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It was after 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, July the 5th, when I listened to the voice message from Pastor Castillo. He said, Nathan, this is Ramiro. I'm calling because this is an emergency. He went on to convey to me that the Southern Oaks Baptist Church building had burned down the night before in total loss.

He shared with me the events as relayed to him by the emergency personnel. And he informed me in the message that God had already provided a place for us to meet. He asked my brother Joshua and me to call him so we could begin contacting folks in our church.

Some of you have heard about that fire. In fact, I want to take a moment of personal privilege and bring greetings from Southern Oaks Baptist Church and to say thank you, Thomas and Emmanuel Baptist Church, for coming alongside us and revitalizing and providing space. That means a lot.

So grateful to be here with you this evening. Before I returned Pastor Castillo's call, my wife and I encouraged and strengthened our hearts in the Lord. As a church, our faith was literally being tested by fire. And we acknowledged God's sovereignty over the fire, and we solaced our hearts in the fact there was no loss of life.

It was a time of great humility for our church family. The official report came back after they had done the Investigation. It said, cause unknown after investigation. Similarly, and please turn to 1 Samuel chapter 30. That's 1 Samuel 30. This evening's Old Testament narrative begins with the total destruction of the city by fire, and it's recorded in the chapter of 1 Samuel 30, through which I'll be preaching this evening.

God's man, David, encouraged his heart in the Lord in one of the darkest moments of his life. This was while he could still smell the smoldering destruction and hear his heart-rending cries of his men and taste his own salty tears as he wept until he could weep no more.

It went from bad to worse when his men threatened to stone him because the Amalekites had kidnapped their wives and sons and daughters. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for its instruction to us. Thank you that it is life-giving. This is the holy word of God.

And I pray for your grace as we would hear, as we would once again consider David's response in the face of adversity. Help us to be people to do the same, to call upon you in our day of trouble. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, in 1 Samuel chapter 30, we read that the city of Ziglag was burned with fire.

And providentially, like our church building fire, there was no loss of life. But unlike our fire, the cause of this historical fire was known. It was deliberately set by the enemies of the Lord, the Amalekites. Now, Esau's grandson, Amalek, was the father of the Amalekites. And you may remember them in that they were the first nation to attack the children of Israel when God led them forth out of the land of Egypt.

And that caused the Lord to say that he will have war with Amalek from generation to generation. These were the sworn enemies of the Lord. And by way of background for 1 Samuel chapter 30, in the preceding chapters, we find David at the time of his life, right before the death of Saul, king of Israel.

And David had already been anointed king, but he was running away from Saul because Saul wanted to kill him. And David found refuge in the land of the Philistines, in the land of his enemies. And he asked Achish, king of Gath, if he could have a country town.

And Achish gave him the city of Ziklag. Now, David's mode of warfare was to kill every man and woman, so that no one came back to tell Achish what he had done. And then he went back to Achish and said, I've slaughtered the enemies of Achish. And then David made raids against neighboring nations and the Philistines.

So in this manner, David had earned the trust of Achish so much that Achish said, Hey, we're going to war with Israel. You come with me, you be my personal bodyguard. So David was grateful for the honor. When they got to the battlefield, the Philistines did not trust David.

So Achish made him return to Ziklag. Having given the background of the need for today's sermon, is that like David, we should encourage our hearts now in the Lord Jesus in the midst of our fiery trials, whether large or small. I want us to look at two key lessons from the life of David.

So the first is, seek God in your problems. And that's there in verses 1 through 8. And the second is, serve God who overcomes your problems. Verses 9 through 31. First, seek God in your problems. The lesson to seek God in your problems actually comes to us in verse 6.

But let's start at verse 1 to set the stage here. Verse 1. Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great.

They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep.

David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahenoem of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter and soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself and the Lord his God.

And David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, Bring me the ephid. So Abiathar brought the ephid to David. And David inquired of the Lord, Shall I pursue after this band? Shall I overtake them? He answered, Pursue, for you shall surely overtake, and shall surely rescue.

We see in verse 1 that David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day. So it took time, three days in this case, and a lot of energy, because they left the battlefield of fierce warriors. They returned home to Ziklag under suspicion. We can infer that God protected them, because it says they arrived at Ziklag on the third day.

