Strengthening Ourselves in the Lord Our God

By Don Gommesen

How well do you handle uncertainty? Most of us do not handle it well. Yet, we all live in a very uncertain world. We never know what tomorrow will bring, exuberant joy or excruciating sorrow. As much as we want to believe we are in control of our lives, in our heart of hearts we know we actually control very little. What do we do to cope? How do we find the strength to carry on?

David, the man after God’s own heart, drew strength from God Himself. He knew how to strengthen Himself in the LORD his God. This book is an exploration of what it means to find divine strength in the most impossible situations. The ability to strengthen ourselves in the Lord is not a skill reserved for the spiritually elite or hidden to all but the especially enlightened. God wants all of His children to know how to strengthen themselves in Him and to make it a daily practice in their lives. This book is a tool to help us in the process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Don Gommesen
• Release date: Mar 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311191588

Don Gommesen

Dr. Don has over thirty-six years of Pastoral experience. He and his wife planted churches with Galilean Baptist Mission for twelve years (3 churches) and Don served as Senior Pastor in three other churches. He is currently the Senior Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Lansing, Michigan. He studied at Michigan State University, Moody Bible Institute, Cornerstone University, Luther Rice Seminary and Greenwich University. He holds a BA, an MA, and a Ph.D. His Ph.D. is in history and historical theology. He loves his wife. He likes baking his internationally acclaimed flax seed muffins (Kathy and he said good things about them while traveling across Canada), and spending time with his wife, four children, and four grandchildren.

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Strengthening Ourselves in the Lord Our God

Don Gommesen

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 Donald Gommesen

Formatting and cover design by Rossano Designs

Smashwords License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Chapter One: David and the Burned Out City – 2 Samuel 30

Chapter Two: When I am Afraid – Psalm 56:1–13

Chapter Three: The Lord is My Light and My Salvation – Psalm 27:1-6

Chapter Four: Hear, O LORD – Psalm 27:7-14

Chapter Five: I Shall See God – Job 19:23-27

Chapter Six: Jacob’s Pity Party Lessons from Genesis 42

Chapter Seven: Hope in the Midst of Sorrow – Lamentations 3:21-25

Chapter Eight: Habakkuk’s Reality Check – Habakkuk 1:12-17

Chapter Nine: Tower One--The Just shall live by Faith – Habakkuk 2:1-4

Chapter Ten: Tower Two--The Glory of the Lord Covering the Earth – Habakkuk 2:13-14

Chapter Eleven: The Third Tower – Habakkuk 2:18-20

Chapter Twelve: Habakkuk’s Hymn – Habakkuk 3:1-19

Chapter Thirteen: Jehoshaphat and the Impossible Situation – 2 Chronicles 20:1-12

Chapter Fourteen: Hezekiah Strengthens the People – 2 Chronicles 32:1-8

Chapter Fifteen: What Mean These Stones? – Joshua 4

Chapter Sixteen: Why Pray? – Jeremiah 33:1-3

Chapter Seventeen: Being Strengthened with Might in the Inner Person – Ephesians 3:16

Chapter Eighteen: That Christ May Dwell in Your Hearts by Faith - Ephesians 3:17

Chapter Nineteen: Knowing the Unknowable – Ephesians 3:17b - 19

Chapter Twenty: Being Filled with All the Fullness of God – Ephesians 3:19

Chapter Twenty-one: Preparing For Battle – Ephesians 6:10

Chapter Twenty-two: Weak and Thus Strong – 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

Chapter Twenty-three: An Anchor for Our Souls – Hebrews 6:16-20

Chapter Twenty-four: After You Have Suffered Awhile – 1 Peter 5:10

Chapter Twenty-five: The Importance of Me Too

About the Author

Introduction

Many folks proclaim, I have been to the mountain top. The truth for me is different. Praise God, (to praise Him for this has been exceedingly difficult to learn) I have been to the valley. Something was horribly awry that morning. I knew there was something wrong when I woke up. When I closed my left eye, three quarters of the vision in my right eye was black. I could only see through a small window at the top. The exceptional eyesight I took for granted for years was gone. The image on the computer screen of my mind was of me with a white cane, led by a Seeing Eye dog, and selling pencils from a cup. Corny, right? Not if it was happening to you. I was utterly terrified. Everything changed. In an instant my life was no longer my own. The fantasy of control over the events of my life dissipated and the carousel of doctors’ visits and hospital stays began.

