Transcription
[Applause] [Music]
I want to give you some background to this particular situation of which this passage finds itself.
David, if you recall, is the young man who went down to the battlefield when the Israelites were standing off against the Philistines and killed Goliath. You remember David took the stones in the slingshot and killed Goliath. They marched back into the city, and the people sang the praises of David. They were saying, "David is the man."
The king at the time, Saul, becomes jealous of David and makes several attempts to kill him. So, David ends up being on the run. He leaves his assignment and is on the run because the king is trying to kill him. As a matter of fact, the king has a posse out looking for him, trying to take him out.
He ends up going into a cave, and in the cave, to his surprise, are a bunch of rejected men. The Bible says they were in distress, in debt, and discontent. He gets joined to them, and, as a matter of fact, these rejected men choose David to be their leader. Ain't nothing like being chosen to be a leader of a bunch of rejected people.
The amazing thing is that David takes these rejected men and turns them into what the Bible calls Mighty Men. That's amazing! He takes a bunch of men who were rejected, discontent, and in distress, and turns them into a group of Mighty Men.
There's hope for you! Look at your neighbor and say, "There's hope for you," that something can happen with your life.
They need a job, and in their effort to get a job, check this out, they now go and join the Philistine army. They are now employed by the Philistine army—the army that David killed Goliath. That same army, he and this group of rejects join and enlist in their army, and they're going off to war.
One day, they're going off to do battle, and the general decides to inspect his army. When he inspects his army, he finds these Jewish boys in his army. He says, "Oh no, no, we cannot have these jokers with us. They might turn on us." So, he fires them. They get fired—all of David and all of his rejected men get fired.
So, on their way home back to their city, their camp, they just got fired. When they get back to the camp, they come to the shock of discovering that their city has been burned. Their wives and children have been taken captive; they're gone.
The Bible says right here in this 30th chapter that when they come back to the city and discover this, verse one says that the Amalekites had attacked Ziklag and burned it with fire. Verse two says they had taken captive the women and those who were there, from small to great. They did not kill anyone but carried them away and went their way.
They took their wives and kids; they took their wives and daughters to rape them. They took their sons to enslave them. So, David and his men, verse number three, came to the city, and there it was—burned with fire—and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.
Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep. These guys, listen, they not only got fired from their job, but when they get home, the house is burned down. The Bible says they were in such a level of distraught.
Verse number four says they wept until they had no more power to weep, no more tears to cry. They are in a very discouraging moment of life.
I wanted to talk to you all about this today because I felt God tell me that there were some people today who are likewise in a similar situation. Life is not just going the way you want it to go. Things are jacked up, toe up from the flow up. You got problems.
I know this 10:00 crowd; y'all learned how to perpetrate that everything is fine. Y'all learned how to pretend like you got it going on. You know, you came, you got your Sunday best on, you looking good, your makeup's all in place, you done got your do done, your weave is looking right, nice, you got it all tightened down, and you're weak. You got everything in place.
But the truth of the matter is, if we were to pull off the sheet and pull off the cover, there's some stuff going on underneath the cover that is not visible to people from the outside. Y'all can say Amen; nobody knows I'm talking about you.
Y'all came in here holding hands together, but back at home, you're not speaking to each other. You're sleeping in different beds. You were arguing in the car, but you jumped out, grabbed hands, and acted like everything was just fine. Your car is nice and clean, but you know the repo man is looking for you.
David finds himself in a place like so many of you are finding yourself today—in a place where you've lost some things, some things that are valuable and important to you.
You all need to understand something: the devil wouldn't mess with you if you didn't have nothing. You have something that he's jealous of. He's jealous of your home, your family, your marriage, your finances, your bank account, your credit rating, your dignity, your respect, your sanity, your ministry, your giftings, your calling.
The devil is upset about what potential threat you represent to his kingdom. Ultimately, brothers and sisters, if you don't understand that the devil's after you, he's just like he was after David—just like Saul was after David, just like the Amalekites came after his wives and his kids and burned down his family, burned down his homes.