And the timing of going straight to Ziklag was important, because only God knows what they would have found had David remained on the battlefield in disobedience. It is good to remember that Ziklag was a gift to David from King Akash. So burning the city was an affront to David.

And verse 2 says they took captive all of the people in the city. They did not kill anyone, but they went their way. The fact that they were able to overcome Ziklag proves that they could have killed everyone in the city, but they didn't. They took them away, and one source indicates perhaps they took them away to sell into slavery.

Can you imagine the devastating blow that must have been to come home and find the city had been burned? So, depending upon the direction of the wind, perhaps the smoke came their way as they came upon the city in daylight and saw. And I can clearly recall the acrid smell of our church building.

This was the chaotic scene in which the Bible records in verse 4. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. This was not a scattered shower that passed quickly for the smiles to return. Instead, it was a noisy and audible thunderstorm of tears that lasted until they had no more strength.

So likely that took several hours or more. It deeply affected them to the very core of their being. They rightly noticed their loved ones were taken captive because they did not find any dead bodies. And as horrific as death and war must be, in that case, there's closure.

But in this case, there was no closure because they were gone. And verse 5 shows how personal this was for David. David's two wives also had been taken captive, Ahenoem of Jezreel and Abigail. The widow of Nabel of Carmel. I will not get into why David had two wives.

We can save that for another sermon. But the point is that he cried out his eyes for his wives. And verse 6 brings even greater distress for his soul. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him. Imagine that. Maybe they found the stones. Maybe he saw them.

The people spoke of stoning him because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. Think of your children, if you have children, and had they been kidnapped, you would have that energy to go and reclaim yours. This was not some small distress. His men threatened to stone him.

This was a great distress. Now, these are the same men that have risked their lives for David, the same men that have followed him on the battlefield, that had seen him lead. So now, here is the first lesson from David. Verse 6b says, that David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.

I love how the King James Version translates this part of the verse. But David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. He sought God. While this passage does not record which truths about God's faithfulness that David used to encourage himself, we can remember key verses such as Psalm 62, 8.

Trust in him at all times. O people, pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us. And Psalm 23, while likely still a future expression, could have given birth to those words, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Despite the bitterness of David's distress, he comforted, encouraged, and sought encouragement in the Lord. Like David, we must seek God in our problems. Remember those life-giving words from our Lord Jesus himself, Matthew 11, 28 through 30. Come unto me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. When David sought God, that breathed life into his soul, and it gave him the courage to continue forward.

So remember, he had just marched home three days, and he had just cried out in his eyes for their loved ones being missing, and his men had just threatened to stone him. He was under great distress, but he turned to God. David turned to God in his time of trouble.

What would a private prayer time have looked like for the psalmist of Israel? His time with the Lord accomplished much-needed rejuvenation, and he could have prayed words like he wrote in Psalm 4, verse 1, and strength. Me, when I call, O God of my righteousness, you have given me relief when I was in distress.

Be gracious to me and hear my prayer. David had a lot of experience in warfare, but he didn't want to get ahead of God or lag behind God, so he asked Abiathor, the priest, to bring the ephid. And David inquired directly of the Lord. The words of victory came back in verse 8: Pursue, for you shall surely overtake, and shall surely rescue.

These promised words had to bring encouragement to David's heart and to the hearts of his men as he was able to share the glad news with them. Now, your problems today may not be the same as a city or a building being burned, but in your eyes, your problems may look as large as those.

It could be something like a promise package arriving late in the mail, having a flat tire on the way to an important meeting, or relationship difficulties at home or work. And there's application for all of us, even those of us who have not personally experienced a devastating fire.

In John 16, 33, Jesus said, In this world, ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world. It's easy to sometimes turn in our own strength in the midst of our problems, or wallow in despair, or blame others for our problems. We must seek God in the midst of and during our problems.

Circumstances of Life can be overwhelming and cause great sadness, such as David experienced. But like David, I encourage you to seek God in your problems. And one practical way to encourage or strengthen your heart in the midst of your trials is to memorize and meditate upon scriptures that directly speak to the situation that you're in, such as, if you're dealing with fear, consider Psalm 56:3.