Then, without warning the unthinkable happened. A spot appeared in my vision in the left eye, my good eye. The spot grew. Distortions morphed into defects in the picture. Soon my good eye was severely limited also. Terror did not begin to describe my fear. Once I could see, now I was rapidly becoming blind. The doctors were little help. Kathy and I heard the unrelenting chant. We don’t know what is going on. Obviously, it was time to turn to the God who is sovereign and unlike the doctors does know what was happening. It is much easier to say this than to consistently put things in the Father’s hands. To help me do this, I began to think about David the future king of Israel.

David survived many terrors and enjoyed countless triumphs. Most of his trials were more difficult and much greater than any we will ever experience. His trials make my troubles pale in comparison. David faced giants, ran from kings, hid in caves, suffered betrayal, and endured treachery. All the while, he learned to trust and to wait triumphantly and patiently on the LORD. As I studied, slowly, I began to understand what it might mean to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. Learning how to find comfort and peace as David did takes a lifetime to master. David knew how to draw strength from God’s presence. This discipline I hope to acquire, and I hope you want to learn it with me. That is why I wrote this book.

David, like many other people in the Bible, knew how to live, drawing strength from our unseen God and His promises. David applied this strength in the tightest corners of life. He knew how to reach out and take hold of God’s hand when the bottom fell out of his life. I pray these studies will help each of us learn how to do this also.

Our study will begin with a burned out city and a bone weary army at Ziklag. From there we will follow a path through David’s thinking. Along the way we will visit some important Bible people and learn from their own experience with the living God. Finally, we will explore a little of what the New Testament teaches us about drawing strength from God. Hopefully, what we learn will touch our lives. These are not esoteric secrets for elite Christians, but revealed truth written for each of us, the average believer, who lives to discover and practice the riches we have in Christ Jesus.

David and the Burned Out City – 2 Samuel 30

Chapter One

"Was that smoke? Did I actually see smoke?" Some in David’s army knew something was terribly wrong when they saw the smoke clouds rising over the rubble of Ziklag. What cascaded through their heads when David and his men reached the smoldering heap that once was the city? 1 Samuel 30 records the story. David’s army exhausted, tired, and hungry from the long hard journey home came upon the scene.

When they quit Aphek just days before, David and his men were a tightly knit military unit marching briskly home to Ziklag. Along the way, heavy legs and sore, cramping, muscles slowed their pace and loosened their ranks. Images of home and family drove them forward.

Just a matter of days before, David and his army had marched to Aphek, not wanting to be there at all. Summoned to muster with the Philistines to invade Israel, they obeyed reluctantly. How could they attack King Saul and the Israelites? They couldn’t, yet, there appeared no way to avoid the battle.

David and his army had been in Philistia for better than a year. Because of Saul’s relentless pursuit, David fled Judah and allied himself and his men with the Philistines. David’s decision, which looked so good at the time, turned out very badly. Unforeseen consequences found them included in the Philistine invasion force.

The trouble, which put David in this difficult place, began many years before. David, Jesse’s youngest son, propped up against a rock in the fields around Bethlehem, watched vigilantly over his father’s sheep. This day was like every other day, until David’s next older brother suddenly appeared trudging across the open field. Frustration written on his face, defeat in his step, David’s brother hadn’t even taken time to change into work clothes. His very best robe soiled by the long walk in the fields hung about him. David’s presence was required at the feast for Samuel the prophet of God. His brother was there to take his place watching the sheep.

