Finding Strength in Times of Trouble

1 Samuel 30:6 · Sermon by Martin Ward · Life & Truth Missions · Sunday 25 October 2026

Key Scriptures: 1 Samuel 30:1–19 · Psalm 118:6 · 2 Corinthians 5:8 · Psalm 23:4 · Acts 21:13 · Philippians 1:21 · Luke 18:1 · Psalm 42:11 · Hebrews 13:5 · Psalm 9:9; 32:7; 37:39 · Psalm 46:1 · Psalm 91:14–15

Before You Listen

This Sunday our brother Martin Ward brought the teaching, and I want to share it with you because it's a message I needed to hear.

Picture coming home to find your town burned to the ground. Your house is gone. Your wife and children are gone, and you don't know if they're alive or dead. Then the men who stood beside you in battle turn on you and start talking about stoning you.

That is where David was in 1 Samuel 30, and that's where Martin took us. David and his men came back to Ziklag on the third day and found that the Amalekites had raided it, burned it with fire and carried off everyone in it. "Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep" (1 Samuel 30:4).

Then comes the verse the whole message is built on: "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" (1 Samuel 30:6).

Martin made the point that no other man could comfort David that day. His army couldn't, and his own men were the ones threatening him. The comfort he needed could only come from God, and that's where he went.

We all have days like that. It might be our families or our health, or it might be the state of the world. We see the violence and the wars and we wonder what's coming next and whether our own families will be safe. Martin reminded us that Jesus called these things the beginning of birth pains. It isn't going to get easier, and that's why the church needs to be equipped.

As you listen, keep one question in front of you: when trouble comes, where do I go first?

After You've Listened — Recap & Application

1. Fear doesn't have to run your life

Martin called fear the biggest problem most of us carry, like a disease we all walk around with. When we give in to it, it changes how we live, how we think and what we focus on, until it takes over.

The Bible says we don't have to live that way. "The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?" (Psalm 118:6).

For many people the deepest fear is death. We touched on this at Bible study on Friday too. Paul takes the sting out of it: we are "willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). While we live, we serve God. If the worst happens and we die, we're with the Lord. As Martin put it, it doesn't get any worse than that for the believer, so why fear it?

That doesn't mean we get careless or walk into danger. It means we can trust God even when things frighten us. David never said he would avoid the valley. He said, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me" (Psalm 23:4). God's presence made the difference.

Paul knew that following Christ was dangerous. On the way to Jerusalem he was warned he'd be bound and handed over, and his friends wept and begged him not to go. His answer: "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus" (Acts 21:13). Paul wasn't saying his life didn't matter. He trusted God more than he feared what might happen to him. "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21).

2. David prayed, and then he acted

So how did David encourage himself in the Lord? First, he prayed. "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" (1 Samuel 30:8).

David could have collapsed and given up. He didn't. He asked God what to do next, and as soon as he had the answer, he acted on it.

Martin asked us to be honest here, and I felt this one. How often do we do the opposite? A problem comes and we carry it for hours or days, trying to sort it out ourselves, before we ever bring it to the Lord. We don't have to hold it for a minute. Jesus said "that men ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Luke 18:1). We may not get an answer to every question straight away. But we can ask Him for the wisdom, the strength and the guidance to take the next step while we wait.

3. David spoke to his own soul

In the Psalms, David asks himself a question: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God" (Psalm 42:11).

He was talking to his own heart. In effect he was saying: why am I so discouraged? Why have I lost hope? I must put my trust in God. He felt troubled, and he reminded himself that he still had reason to hope.

Sometimes we pray and the problem is still there. Answers can take time, and sometimes we have to walk through a hard season before we see the change. In that season, remind yourself who God is and what He has promised: "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). One line of Martin's has stayed with me: discouragement sets in when we look at the problem and forget to look at God. We look at our own strength and say, "This is too much for me." But what's too much for God? Nothing.

4. God is a refuge in trouble, not a guarantee against it

David knew what it was to be afraid and to face things that seemed impossible, and he wrote again and again about God's protection:

• "The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble" (Psalm 9:9).
• "Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble" (Psalm 32:7).
• "But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble" (Psalm 37:39).
• "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).

Notice what the Bible doesn't say. It never promises that God's people won't face trouble. It promises that He is with us when we do. "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him" (Psalm 91:15).

So we don't have to pretend everything is fine or put on a smile and say there's no suffering. God already knows what we feel inside. He wants us to bring it to Him.

5. "David recovered all"

Read on to verses 18 and 19. David followed the direction God gave him, and he got everything back: his two wives, the families, the goods. "There was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great... David recovered all" (1 Samuel 30:19).

Martin was careful here, and I appreciated it. We can't assume every loss in our lives will be resolved the way David's was. Sometimes God changes our circumstances. Sometimes He gives us strength to go through them. Either way, we can always seek Him. The God who answered David and guided him is the same God who is with us today.

Reflection Questions

1. When trouble comes, how long do you usually carry it on your own before you bring it to the Lord?
2. What fear has been shaping how you think, live or focus? What does Psalm 118:6 say to it?
3. David acted as soon as God answered him. Is there something God has already shown you that you haven't acted on?
4. What would it sound like for you to speak to your own soul the way David does in Psalm 42:11?
5. How does it change your prayers to know that God promises to be with you in trouble, rather than promising you a life without it?

Bottom Line

David lost everything at Ziklag, and his own men turned against him. He didn't stay in despair. He prayed, he spoke hope to his own soul, and he obeyed what God told him. When you don't know what tomorrow holds, don't throw in the towel and don't try to carry it alone. Encourage yourself in the Lord, because He is your refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version.