The Healing Word

Pastor Jack Morris: Dear God, help us to do something. And that "do something" is to listen to His voice, to obey it. He's talking, and I believe someone here today heard His voice.

Guest (Male): Join Pastor Jack Morris as he takes us to a passage in 1 Samuel chapter 30, detailing a horrible situation that King David and his men find themselves in. This situation leaves them desperate and hopeless until they turn to God. Be encouraged by today's message and let it bring forth hope and rejuvenation in your struggle.

Pastor Jack Morris: The first person I ever read about encouraging himself in the Lord was David. And it was in the scripture today how he did it. And I read it and I thought that's how we're all supposed to do it. We talk about singing by the crystal sea with all the saints in glory. How about getting with the saints and having some glory right now, right here, this morning, and every time we can come into the house of the Lord?

But David was so distressed. Look at the scripture with me in verse six. 1 Samuel 30, verse 6: "David was greatly distressed." Yes, listen to me, friends, you have been there. You may be there right now. But God's people are under some of the same stressors that the worldly people are experiencing. You can't get away from it. It'll hunt you down and put a burden on you and stress you out. And when that stress really becomes physical, now it's called distress.

For instance, if I have a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, a lot of things just pressing and I start to feel down and get discouraged down under it, and then all of a sudden an ulcer is developed. Or the pressure is on, the stressors are coming, and then a heart attack or a stroke. When that heart attack, stress, or ulcer comes, that's called distress. And David had gone beyond stress to distress. And so had his army. They were in a terrible situation.

David and his men weren't where they were supposed to be. I'm glad you're where you're supposed to be this morning. David and his men weren't where they were supposed to be. They had left their city of Ziklag, left their wives and the children unprotected, and they went off somewhere in another war, another battle. And while they were away, the Amalekites, an enemy—friend, we have enemies, don't you ever forget that.

The enemy attacked that city, and all the buildings were frame buildings for the most part, and they burned that city down. It became ashes, and they took the wives and the children and took them off into their own country. So now David and his men are coming back, and when they come back, the city is gone. There's nothing but simmering ashes there, and all their family is gone. Friend, when you lose your family.

And the men started weeping. These were military men. These were strong men, and they cried like babies. Their family was gone. They wept. And it even happens with God's people. When things sometimes go wrong, we want to blame somebody. Somebody did this. Somebody dropped the ball. Somebody wasn't alert. Somebody said something or wrote something they shouldn't have. We've got to blame somebody.

That goes all the way back to Adam and Eve. Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. That blame is still in us. God help us to look to the Lord Jesus and have our hearts and our minds cleansed because when we start blaming, our hearts and minds are still dirty. They're not cleansed. And they were in such a terrible state, the army. There was about 600 of them. They took up stones and they were going to kill David, stone him to death.

The rumor had started. Look out for those ungodly rumors. People talk about what they don't know what they're talking about, but they can spread insanity, spiritual insanity, and hurt others. Not the person they're trying to blame, but they hurt others. People say, "Why should I go to that church if that's what's going on?" Friend, we're called to disciple and reach people and bring them into the church. But how many of us have let something happen and then we let it go and blame?

And so David did what he needed to do. He prayed. He went to God. He asked God for help. He asked God, "What shall I do?" Friend, when you're weak and you know you're weak, you're really strong. Come on, say "Amen." When you're weak and you know you're weak, and that weakness directs you to God, you're really strong now in the Lord.

We need to nurture our relationship with God through prayer and thanksgiving, like we're doing this morning. We need to nurture our relationship with the Word. We need to nurture our relationship with one another and stop blaming. God help us and deliver us that we might truly be the people of God, the light of the world, the salt of the earth. He'll deliver us. He'll help us.

The scripture says in Psalm, listen: rest in safety under the shadow of Your wings. Jesus said as the hen gathers its chicks under its wings, so I want to gather you. So if you're hurting today, just run to Jesus. Run to Jesus. Let Him just put His arms about you, hold you, comfort you, bless you. He'll do that.

When David prayed, "What shall I do, Lord?" the Lord said, "Pursue the Amalekites. Don't turn your back on them. Face them, rebuke them, bring them down. You can do it." He only had 600 men, and 200 of them were so weak from the other battle, they couldn't keep up with him. So now he ends up with 400. But he goes after the Amalekites to get his wives and children and goods that were taken away.

