september 2013 • usps 184720 • volume 52 • number...

September 2013 • USPS 184720 • Volume 52 • Number 9

PA R T O N E

Part OneThis message could be subti-

tled: 10 Ways to React When Satan Attacks. To me, the Gospel is summed up in John 10:10 where Jesus said that Satan, the thief, cometh not, but to kill, and to steal, and to destroy men’s lives. But He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundant-ly.” He clearly laid out Satan’s agenda, and we are not ignorant in any way of his purposes. He’s a thief, and he wants to steal from you. It began in the Garden of Eden when he stole the dominion over the earth that God had given to Adam and Eve, and his agenda has not changed.

We should never be surprised by anything Satan does. We should never be blown over by his tactics, no matter how pernicious-ly he comes against us. We may not ever expect certain things to

come into our lives, but if they do, and we try to sit down and figure them out to understand why, we only get into natural reasoning which is self-defeative. The bot-tom line is, the devil hates us, and while he could not keep us from coming to the knowledge of the truth and surrendering our lives to the Lord, he will not give up his campaign to hinder us. He will seek to vex, harass, discourage, and deter us from fulfilling the work God has given us to do. If he cannot get us to go back into the world, then he will try to make it so that we are ineffective or not progressing in our Christian life, and to have us always playing catch-up.

There have been times in my life when I got knocked down, but thank God, the Scripture says, “We are cast down, but we are not destroyed” (2Cor.4:9). Somebody said, “We fall down, but we get

3

up.” I’m not talking about falling down into sin. I’m saying that sometimes the devil gets a blow in, and we are struck down. But we get back up!

The Heart of DavidWe will look at David’s life to

see how he reacted when he came under severe satanic attack. I love to study the life of David, because there is so much comfort in his words. He said in Psalm 45:1: “My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” He was ready to write, because he wrote what he lived, and he lived what he wrote. Out of the many traumas and trials of David’s life, he found that God is a Rock. He found that God never fails. He found God to be his everlasting portion of strength. He found God could comfort him when no human being could speak a word of comfort to his heart; when he felt utterly alone, and when he felt his enemy was too strong for him, God was there, an ever present help in time of trouble.

Many of David’s psalms actu-ally begin rather pitiful, and he is crying the blues, discouraged and downcast. But by the time you get to the last verse, he is exulting in God. He has already encouraged himself! He has already said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! I will not forget His benefits.”

When he didn’t know what else to do, he revisited the places of victory in his life, and this gave him strength for his current battle. One of those bleakest of times, when he had to encourage himself in the Lord, because all had for-saken him, was the terrible trage-dy at Ziglag.

“And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: There is nothing better for me than I should speedi-ly escape into the land of the Phi-listines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so I’ll escape out of his hand.

“And David arose, and he passed over with six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Car-melitess, Nabal’s wife. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.

“And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. And the time that

Z IGLAG: 10 WAYS TO REACT WHEN SATAN ATTACKS

4

David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months” (1Sam.27:1-7).

Saul’s Jealous Paranoia King Saul was insanely jeal-

ous of David, because after David killed Goliath, the people began to sing his praises. He became a national hero, but he remained loyal to Saul and looked up to him like a father. He really wanted no more than to please Saul, but because of his growing fame and favor with the people, an ole demon of jealousy got Saul’s heart, and he wanted to kill David. He tried no less than 21 times to murder David. It just didn’t make any sense why he was so para-noid. His own son, Jonathan, tried to reason with him that David loved him and would never betray him. He understood that David was not seeking any glory for himself.

He was a true warrior when nobody else would face Goliath. We certainly didn’t see Saul going out there to face him. No, Saul said, “Here David, put on my armor, and go for it if that’s what you want to do.” David was just a teenage shepherd, and all he had was his slingshot and five little stones, but he knew the Lord his God, because He had often deliv-ered him when he had to rescue the lambs out of the mouth of the lion, and out of the mouth of the bear and the wolf. David knew his

God, and to him Goliath was no more than a wolf, a lion, or a bear. And they were all the same to God. When David slew Goli-ath, his fame catapulted him into the national spotlight. Often whenever God elevates and pro-motes you, people will become jealous. They will seek ways to assassinate your character, or try to pull you down, or find some-thing negative to say about you.

