PURSUE, OVERTAKE AND RECOVER ALL

 

1 Samuel 30: 1-31 (KJV)

¹ And it came to pass, when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had invaded the south, and Ziklag, and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire;² And had taken the women captives, that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. ³ So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. ⁴ Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. ⁵ And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. ⁶ And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. ⁷ And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David. 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. ⁹ So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those that were left behind stayed. ¹⁰ But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred abode behind, which were so faint that they could not go over the brook Besor. ¹¹ And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David, and gave him bread, and he did eat; and they made him drink water; ¹² And they gave him a piece of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk any water, three days and three nights. ¹³ And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite; and my master left me, because three days agone I fell sick. ¹⁴ We made an invasion upon the south of the Cherethites, and upon the coast which belongeth to Judah, and upon the south of Caleb; and we burned Ziklag with fire. ¹⁵ And David said to him, Canst thou bring me down to this company? And he said, Swear unto me by God, that thou wilt neither kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee down to this company. ¹⁶ And when he had brought him down, behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth, eating and drinking, and dancing, because of all the great spoil that they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Judah. ¹⁷ And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men, which rode upon camels, and fled. ¹⁸ And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. ¹⁹ And there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoil, nor any thing that they had taken to them: David recovered all. ²⁰ And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil. ²¹ And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. ²² Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. ²³ Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the Lord hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. ²⁴ For who will hearken unto you in this matter? but as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. ²⁵ And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day. ²⁶ And when David came to Ziklag, he sent of the spoil unto the elders of Judah, even to his friends, saying, Behold a present for you of the spoil of the enemies of the Lord; ²⁷ To them which were in Bethel, and to them which were in south Ramoth, and to them which were in Jattir, ²⁸ And to them which were in Aroer, and to them which were in Siphmoth, and to them which were in Eshtemoa, ²⁹ And to them which were in Rachal, and to them which were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to them which were in the cities of the Kenites, ³⁰ And to them which were in Hormah, and to them which were in Chorashan, and to them which were in Athach, ³¹ And to them which were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were wont to haunt.

 

Introduction

 

This month, we are looking at ACCELERATION. To accelerate means to move faster, to move up, to speed up, to hurry up, to gain faster, to drive faster, to gain momentum. Someone who needs to accelerate could be someone who was moving and suddenly stopped. He could also be someone who is moving, but not at the pace he is supposed to be at. It could also be that they are moving, but not advancing, not moving forward, or even moving backwards.

 

To accelerate means to move with divine speed which means to move at God’s own timing – if you are moving at God’s speed, you are never late. If you run ahead of God, you will run endlessly and wear yourself out, but if run on His shoulders or beside Him, you will run at His pace, when there is a problem, He will shield and protect you.

 

In the text, we see that David PURSUED. To PURSUE means to follow, chase, continue or proceed along a path, go after, seek, persevere or persist. Sometimes for us to really accelerate, we need to have a persevering spirit, we need to be consistent. We cannot get discouraged, otherwise, we will be so demoralized that we are unable to move.

 

To OVERTAKE is to get past someone, to pull ahead, to come suddenly upon something or someone. Joseph had a vision at the age of seventeen, but waited thirteen years for the fulfilment of the vision. It was as if he went backwards from being a prince who his father loved to a slave. His coat of many colors, the symbol of his father’s love, was torn, he was thrown into a pit and sold into slavery. Finally he got to Potiphar’s house and Potiphar’s wife came after him to lay with her, when he refused and ran away, she lied against him, and he was thrown into prison. At God’s own timing, when God remembered him and brought him out, he became a Prime Minister and was taken to the palace. Overnight he overtook everyone, including his brothers. There was divine speed, and he recovered all. If you experienced parental love as a child, but now things have changed, learn from Joseph’s story.

 

 

What causes loss?

Why was David attacked in the first place? In 1 Samuel 27, we see that because he was being pursued by Saul, he not only went to the Philistines, but aligned with them against his own people. He went to fight his own people, so when he went, the Amalekites had who had been moving from place to place destroying cities, arrived at Ziklag and took everything.

 

Your location, covenants, partnerships and sin, could be the causes of your delay or losses.

 

David was in the camp of the enemy, he entered into partnership with them and was willing to fight for them. David was in the wrong place, and he had a wrong partnership, that was why when he went out with his men, the Amalakites struck. They took away everything that David had.