When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you, or 2 Timothy 2:7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and self-control. Perhaps you're dealing with a job loss or financial difficulty. Those words, Philippians 4:19, and my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

Or maybe you recently took a stand for conscience in obedience to the Lord, and your peers or those in authority reacted to you in negatively and harmful ways. Then we'll recall those obedient words from Acts 5:29. Peter and the apostle said, We must obey God rather than man.

Through his life, and here in 1 Samuel 30, David had experiences similar to these, and the book of Psalms is full of his expressions of faith in God during the midst of his difficult times. So that brings us to the second lesson that we can learn from David, and that is to serve.

God who overcomes our problems. This is David's pursuit. It's in verses 9 through 31. And I'll start with verses 9 and 10. 9. So David set out, and the 600 men who were with him, and they came to the brook Bessor, where those who were left behind stayed.

But David pursued, he and 400 men. 200 stayed behind, who were too exhausted to cross the brook Bessor. The thing to notice here is that David obeyed God, following his direction in faith. His men rallied with him, and they were energized by the promise that they will surely recover.

Because the men, there was David and the men, remember their journey. They had the three days' journey, and they also wept until they had no more strength to weep. So David and his 400 men were energized to cross the brook Bessor. Now it sounds like God gave David a lot of energy to go from a shepherding lad watching his father's sheep to now crossing the brook with 400 of his men.

In David's benevolent leadership, he allowed the 200 to stay behind and rest. So meanwhile, in verses 11 through 15, verse 11, they found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. They gave him bread, and he ate. They gave him water to drink, and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins.

And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and nights. And David said to him, To whom do you belong? And where are you from? He said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant, Sunni Malekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.

We had made a raid against the Negeb of the Cherothites, and against that which belongs to Judah, and against the Negeb of Caleb, and we burned Ziglag with fire. And David said to him, Will you take me down to this band? And he said, Swear to me by God that you will not kill me, or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will take you down to this band.

Providentially, God allowed his men to find the dying Egyptian in the open country. He may have been easy to see, because open country just probably means there were no trees there, so it was open country. And his men provided the Egyptian with nutrient-rich food and water, and his spirit revived.

The men showed restraint by not killing him on sight. And they also showed that they recognized David's leadership because they brought the Egyptian to David. And David was able to question the Egyptian, who negotiated, giving him information in exchange for his life. So we can see this Egyptian valued his life more than any former loyalty, but that's not surprising, since his master had cast him aside for dead.

And that shows how cruel the Malachites were. He was sick? Okay, stay there, let him die. That they could communicate with him, despite his failing health, shows God's mercy in preserving his life from wild animals if they were on the hunt, and providing a common language to use for mutual understanding.

And the reason this is important is because the Egyptian gave them key information. This was before the age of the iPhone. This is before you could look it up on the internet. So they had to, it was word of mouth, and so the Egyptian knew where the master and his band were going.

So the Bible doesn't say what happened to the Egyptian in the passage, but he followed through on his promise, and he led them to David, as we can see in verses 16 through 20. So starting with 16. And when he had taken him down, behold, they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing, because of all the great spoil they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.

And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day, and not a man of them escaped, except 400 young men who mounted camels and fled. David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and David rescued his two wives. Nothing was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil, or anything that had been taken.

David brought back all. David also captured all the flocks and herds, and the people drove the livestock before him and said, This is David. David's spoil. The Egyptian took him down to where they were, so perhaps they were coming down off an elevated position. But remember, there was a massive army, because it says they were spread abroad over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing.

So, on the one hand, we have the victors down there, just having a good time, and we have David and his men. But David didn't come in flesh alone, he came with the promise of God: Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely recover all. And I wonder what hope and outrage David must have felt when they started attacking the Amalekites, and who was the first of the loved ones to be recovered.

Verse 17A says, And David struck them down from twilight until the evening of the next day. And that would indicate the slaughter. It took about 24 hours. That would be through the night as the sun comes up in the morning, and all the way until the evening. What an exhausting and happy time that must have been for David and his men, those 24 hours.

And that it took so many hours of diligent effort shows the miraculous deliverance that God produced that day. In your minds, see a vast horde of people, and on the other hand, you've got this guy and 400 coming with him. So, verse 17b says, Not a man of them escaped, except 400 young men who mounted camels and escaped.