What did that mean? Was he in trouble? David did not know. Many questions flashed across his mind, but he could come up with no satisfying answers. Losing no time, David ran back to the city. At last, David burst into the place of the sacrifice. The old man Samuel, prophet of the LORD, saw him and welcomed him to the feast. David stood out. His brothers and Dad all dressed in their best. David, his cheeks rosy from his run, still wore his shepherd’s work clothes smelling like the sheep and the fields. Still, Samuel didn’t seem to mind. The august old man took a huge horn of oil and dumped it out over David’s unkempt hair. The oil rushed over him and soaked his robe and the floor around him. You are the LORD’s anointed. Samuel announced. You will be the next king in Israel.

From this moment on, the blessings and troubles began. The blessings were wonderful. God opened doors for young David. Somehow, Saul’s servant heard David playing in the fields. Because of this servant’s recommendation, David became King Saul’s musical therapist. He stayed part of the year in the King’s household, learning about the palace and the king’s court. The rest of the year, he lived at home and surprisingly still shepherded the family flock. With his anointing, he could have pushed that job off on one of his brothers, but he didn’t. At times Samuel’s prophecy seemed distant.

Then unexpectedly David found himself thrust into the national spotlight. His discovery happened when he battled the nine foot nine inch giant, Goliath of Gath. While Saul cowered in his tent, Goliath humiliated Israel’s army and Israel’s God. David, only a shepherd boy, thought too young to go to battle, boldly took on the battle hardened Goliath. God gave David a great victory over the giant. Israel’s army, emboldened by David’s courage, routed the entire Philistine army. Israel found her great champion in David.

As high as the divine blessings built him up, troubles tore him down. The celebration after the Goliath triumph infuriated King Saul. Saul has killed his thousands, David his ten-thousands, or so the chorus sang. This chant, while great fun at the moment, haunted David’s life. Even the Philistines would hurl it at David when he first sought refuge anonymously in Gath. Jealous and unstable, King Saul plotted to kill David.

David, once a hero, became a hunted man. His life was not easy. Running from the king, the forces of Israel, and certain death, David could trust no one. Not even those he rescued in Keilah would stand by him in his need. Saul’s spies swarmed everywhere. No place was safe for long. Fear became his ever-present companion. His stress points were off the chart. As David confessed to Jonathan, he was always one step from death.

Running from Saul brought David to Philistia. His decision to be allied with the enemy brought he and his army to the mustering point at Aphek. Then God turned the hopeless dilemma into a momentary victory. The Philistine kings, who trusted David’s band with part of their land, would not trust David and his renegades with their unprotected backs in the heat of battle. Thus, the kings sent David and his band of misfit Hebrews home.

David and his men marched home with great hope. But they arrived in disappointment. Instead of happy families welcoming them back, David and his men found a burned out city. The smoldering ashes of Ziklag consumed all that mattered to them, or so they thought at first glance. Everything they possessed, loved, and lived for was gone. No comfortable homes, no loving wives, no boisterous children, no peace awaited them. Instead, they found only heartbreak, pain, and emptiness. These battle hardened veterans wept openly. They sobbed in agony. The writer in 1 Samuel wrote David and his men wept till there was no more strength to weep.

Some are prone to read this text intellectually and to forget that David and his men lived through it. Ziklag was a real city. The pain of loss was crushing pain. David faced real, life threatening danger. This was an insurmountable problem.

"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." (1 Samuel 30:1–3)

Faced with this stark reality, we read two things these broken men did. Both are understandable. First, they cried until there were no more tears to cry. Second, in their despair, they began to talk about killing David. No doubt they wondered, Did the invaders know of their secret attacks on their people, the Amalekites? Did the raiders destroy Ziklag in retaliation? The writer of I Samuel records these marauders invaded other cities including an entire area of the country, suggesting this was not the case. However, David’s men did not know this fact. They only knew their whole lives were in ashes. Emotional pain and exhaustion make rational thought hard to come by. If David led them in these raids, surely he was responsible for this tragedy. Therefore they thought, "Let us get rid of David and our troubles will