 

Your location determines your allocation. Before you talk about accelerating, you need to first understand where you are. Before you talk about divine speed, what platform are you using to move?

 

When God called Abraham, he took Lot along and in doing so, brought problems along. At some point, Lot’s men and Abraham’s men started having problems, and Abraham realised that they had to separate. Lot claimed the choicest areas and left but in reaffirming his covenant, God gave Abraham even the areas that Lot had claimed for himself (Genesis 13:14-18). But it was not until Abraham had separated himself from Lot, that God now gave this full revelation.

 

If you are in wrong partnership, until that partnership is dissolved, you cannot move forward – God says, come out from among them, be separate, so I can bless you, make a covenant and establish it with you.

 

In Numbers 16:23-33, Dothan, Koran and Abiram rebelled against Moses. Moses asked people to separate themselves from these men and their families and immediately the early opened up and swallowed them.  Anyone who remained on their side out of ignorance became part of the collateral damage! Some people in life are where they are because they are with the wrong people, and they have been affected by collateral damage.

 

2 Corinthians 6:14-18

¹⁴ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. ¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Please reflect on what kind of partnerships do you have. That partnership can cost you moving forward, that covenant can make you stagnant, it can open you up to the attack of the Amalekites, because the Amalekites come to kill and to destroy.

 

What is your reaction to loss?

David and his men where in a state of despair. When they came and saw the damage that had been done, they lifted up their faces and they wept until they had no more power to weep.

 

Maybe you are depressed and have wept, see that you are not alone. Crying is not weakness.

 

These men who had left everything and followed David, who had fought and won battles alongside him, could not take this pain and decided to stone their leader!

 

2 Corinthians 4:8-18 (KJV)

⁸ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹ Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; ¹⁰ Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. ¹¹ For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. ¹² So then death worketh in us, but life in you. ¹³ We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak; ¹⁴ Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you. ¹⁵ For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. ¹⁶ For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; ¹⁸ While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

After weeping, what do you do? You need to move do forward. It is good to weep. Do not be ashamed of appearing helpless before your God, remember He sees your heart. But do not weep out of hopelessness. As you weep, you know that you have somebody out there who has got your back, it doesn’t matter how bad things have gone. He is the Almighty God, He is able to restore.

 

Psalm 30:5-7 (KJV)

⁵ For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. ⁶ And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved. ⁷ Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my mountain to stand strong: thou didst hide thy face, and I was troubled.

 

God has capacity to restore.

David had lost everything, but he realized that only God can restore.

 

David took stock and realized that he could not do things the same way he had done them before. He could no longer operate in his own wisdom – he had to go to God.

 

There is a saying, that it is only a mad man who does the same thing over and over again, and yet expects a different result. When you have done the same thing over and over again and there is no change, check yourself, take stock, ask yourself, am I in the right place? What am I not doing right? Am I actually serious with God? Some people feel that they are doing God a big favour coming to church to worship Him. Some people are only willing to spend one hour in church. Where are you going to after just an hour? Ask yourself, have I been faithful? Have I been consistent? Have I been faithful in small things? If you are not faithful in small things, how can God accelerate you? God will not multiply iniquity, he will not multiply what is wrong, if somebody is living in sin, not doing the right thing, and he is saying, give me divine speed, it is like giving a five-year-old a sports car to drive, what will happen? He will receive speed, but he will crash.

The bible says that at that moment that everybody abandoned him, David encouraged himself in the Lord.

 

Psalm 9:9-10 (KJV)

⁹ The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. ¹⁰ And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.

 

Joel 2:25 (KJV)

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.

David had gotten to that point that he had lost everything, but he encouraged himself in the lord.

 

Psalm 20 vs 6-8 (KJV)

⁶  Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. ⁷  Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lordour God. ⁸  They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.

 

Proverbs 3:5-8 (KJV)

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. ⁶ In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ⁷ Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

 

Who are your counselors?

David spoke to the priest Abijah. When you have issues, who do you go to? To people that will lead you to God and increase your faith, or people that will worsen your case? David could have gone to Joab and devised a battle strategy, but he went to the priest, somebody who was not part of the battle plan. It is important who you talk with, who you share your problem with. Joseph shared his vision with his brothers, but they were the wrong people, they tried to kill him for his vision. When you are going through that problem, who do you talk to? Some of us are where we are because we are still talking to the wrong people. Who are you communicating with, who are you discussing your problem with? Most of the people you tell your problem to are laughing at you. David went to the priest.