David had become weary of playing this “cat and mouse game” with Saul, and he was tired of running for his life. One time when he had a chance to kill Saul and didn’t, he said to Saul, “Why are you hunting me down like an animal? What evil have I done to you?” Then Saul repented and said, “I’m sorry, David. I don’t mean it. You are right. Return, my son, and I will no more do you harm” (1Sam.26:18-21). Things would be okay for a short time, until the demon of jealousy would rise up again in Saul’s spirit, and he would pursue him again.

Finally David realized that as long as he was within the borders of Israel, Saul would never cease to hunt him down. Now it’s incredible to me that David would decide that the only way to get away from Saul was to flee to the land of the Philistines! Not only that, but he went to Achish, the king of Gath, and Gath was Goli-ath’s home town! David and his men were in the stronghold of


5

their enemy, and he appealed to Achish to let them stay there! You know God had to be in this! Why would Achish agree to let David stay there?

Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, and he turns it withersoever he will, as (he turns) the rivers of water.” God can make a wicked king do good to you, and so David and his 600 men were allowed ref-uge in Philistine territory.

If you don’t get rid of all the devil out of your life, you are always going to have a prick in your eye and a thorn in your side.

These 600 men were rough-and-ready guys that nobody else wanted around. They were sort of a bunch of rag-tag men, down on their luck, and nobody really cared for them. But David took those men, because he knew that if nothing else, they had strength; they had perseverance and a back-bone, and they became mighty warriors who looked up to him.

Ziglag: Enemy TerritoryDavid said to the king, “We

don’t need to dwell here in the royal city with you. If I have found grace in your eyes, give us a place somewhere in the country where we can stay.” I can imagine that

David felt like he was walking on a tight rope, because he knew that the Philistines were Israel’s ene-mies, and he had never, ever betrayed Israel. Being in the capi-tal city was just too close for com-fort! Achish agreed and gave them Ziglag. David and his wives and family, and all of the 600 men and their wives and families had their own community in Ziglag, and everything went well for sixteen months. David was free of Saul hounding him, and he was also far enough away from Achish that he couldn’t look over his shoulder to see what he was doing. Because during this time, David and his men began invading areas of the Canaanites, who were Israel’s oth-er enemies, whom God had com-manded Israel to destroy. Little by little, David and his men went into these areas where they would destroy the people and take their goods back to Ziglag. God told Moses and Joshua that when they went into the land to possess it, they were to slay those nations. (Num.33:51-56, Deut.7:1-5).

But they had not been obedi-ent and let many live, and God said, “Those you let remain shall be thorns in your sides and pricks in your eyes, and shall vex you in the land wherein you dwell.” This sounds pretty painful to me! If you don’t get rid of all the devil out of your life, you are always going to have a prick in your eye and a thorn in your side.


6

David was actually finishing the job that Israel should have done when they came into the land. He was free from Saul’s murderous attempts; he didn’t have Achish looking over him, and he was doing a work for God. This speaks a lot to me: David was in the hardest test of his life till then, in a situation where the devil said, “Look at you now! I’ve got you in a place where you don’t have liberty, and you’re run-ning for your life from Saul. You can’t go home anymore, and now you are on my territory!”

But even in the midst of this, David went out to slay the enemy and take the spoils, and little by little, they were getting richer. The Bible says that they did not let one person left alive, lest word should get back to Achish. And Achish trusted David, thinking that since he had taken refuge in the country of the Philistines, the people of Israel now hated him, so David would be his servant forev-er (1Sam.27:-12).