We are, in so many ways, some people are in the same situation. You're depressed, discouraged, despondent, downed, troubled on every side. You're at the worst of the worst places of your life; you're at the lowest of the low. You're in a situation where you don't know what to do.
But let me tell you something. Let me drop this truth on you. Let me lay this fact on you. Let me try to put this in your spirit. Here's what I learned about God in my 38 years of being in ministry. Here's what I learned about the way God functions: every time before I am about to step into something significant, some new dimension in life, some kind of drama pops up in my life.
Some kind of pain, something unexpected, something that drives me back to my knees, something that wants to make me question that God is with me. But I've come to the conclusion, after having experienced it time after time after time, after having seen it moment after moment, after having been through it so many times, I've learned the pattern.
I've learned the fact that before God elevates you, the devil wants to do something to discourage you. So instead of getting discouraged, here's what I do when drama comes stepping up in my life. I say to myself, "Uh-oh, something great is about to happen." You know what I say? "Let me get ready; something's about to go down. God is about to take me to another dimension."
It's an indicator that something is about to drop. So, David, matter of fact, if you want to jot this down, your greatest victory is always on the heels and in the face of your greatest defeat. Right after your great defeat, something unexpected happens that you had not anticipated. Right after that comes the great victory that God has for you.
So lift up your heads, don't be discouraged. Understand that when you've got drama and it looks like things are not going in the right direction, be reminded that God is about to do something significant.
As a matter of fact, David was about to become king. God had destined him to become king. He was going to rule; he was going to take the place of the man who was trying to kill him.
Y'all excuse me for a second; some of y'all better get ready to shout because God is about to give you somebody's job who's trying to take you out. Oh, y'all ain't—I can't get no amens right there. I can't get no encouragement. I'm just trying to get you to understand. I'm trying to get your heart to be lifted up that there are some things that God wants you to learn.
Now, David, I can only imagine and picture how David was. I can only imagine and picture David being in a place where things are not just bad; it's horrible. Because not only have his wives and kids been taken captive, the city burned down, but all the men that were with him—the rejects who were with him—their wives and children have been taken captive.
To add insult to injury, in verse four, you want to talk about being in a real bad situation. Verse four says, "Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep."
That's not the verse I want; I want verse six. 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 has not only lost what he had, but he's in the lowest of lows. He's in a bad spot because now the men who had chosen him to be their leader, now they are talking about killing him. That's what it says—that David was greatly distressed. The people spoke of stoning him.
You know you're in a bad situation when the rejects are about to reject you. That's a bad place when you're about to be rejected by the rejects.
Y'all excuse me for a second, but it reminds me of somebody else who was rejected by men, but he became the Chief Cornerstone. Oh, I wish I had an amen. I wish I had somebody who knew that rejection is always a sign of destiny.
Y'all, let me just drop this in; it's not a part of my message, but let me just drop it in. I didn't get a chance to talk about this at the earlier service, but I hear the Holy Ghost telling me to talk about this right now because somebody feels like they're in a spot of rejection.
I need to tell you, I need you to understand that rejection is always a sign that God has a special anointing upon your life. He doesn't want you to fit in; he doesn't want you to be a part of everybody else. He doesn't want you to be like everybody else because he has something special for your life.
You are a special choice; you have a special assignment. Go on and preach, Pastor Jacob! He has a special assignment for you.
So the scripture says he was about to be stoned. There was a petition going around; there was dialogue about killing their leader.
What do you do when you've lost everything that's dear to you? You've been fired from your job, your house has burned down, your kids are gone, your wife is gone, your friends don't want you. You've been fired from your job.
What do you do when you get to a place where you don't know what to do? I started to tell you, I know that this is the crowd that perpetrates and acts like they got everything going on straight.
But I'm going to drop in your spirit right now what y'all need to do. I see y'all acting like it's the 10:00 crowd. See, y'all are between the 8:00 and the 12:00.