 

Iron sharpeneth iron. If you carry your problem and go and give the person who will not help you, the person will help further, pull you down.

 

Proverbs 11:14 (KJV)

Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

 

Be careful who you talk to. The enemy will cause the problem and then send his agents to come and give you plan that will not work, a plan that will put you further into trouble. The enemy is smart, full of wisdom (Ezekiel 28:11-19), but he has corrupted wisdom, while we operate with divine wisdom, which is superior.

 

Be Deliberate

David enquired of the Lord, and when he enquired, he was very deliberate.

 

David was specific, he asked, shall I pursue after this people? He was specific, he asked again, shall I overtake? Some people would have started running immediately they heard “pursue” but pursuing does not mean that you will overtake the person!

 

David was deliberate, he asked, am I going to be victorious? When you come before God, be specific. It is not wrong to ask God questions; you are not challenging His authority or His divinity. If you don’t understand, go to God and tell Him, God, I don’t understand what is going on, show me the way the way out of this. That your plan, first of all, did you get it from God, did you run it by Him, or you have done all your planning without God, and you now say, God, give me acceleration? What if that plan is going to lead you into the valley, and God gives you acceleration, that means you should move faster in to the problem. Paul said in Corinthians that foolishness of God is wiser that than the best wisdom of man, so that your best made plan, if it is not of God, it is foolishness.

 

Trust God

When God said pursue, he did not tell him the direction.

 

How many divine instructions have you received, and yet fear has paralyzed you? The Philistines were strong and burnt down Israel when they carried the ark, and here David would have to contend with Amalekites, stronger than the Philistines themselves. Fear could have paralyzed David, but he did not allow it to.

 

When you receive divine instruction, act on it, even if it does not make sense, looks impossible, or even if it is going to humble you. Some of us have been paralyzed by fear, God has told you, leave that job, but you are like, if I leave the job, how will I survive? If God has told you to leave the job, He has already made a provision somewhere to sustain you. God says, leave that relationship, and you are saying, I have known this man for ten years, if I leave, who will accept me? But God is saying, walk away from that covenant, from that partnership, I am not in it. If God has said come out, you have to. It might be painful initially, but God will make a way.

 

David did not even know where they were going, and after a while, two hundred men were so weak they could not continue.

 

And then God brought then to an Egyptian servant. Watch out for divine helpers. God will not come down physically to help you, He is going to use somebody somewhere to solve that problem. Why do you think the Egyptian servant fell sick? God had told his servant David to go, He needed somebody that would help him. Sometimes we think our divine helper is someone better than us. Meanwhile, he could be someone we feel we are better than! Naman was a general, but his divine helper was a maid in his house! Your divine helper might not be the person you expect it to be! Some helpers will actually need your help first. David’s divine helper did not look like one. He was sick and hungry and David could have left him to die. Thank God that he did not.

 

Hebrews 13:2 (KJV) Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

 

When you receive divine instruction, even if it does not make sense, act on it. That is the pathway to acceleration and divine speed.

 

Exodus 19:5 (KJV) Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:

 

…if you will obey me.

 

Until you put your leg into the Jordan, the Jordan will not part. When the Israelites as they were trying to cross over to the Promised Land, the bank of the Jordan had overflown and there was water everywhere, yet God said, cross. As the priest that were carrying the ark of covenant put their feet into the water, it parted and they crossed over on dry land. Step out! Leave your comfort zone and move to God’s zone, it might not be easy, but God’s zone is the place in which you will receive divine speed.

 

Isaiah 1:19-20 (KJV) If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:n20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.

 

If you are willing and obedient, you will receive acceleration, you will cross into what God has done kept for you.

 

Victory

David and his men smote the enemy, and they recovered all without fail.

 

Exodus 14:14-16

¹⁴ The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. ¹⁵ And the Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: ¹⁶ But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.

 

God said you will hold your peace and he will fight the battle. In the battle of life, if you try to fight yourself, you will lose. David went, he fought, and he had victory, it wasn’t because of him, God had already given assurance and the elements, the angels aided him to be victorious. They didn’t lose any man and everybody came back intact, that is divine victory.

 

Finally when they got home, they had too much spoil. David divided the spoil, sharing even to the men who were too tired to go into the recovery battle. He even sent to Judah his hometown. When God brings you to that place you want him to bring you, it is not for your selfish use alone, it is for the people that He is going to position around you to help.

 

When God gives you divine speed, be sure to share your good fortune with others.