Friend, the devil knows how to take away. He knows how to steal. He knows how to bring loss into your health, into your finances, into your relationships. The devil knows how to do this. But God knows how to restore. Amen? God knows how to restore. And today, this morning, He's going to restore whatever the enemy has taken away if you look to Him and trust Him. He's here to do just that.

The scripture says in verse six, "David found strength," or "encouraged himself in the Lord his God." The word "strength" and the word "courage" are the same Hebrew word. It can be translated either way. If you take different versions of the Bible and read it, some of them have the word "encourage" in it, some of them have the word "strength" in it. But courage gives strength. And he encouraged himself in the Lord, and he went and won and brought back all the wives and children and all the goods. He won over the enemy.

But he prayed, and God answered prayer. You see, friends, help comes when we know we're helpless. Did you hear that? Help comes when we know we're weak. But I'll tell you, there are some Christians who think that nothing can bring them down. They've been saved so long, and they're stalwart. They know what is right, they know what is wrong, and they're quick to point out what is wrong. Not so quick to point out what is right.

Friend, come on, let's be honest with ourselves. God has come today to bless and to heal and to bring courage. And when courage comes, strength comes. Now, weakness is not a bad thing. David knew he was weak. David knew that he was no match for the Amalekites. And when 200 left him and wouldn't go with him—friend, there's always some that are ready to leave, to go somewhere else, to get their spiritual strength someplace else. No, friend, it's to the throne of grace we go. That's where our honor, our strength, our help is, at the throne of God's grace. And that's where David went.

And David followed the direction of the Lord. And the scripture says this: "Find rest, oh my soul. Find rest, oh my soul. In God alone, my hope comes from Him. My hope comes from Him." And in that time of weakness, look at verse six again. Let me read the whole verse. "David was greatly distressed because the men were talking about stoning him. Each one was bitter in spirit." God give us a sweet spirit, because of his sons and daughters. "But David found strength in the Lord, in the Lord, in the Lord."

We went through the book of Philippians and repeatedly Paul kept saying "in the Lord," "in the Lord," "in the Lord." And here, way back hundreds and hundreds of years before the book of Philippians, David is finding strength in the Lord. Friends, it's in the Lord. It's in the Lord.

The Apostle Paul said, listen to what Paul said. Paul says, "I delight in weakness." Now, that sounds rather strange. That's very paradoxical. We want to be strong. We want a strong church. We want a strong republic. We want a strong nation. Strength, strength, strength, strength. David said, "I delight in weakness. For when I am weak, then am I strong." Because his weakness drove him to God.

Let your weakness, whatever is going on, whatever the trouble, whatever the conflict, whatever it is, let it take you to the Lord. Propel you to Jesus. "For when I am weak, then am I strong." And so Paul said, "I delight in my weakness," because it keeps me on my knees. Friend, you can't figure it out on your own. I can't either. None of us can.

But David was successful. Who was it that said, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"? Remember reading that somewhere or hearing that in a sermon? "I can do all things"—not because I know better or I'm strong—"I can do all things through Christ," regardless if you were just saved ten minutes ago. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." The enemy was defeated, strength renewed, confidence restored, inspired.

Jesus cannot lose a battle. I'm going to close. Jesus can't lose a battle. If He is in you, Jesus can't lose a battle. Do you get the connection? If Jesus is in you, He's not going to lose a battle. But when you recognize Him, His strength, His power, His presence will come forth. He cannot lose a battle. Now, it appeared at Gethsemane and at Calvary that Jesus lost the battle. It might appear that you are losing the battle. For three days, it looked like Jesus had lost.

All His disciples thought He lost. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus thought He'd lost. They went to get the body of Jesus and bury it and embalm it. And Jesus was saying, "Don't you guys remember Me telling you I was going to come forth? Leave My body alone. I'm going to resurrect it." No, they prepared it for a long time of keeping it from decay. That's what they were doing.

Jesus came back three days later. Friend, I don't know where you are in your battle, but look to the Lord. You're too weak, I'm too weak. We're not going to make it on our own. But there is one. His name is Jesus. Come on, say His name is Jesus. And He's with you always, and His spirit is in your heart, and you are going to be a winner because Jesus is not going to be defeated.

Wherever Jesus is, He's not going to be defeated, and if He's in you, you're not going to be defeated. You will only be defeated when you forget who you are and who's in your heart. That's why you need to cultivate and nurture that relationship. Keep bringing it up, keep talking to yourself about it, keep singing about it, keep in the house of the Lord with God's people, keep the Word of God, stay on your knees, keep that relationship intact. Keep it strong. You're going to go forward in the Lord and be greatly blessed in God.