And camels are known to be able to run over 25 miles per hour. So, that would definitely outrun any of the people. The best foot soldiers in David's army. In fact, I pulled up a video just to see how camels run. I'd never seen them before. It's just kind of a lumbering, but still, 25 miles an hour would be enough to get out of the range.

It's remarkable that David's 400 men could either slaughter or rout the entire Amalekite army. What a victory that was for them. Glory be to God. God delivered them. And killing the bad guys does seem to be the best way to recover all. David's two wives were specifically mentioned in that David rescued his two wives.

Imagine how grateful and happy they must have been. So previously it said David and his men, and now it says the people went back to Ziklag. So I can imagine the wives, the sons, and the daughters, just dancing and happy to be together again, to be rescued. And despite their losses in the moment at Ziklag, it appears that David came home wealthier than before the enemy had come because of the great spoil.

The people were united in recognizing David's leadership. And there would be yet one more test of David's leadership. So let's look in verses 21 through 25, verse 21. Then David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to follow David and who had been left at the brook Besor.

And they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him. And when David came near to the people, he greeted them. Then all the women were. Wicked and worthless fellows among the men who had gone with David said, Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except that each may lead away his wife and children and depart.

But David said, You shall not do so, my brothers. With what the Lord has given us, he has preserved and given into our hand the band that came against us. Who would listen to you in this matter? For as the share is who goes down into the battle, so shall his share be who stays with the baggage.

And he made it a statue and a rule for Israel from that day forward to this day. Despite the worthless fellows' words, and remember, in response to their words, he said, My brothers. So he still claimed them. David recognized God's hand of deliverance and made a statue for Israel from that day forward.

It was notable that the worthless fellows must have been in the minority because the other men agreed with what he said. This chapter finishes with verses 26 to 31. So looking at 26, when David came to Ziklag, he sent part of the spoil to his friends, the elders of Judah, saying, Here is a present for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord.

It was for those in Bethel, and Ramoth, of the Negeb, and Jatir, and Eor, and Sifmoth, and Ashtoma, and Rakal, and the cities of the Jeromeites, and the cities of the Kenites, and Horace. Hormah, and Borshan, and Atach, and Hebron, for all the places where David and his men had roamed.

So, this was David's way of thinking, the people of the cities where they had gone. And if you heard how many town names, it also says the cities of the Jeremites, the cities of the Kinites, he had a lot of spoil to share with them. And it also served to buy him continued goodwill.

The application for the second point: so, the second lesson is to faithfully serve God by doing what he told us, all the while leaving the results to him. So, this text promised David that God would overcome his problems, and it serves as a reminder for us that God overcomes our problems, that he fights our problems for us.

As the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3, 6 through 7, I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So, neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. And again, the need for today's sermon is that, like David, we should encourage our hearts in the Lord in the midst of our fiery trials, because his grace is available to us now.

Personally speaking, by way of conclusion, I've had recent circumstances and professional dealings that have been a challenge for me, and have been a living reminder of these two lessons from the life of Jesus. David. Perhaps God allows us to have life experiences to live out these sermons ahead of time.

So when we come to our ziglags, when we are pursued by our Amalekites, when we are stopped by our brook Bessors, we need to seek God in our problems. We need to serve God who overcomes our problems. By doing so, God will be glorified through us, and we will be helped by God.

It is only through the grace and strength of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are able to live in the victory that He has given us. And I think a fitting conclusion to this battle chapter would be to remember the title of our Lord Jesus as conquering king in Revelation 19:11.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. The one sitting on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. Seek God in your problems. Serve God who overcomes your problems. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity to be in your word today.

This is your word. It's a living word, for the word of God is quick and powerful, pierces the inner parts of our being. And Lord, help us in living life in a way that honors you, that glorifies you. And thank you, Father, for including David and the. List of the men of faith there in the book of Hebrews.

We know he was a sinful man, and yet he put his trust and his faith in you, because you said that he was a man after your own heart. And Lord, I pray that you would instill in us that quiet urgency to turn to you and our successes and our failures.

And that you would be Lord of all in our lives. Thank you for this time here together. In Jesus' name, amen.