time, but now he takes it for
himself and will strengthen himself in the LORD his
God.
iv. David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
This wasn't some kind of rah-rah cheerleader kind
of positive thinking mumbo jumbo. This was the
strength of the living God making itself real in the
life and heart of a hurting man. This was strength
for recognition, strength for brokenness, strength for
repentance, strength for determination to win back
what the enemy has stolen. This is the same
strength that would raise Jesus from the dead!
e. How did David strengthen himself in the LORD?
i. David would have strengthened himself
remembering God's love. At this point of total loss,
David now saw the love of the LORD in the rejection
of the Philistine leaders. If they had not sent him
away, he and his men would not have returned right
now, when the Amalekites had just left and the fires
of their destruction were still burning. If God had
not sent him back home through the rejection of the
Philistines, it would have been months and months
until he returned, and the situation would have been
far worse. That which stung him before became
sweet to him now, and the most precious
expression of the LORD's love.
ii. David would have strengthened himself
remembering God's promise and calling . He could
shake his head, clear the fog that had set about it
for the last year or so, and say "I am a man
anointed by God, called by God, and promised by
God to be the next king of Israel. I have a high
calling and promise from God, and He hasn't taken
it away. I need to start living according to that
destiny." David could thank God and see the glory
of His power in this high call.
iii. David would have strengthened himself
remembering God's past deliverances . He could
say, "This is a terrible spot, no doubt. But
remember all the times when the LORD delivered
me out of a bad spot before? If He did it then, He
will do it now. He didn't deliver me before just to
let me perish now."
f. David took his only encouragement from the
LORD. 1 Chronicles 12:19-20 gave David a reason
for encouragement - men from the tribe of
Manasseh came to him at this time, and stood with
him when others were turning on David. But that
isn't mentioned as encouragement to David at all.
"God was beginning to cure his servant by a bitter
dose of distress, and the evidence of the cure was
that he did not encourage himself by his new
friends, or by the hope of others coming; but he
encouraged himself in the Lord his
God." (Spurgeon)
g. What David said in his heart in 1 Samuel 27:1
got him into this whole mess; now, what he says to
himself to strengthen himself in the LORD will help
bring him out. "Some of the best talks in the world
are those which a man has with himself. He who
speaks to everybody except himself is a great
fool." (Spurgeon)
B. David wins back what was lost - and more.
1. ( 1Sa 30:7-8 ) David inquires of the LORD.
Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's
son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And
Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David
inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I pursue this
troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered
him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and
without fail recover all ."
a. In 1 Samuel 30:6 , David strengthened himself in
the LORD his God . Now, it was time to do
something with that strength from the LORD. First,
David uses that strength when he inquired of the
LORD .
b. Of all the time David spent among the Philistines,
this is the first time we read of him seeking God in
any way. During his time of compromise and
backsliding, David simply didn't inquire of the LORD
in this way.
i. "Some other times, when he should, he called not
for it; but proceeded only upon his own head. Now
being in this great distress, though very desirous to
pursue his enemies, and recover his wives, he would
not go without the God's approbation and direction.
We are usually best when at worst." (Trapp)
c. How did David inquire of the LORD? He did it the
way God said to inquire of Him; David sought God
with the help of the priest, almost certainly using
the Urim and Thummim that were part of the
priest's ephod. An ephod was a special apron that
priests would wear, to cover over their clothing, so
the sacrificial blood and gore would splash on the
ephod, not so much on their clothing.
i. It is likely that this wasn't just any ephod; this
was the ephod of the High Priest, which had the
breastplate of judgment ( Exodus 28:15 ) attached to
it (Exodus 28:28 ). The breastplate had in it a pouch
with two stones, known as the Urim and Thummim
( Exodus 28:30 ). When David inquired of the LORD ,
he probably asked Abiathar to use the Urim and
Thummim .
ii. How did the priest use the Urim and Thummim to
inquire of the LORD? The names Urim and Thummim
mean "Lights and Perfections." We aren't sure what
they were or how they were used. Most think they
were a pair of stones, one light and another dark,
and each stone indicated a "yes" or "no" from God.
The idea is that High Priest would ask God a
question that could be answered with a "yes" or a
"no," reach into the breastplate, and pull out the
stone indicating God's answer.
iii. We don't have the Urim and Thummim today;
and even if they were discovered in a miracle of
archaeology, God would no more bless their use
today than He would bless a re-establishment of the
Old Testament priesthood. The day for the Old
Testament priesthood is past for us today, being
perfectly fulfilled in Jesus Christ. But in David's day
it was commanded of the LORD. The key to the
effectiveness of the Urim and Thummim was that
God's Word gave them. In seeking God through the
Urim and Thummim, David was really going back to
God's Word for guidance, because it was the word
of God that commanded their place and allowed
their use. Today, if we have the same focus on
God's Word, He will guide us also.
d. What did David ask the LORD? David asked, Shall
I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them? At one
time, David would not have bothered to even ask
these questions. He would have simply done it,
because when a soldier is attacked, he attacks
back. But in returning from his backsliding, David
brings everything to the LORD. Nothing is done just
because it was done before. He asks God about
everything.
e. What did God answer David? Pursue, for you
shall surely overtake them and without fail recover
all . God first gave David something to do (pursue ).
Then, God gave David a promise in the doing (you
shall surely overtake them and without fail recover
all ). When God gives us something to do , He also
gives us a promise in the doing.
2. ( 1Sa 30:9-10 ) David pursues the Amalekites who
conquered Ziklag.
So David went, he and the six hundred men who
were with him, and came to the Brook Besor, where
those stayed who were left behind. But David
pursued, he and four hundred men; for two hundred
stayed behind , who were so weary that they could
not cross the Brook Besor.