Let me tell you what the 8:00 is: the sophisticated, got-it-all-going-on, act-like-they-got-it-all-going-on crowd. That is the educated crowd. Get up early, get church out the way crowd.
Then there's the 12:00 crowd—this got in from the club last night. That's the 12:00 crowd. Yeah, some of them are coming to the church service and going to put their church program in the pocket behind the club program.
Anyway, that's the 12:00 crowd. Y'all are a mixture of both. We got some 8:00 people and some 12:00 people.
Let me lay it out to you: the 10:00 crowd. We got some of the people in the 10:00 crowd who would be here at 12:00, but the problem is they got some other place to go, so they come in the 10:00 service so they can get it out the way.
Y'all ain't got to say nothing; I'm just dropping it on you the way I see it.
But there's a piece of you that acts like you got it all together when, in reality, there's drama in your life and there's trouble in your marriage. You don't have enough money to pay your bills. You got fired from your job and can't find another job.
You find yourself tore up from the flow up, jacked up all over, and you don't know what to do. That's why God brought you here today, so I can tell you what it is God told me to tell you that you need to do in this moment of your life.
Go on, Pastor! What am I supposed to do? What do I do when everything has gone awry? What do I do when everything is topsy-turvy and upside down? What do I do? Where do I go?
I'm glad you asked the question because my man David is going to tell us exactly what it is that we ought to do.
David models for us the steps we should take when we find ourselves in that kind of situation. As a matter of fact, in verse number six, David tells us the first thing that we ought to do.
In verse number six, David says the latter part, when it says right here, he 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.
But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. There's the first thing you got to do: encourage yourself! Somebody say, "Encourage yourself!"
Tell the person on the other side, "Encourage yourself!" The New King James says he strengthened himself. That word "strengthen" or "encourage" is the Hebrew word "shazak." You got to shazak yourself!
It means to strengthen, to repair. It means you have to talk yourself into doing what you need to do. It means that you have to encourage yourself.
The problem with the 10:00 crowd is y'all have gotten accustomed to other people encouraging you, and that's all right. But you got to grow past other folk encouraging you, and you got to learn to recognize that sometimes the people that you look to encourage you will have their own drama.
Sometimes you're going to have to learn how to encourage yourself. I ain't getting no help up in here today, but it's all right; I'm going on with it.
You got to learn how to encourage yourself. There comes a season and a time in life when you got to start talking to yourself.
You see, you can't keep depending on other people to encourage you. They got their own drama that they're going through; they got their own problems. You can't depend on other folk because they don't always understand what you're going through.
You can't depend on other folk because sometimes they don't know what to say or what to do. Sometimes, if you don't know what to say, it's just best for you to keep your mouth shut.
I get tired of people coming to tell me what to do, and they ain't never been here. They ain't never walked down this road. You ain't never done it before, but you always got something to say.
Shut up! That's what I want to tell them. That don't make sense what you're saying.
I've learned to stop depending on other folk to encourage me. I've learned how to encourage myself.
What do you mean, Pastor? I mean I got to start talking to myself. I got to start telling myself it's going to be all right.
You got to start telling yourself that God didn't bring you through all the hell that you've already been through to leave you right here.
You know what I got to tell myself? I got to remind myself that God did not call me 38 years ago to preach the gospel just to bring me to this point and abandon me now.
I got to encourage myself to keep on preaching. I got to encourage myself. He didn't bring me through 3311 Brightsea Road in that old building that we used to have, had us move to 3600 Brightsea Road, and build that church, and then bring us over here to 600 Watkins Park Drive just for me to space out and lose it and lose my mind.
No, no, no! He didn't bring me through all that thick and thin and all that hell and all that high water for me to crash and burn right here.
I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but everybody in here got a past. Everybody in here has been through something that nobody but God brought you through, and he didn't bring you through all of that for you to crash and burn right here.
So you better learn how to encourage yourself! Go ahead, tell yourself, "I better learn how to encourage myself."