God cares for you, friend. Be encouraged. When Jesus walked on the water—this is about the fourth time I've mentioned that story. But when Jesus walked on the water and the disciples were afraid, they thought they saw a ghost. You know what He said? He said, "It is I. Be not afraid."

When they heard His voice, friend, I hope you've heard the voice of God this morning. I hope you have. When I started talking to Bill Hopkins yesterday, he was limp. I said, "Bill, it's Pastor Morris of the Largo Community Church." He started moving. The nurse said, "He recognizes your voice." Friend, did you recognize the voice of God in your life this morning?

How many times Corinne has been... it looked like she was asleep. Her eyes were closed. And I'd go over and I'd say, "Corinne." Boom, her eyes would open up like that. The aide said, "She recognizes your voice." Friend, hear the Word of God. Oh, in the Lord's name, if you hear His voice, Jesus said this: "It is I." Oh, they heard that voice. They'd heard it before.

I heard it the other day when I started singing and the Lord said, "Go get something to eat." I knew that was God talking to me. I recognized His voice. I felt a strength and a confidence to do something. Dear God, help us to do something. And that "do something" is to listen to His voice, to obey it. He's talking, and I believe someone here today heard His voice. I truly believe that.

I talked with Lloyd Tucker yesterday also after I came from the hospital, went back home, went into my office, called Lloyd. And Lloyd told me how well he's doing. He's even driving the car now. Even driving the car. He's still having a feeder on. He can't come to church yet. He has to be very careful because his white corpuscles are down. That means he's very receptive to any kind of virus at all. But he sounds strong. He's nurtured that relationship at a distance, but he wants to be here.

Oh, would to God that more people would want to be here, to be together, to worship the Lord, to sing His praises. Lloyd's coming. I rejoice with him. And then I called him back. I said, "Lloyd, what kept you going?" He said, "Pastor, I look back." Now, this is what John Ehrlich said. He said, "I need to stop looking back." But he said, "I look back and I remembered, I focused on what God had done for me." He said, "In the last seven years, I've had a heart attack, I've had COVID, I've had blood clots."

He had four things. He said in seven years, just one right after another. And he said God healed me of every one of those. One, two, three, four. And he said every time I look back and remembered I got healed of a heart attack, I worship the Lord. I got healed of COVID, I worship the Lord. I got healed of the blood clots, I worship the Lord. I only look back to worship. I only look back to remember what God has already done and that I worship Him.

He said, "Tell the people I love them. Tell them I'm coming as quickly as I can get there." But he said, "I'm watching on the streaming. I'm still with you, Pastor. I'm still with the church." Praise the Lord. How are you doing, friends? The sermon is over, at least on my part. But I hope it's not over on your part. I hope you're taking the Word. You've heard the voice of God. Jesus said, "It is I." Oh, they'd heard that voice before.

And this is what He said, and I'm closed now. He said, "Take courage." That means you've got to do something. You've got to reach out and take it. It's here for you. Prayer is here for you, the church is here for you, the Word is here for you, the hymns are here for you. It's all here. You've got to take it, and then you're going to be encouraged regardless of what's going on. You're going to win the battle. And everybody says "Amen." Would you bow with me, please?

Praise be to God. Thank You, Father, for Your care for Your children. We have been redeemed, and we celebrate redemption. We celebrate the one who redeemed us. We celebrate Jesus who shed His blood and bought us with that blood. We rejoice in Jesus our Savior. Thank You, Lord, for these dear ones here this morning and those who are streaming. Bless us, minister to us. We celebrate Jesus.

We need You, we need the church, we need the Word, we need one another. We're weak, but when I'm weak, I'm strong when I turn to Jesus. Friend, did you hear His voice today? I'm going to wait while you pray. While I pray, talk to Him about your situation. Let your weakness propel you to Jesus. Go quickly. Go now. Jesus is here to help you. "It is I. Take courage."

Thank You, Father God, for being our Father. You are Abba Father, our beloved Father. And we thank You. Oh, we thank You. Welcome Him into your family, the family of God, the church of Jesus Christ, the church that Jesus is building. We're thankful we're part of Your kingdom. We're thankful that we have hope within us. We thank You, Lord. In Jesus, there's life forevermore. Lord, we're taking courage today. You have lifted us, and we give You thanks. We give You praise in our Savior's name. Amen. Amen.

Guest (Male): You can find strength and encouragement in the Lord. Reach out to Him and He will answer you, providing the strength and encouragement you need to win your battle.

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