Everything was going along fine under the circumstances, until, and it was bound to happen, Israel went back to war with the Philistines. Then the princes of the Philistines came to Achish wanting him to expel David and his men, because they didn’t trust them not to join with Israel against them in battle. They were afraid if David and Saul recon-ciled, he would have great advan-

tage over them. But Achish did not buy it. He was assured of David’s loyalty, saying, “I have found no fault in him since the day he came to me.” But the princes pretty much said, “What? Are you crazy? Do you think that we are going to let David go to war with us against his own peo-ple?” Achish persisted: “You don’t have to worry about David. He’s on our side, and Saul is his enemy too, I trust him with my life.” They said, “Well, you may trust him, but we remember Goli-ath, and there’s no way: He is not going with us!”

I’m sure David tried his best to look very disappointed as Ach-ish was apologizing: “I’m sorry David, if it were up to me, you deserve to go, but the princes have out-voted me.” So David and his men said, “Okay, We will go back to Ziglag and wait for your return,” and no doubt with great relief to be off the hook, they did.

Attack on Ziglag They had been away from

Ziglag three days. Because the men had planned on going to war, they had left the city unprotected with the women and children there alone:

“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; And had


7

taken the women captives that were therein: they slew not any, either great or small, but carried them away, and went on their way. 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” (1Sam.30:1-3).

This had to be one of the bleakest days of David’s entire life, and I’m sure to that point, the worst day of his life. Returning home, even before they got to their camp, afar off they saw plumes of smoke rising up, and when they got to the city, it was utterly burned and destroyed. And there was no one there. All the women and children were gone. They had no way of knowing what happened to their wives and children and must have been in utter shock. But thank God, because He is a God of mercy, and ultimately He is in control, He did not let one of their wives or sons or daughters be slain.

Sometimes your husband or wife, your children or someone in your family may come under satanic attack, and you don’t understand it, and you surely don’t like it. You may even go to God and say, “Lord, what is up with this? I don’t understand what’s going on here,” but don’t spend a lot to time there, because this only fosters fear and unbelief. Realize that God is in control, and

the devil can’t go any further than He allows him to go. If you believe and trust in God, then look to God and say, “God, I trust You, and I know that it’s not just a Bible verse I’ve got marked with yellow highlighter, but I believe: All things (God) works together for good to them that love Him and are called according to His purpose!” (Rom.8:28).

They found the city burned and their loved ones gone: “Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more pow-er to weep. And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.

“And David was greatly dis-tressed; 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” (vv.4-6).

Whenever your family, your loved ones, your marriage, your kids, your finances, come under severe attack, you must decide. What are you going to do? How are you going to react when Satan attacks? Because your response can determine how long the attack will last, and how severe the attack will be. You can determine how great your victory will be, how great the spoils will be, by how you respond right then, in the


8

beginning. This is what David did:

1. Weep & Move OnWhat is the first thing we do

when something hits us hard? We are human beings, and we have emotions, and we can’t help it, so we cry. It’s okay to cry, it’s okay to weep. The Bible says, “There is a time to weep” (Ecc. 3:4). But there is a time to get up, dry your tears, and move on. It won’t do any good to stay in a pity party, so cry and cry, and get it all out. These were grown men who were warriors, hard, tough men. They weren’t accustomed to showing their emotions, but when they came home and everyone was gone, the Bible says that they wept until they could cry no more, until there were no more tears. I have been there—Have you?

I remember when I came under the first severe attack with my back, and the bottom fell out of everything. It created a ripple effect that affected everything in my life. I spent hours crying, day in and day out. I cried myself to sleep every night. I think I cried for a couple of years, because I was under such an unrelenting attack of physical pain and mental anguish, and I didn’t see a way out. I stayed under that thing until one day I came to the place that I realized, Where is this getting me? What is all this crying accom-

plishing? Absolutely nothing! There came a time when I had to get up and dry my tears, and say to myself: “Alright, you’ve cried enough to get it all out. Now it’s time to be strong in the Lord!”