You better stop speaking words of defeat and failure to yourself. You better stop declaring that you lost. You better start declaring yourself a winner.
You better start telling yourself, "I'm up and not down." You better tell yourself, "Isaiah 54, no weapon formed against me shall prosper."
Tell yourself, "Deuteronomy 28, I am the head and not the tail." Tell yourself, "Psalm 18, the Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer."
Tell yourself, "Psalm 20, some trust in chariots and some trust in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord."
Tell yourself, "Romans 8:37, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us."
Tell yourself, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Tell yourself, "Job 13, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him."
Tell yourself, "Psalm 27, the Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"
When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes, they stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear.
Though war may rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, y'all excuse me, I feel like preaching sure enough right now.
One thing have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.
For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in the secret place of his tabernacle. He shall hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. Therefore, I will offer sacrifices of joy. Yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
Lift up your hands, oh ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; the King of Glory, the King of Glory shall come! [Applause]
Hey, hey, hey, hey! Encourage yourself! Talk to yourself! Sing to yourself! Do whatever you have to do to keep on pushing, keep on running. Don't stop!
Now you've come too far to stop now. You've been through too much to stop now. Who am I preaching to? Go ahead, start talking to yourself right now.
Talk to yourself! I don't know what you're going through; I don't know what your drama is, but go ahead right now, start telling yourself, "I'm going to win this thing. I'm coming up out of this. God's going to change my circumstance."
Tell yourself, "I'll pass this test. I'll make it through this storm. I'm going to come out on the other side."
I don't know who I'm preaching to, but I'm not going to have time. I got two minutes; I'm not going to make it through the rest of this message. I'm sorry, but let's just stick a pin right here and let's make the point for the day: encourage yourself!
Go say, "I'm not clapping for nobody else; I'm clapping for me. I'm encouraging me. I'm going to go on for me!" [Applause]
Yes! Now here's what David did. Here's what David did. He done got fired from his job; his wife and kids are gone. His rejected men are talking about rejecting him.
He starts talking to himself; he encouraged himself. And listen, I'm trying to move on, but I can't get past this point right here.
I know folks think I'm crazy because I be driving my car encouraging myself. Yeah, I'll be stopped at the stoplight, preaching to me.
I look over and I see people looking at me, and you know what I do? I look back at them. Amen! I ain't going to let their looks discourage me from encouraging myself.
Some of y'all are too worried about what other folks think about you. The hell with what other folks think about you! I don't care what they think about me; I just want to encourage myself.
I'm going to make it through! Tell yourself, "The storm is passing over." Tell yourself, "The sun is still shining."
Tell yourself, "My marriage will get better. My children will do right. I do have a job. I will have a purpose. I do have an assignment." Encourage yourself! [Applause]
Then David, it says next, David inquired of the Lord. Can I have one more minute? How about two? Can I have two? How about three? Can I take three?
We're going in overtime! Somebody say, "We're going in overtime!" [Applause]
He inquired of the Lord. He asked God what he should do. And when he asked God what he should do, he inquired of God, and verse 8 says, "So David inquired of the Lord, saying, 'Shall I pursue?'"
That's what some of y'all are at. Don't sit down; I'm coming to a close. Make me feel like I'm preaching while y'all are standing up preaching while I'm preaching.
He said, "Shall I pursue this?" And that's what some of y'all are asking: "Shall I go after a job? Shall I try to keep my marriage rolling? Shall I try to help my kids?"
You're at the place of saying, "Shall I pursue?" Yeah, and he answered. God answered, "Pursue!"
I don't know who I'm talking to, but I'm here to tell you, pursue! I can't see it; my eyes are too watery. Let me write this for you: "You shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all."
Oh, who am I preaching to this morning? Who am I prophesying to? Go after it! Pursue it! You shall recover all!
Tell somebody, "Go ahead and pursue!" Go ahead, tell them with faith! Tell them to go after it! Tell them to pursue it! Overtake it!
Tell them, "Don't quit! Don't stop! Don't walk away! Don't throw in the towel! Don't file the papers! Don't go for divorce! Don't file bankruptcy!"
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world! You're serving a God that loves you and has a destiny for you.
Here's what verse 18 and 19 says: "So David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away, and David rescued his two wives. And nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything which they had taken from them. David recovered all."
Get it back! Take it back! Get your joy back! Get your peace back! Get your passion back! Get your job back! Get your marriage back! Get it back!
Who am I preaching to? Who? Come here! Come here! Come here quickly! Hurry up! Come here! I need to pray for you! Come here! Come here!
Don't walk; hurry up! I'm overtime already! Hallelujah! It's time to get it back! The devil has defeated you long enough!
Thank you, God! Get it back! We're going to get it back! Why you coming? Say, "I'm getting it back! Getting my marriage back! Getting my kids back! Getting my job back! Getting my life back! Getting my peace back! Getting my destiny back! Getting my assignment back!"
Getting back everything God has for me! The devil took it, but he can't keep it! Hallelujah! It's mine! It's mine! I'm going to get back what God has for me! It's yours! It's yours!
Hallelujah! Come closer! I'm going to get everybody as close as I can. I'm going to step back so I won't spit on y'all. I'm going to step back.
I did not want to preach this sermon today. Thank you, Jesus! I didn't preach this five times at this church. I didn't preach it, but God said, "Preach it today because you're going to need it."
I had picked—I had something else I wanted to preach about, but it ain't about what I want. I want to hear the voice of God and do what he tells me to do, and he told me to tell you, "Take it back!"
You have to pursue! You have to have a mindset! Don't let the devil have what God has for you!
Thank you! David recovered all! Thank you! You know what the Bible says? He recovered his two wives.
God just wants you to go after the one wife that you got, the one husband that you got. Stop nitpicking the pieces of everything that's wrong with your spouse because everybody in here got something wrong with them.
Yeah, your kids are giving you drama; they're giving you pain; they're driving you crazy. But go after them! Don't surrender your kids to the devil!
Do not lose heart about your finances! God can give you money back! You can get money back!
And God told me to tell some of y'all, you made horrible mistakes. That's why you went through some of those financial stresses that you have.
But when you make the commitment that you're going to walk the way he wants you to walk and manage your money the way he wants you to manage it, he says, "I'm going to give you double for your trouble."
Father, in Jesus' name, in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus, I pray for these your sons and daughters that you would drive out of their hearts the spirit of discouragement, depression. Drive it out, God!
Bind that demon! Bind those thoughts! Rebuke the hand of Satan right now in Jesus' name!
Fill in the hearts and minds of your people that they are more than conquerors! Fill their hearts and minds with the truth of your word, heavenly Father, that no weapon formed against them shall prosper!
Give them a heart to be determined, Lord! Salvage their marriages! Save their families! Restore their finances! Reclaim their children! Get them back on the right path for their career and their assignment and their ministry!
Father, unleash the power of the Holy Ghost to have free reign in their lives! In Jesus' name, I pray! Have your way, Father! Have your way! Teach this people how to encourage themselves!
In Jesus' name, I pray! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Now go ahead and encourage yourself!
Today's dynamic message from Pastor Jenkins is one that has the power to change your life, but it can only do so if you have a heart and soul that belong to Jesus Christ.
Perhaps you want to be able to make such a claim, but you don't know how. It's simple: you just have to confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins and rose again with all power.
Your sins are now forgiven, and you're part of the family of God. Welcome!
Maybe you're already saved and in need of a church home—one that will nurture your growth and development as a Christian. Or perhaps you were once in fellowship with God but have since drifted away and are ready to return to your first love.
Whatever the case, we'd love to have you become a part of the First Baptist Family. Simply contact us at 30773 3600 or visit our website at www.fbcglenarden.org for more information on any one of our four convenience services or our 100-plus ministries designed to meet your most intimate needs.
First Baptist Church of Glenarden, where God is developing dynamic disciples.