“You can always look back and see all the places where you missed it, those would’ve, should’ve, and could’ve turning points.”

The first thing we all do is weep, but then you move on. You don’t park there. David said, “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morn-ing” (Ps.30:5).

2. Don’t Get BitterIf you allow yourself to stay in

a self-pity mode, you risk the dan-ger of becoming bitter. David’s men were so overtaken with their grief, everyone over his loss, that they became angry and bitter. When you get in this place, then you’ve got to find someone to blame. You want to lash out at someone, because it’s just too much for you to bear. You want to say, “If you hadn’t done that, if you hadn’t said this, and if that hadn’t happened…”

Oh my, I spent a long time in this boat too, and let me tell you,


9

it goes down just like the other one: They’re both sinking ships. You can revisit the “what-if” sce-nario all day long, but it’s never going to change anything. Hind-sight is the perfect science. You can always look back and see all the places where you missed it, those would’ve, should’ve, and could’ve turning points. That’s not going to help you now, so there’s no point in sitting there, having a pity party, and letting the devil sow bitterness in your heart.

Hebrew 12:15 says, “Looking diligently (take heed and beware) lest any root of bitterness spring-ing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.” The term springing up means quickly. I don’t think anything grows any quicker than a root of bitterness. It can grow over night. You can go to bed just upset, and wake up the next morning angry and bitter. Instead of letting the Lord take that thing, you munched on it, and let the devil talk to you, and the next day it’s worse.

Paul wrote “Be angry and sin not: let not the sun go down on your wrath” (Eph. 4:26). First, don’t react in the heat of passion, and second, don’t hold a grudge and go to bed mad.

“Neither give place to the devil” (vs. 27). Don’t give Satan an opportunity to nurture the seed of anger into a root of bitterness. It’s better to “give place to anoth-er” than to give place to the devil!

Can you imagine, these men had become so angry and bitter that they spoke of stoning David? What good would that have done? What would they have accom-plished if they would have stoned him?—He was their leader. These men did not have leadership capa-bilities, or they wouldn’t have been rejects until David took them for his band. They needed David’s leadership. He was able to make disciplined soldiers out of these men. Oftentimes when things go wrong, the devil tries to pit you against somebody else, so he can divide and conquer. If something happens in your home or in your marriage, he tries to put a wedge between you and the other, because where there is disunity, he has a field day, and can come in and take more ground.

3. Don’t Give In To DespairDavid’s men were wallowing

in bitterness, and look at him: He had double trouble! He lost his wives and family too, and now on top of it, they wanted to stone him! I can’t imagine what he was going through. When he looked around, there wasn’t a single per-son on his side. Nobody said, “David, I’m with you. What do you want me to do?” Nobody! They all spoke of stoning him. He was viciously hunted by Saul, he had fled out of his own country and was forced to live covertly in the land of his sworn enemies.


10

And now his own men were ready to kill him!

David Encouraged HimselfWhat did he do? “But David

encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” When there’s no one else to encourage you, you have to encourage yourself! When you are going through a very hard place, and the people that you expect to be there to boost your faith and to encourage you, are very the ones who open their mouths and speak negative stuff, it’s the last thing you need at that point. Instead of preaching some-thing from the Word of God, or giving you a testimony to build your faith, they pour out on you all their blame and despair. What are you going to do? You’ve got to encourage yourself in the Lord. That’s when you’ve got to get out the Word of God and revisit the places of victory. That’s when you start singing “He’ll Do It Again.”

David had to encourage him-self in the Lord when nobody else would. He had to get a grip on himself. You can come to the place, at a line of demarcation, where you feel like right there you could so easily fall over into the pit of despair, and you know it. An alarm in your soul is sound-ing: Whatever you do, Fight! Right now you must fight! If there was ever a time for you to dig in your heels and not give in to despair, this is it. Because if you

don’t fight now, and fall into that pit, it will be very hard to get yourself out. I didn’t say it’s impossible, because all things are possible with God. But I’m saying it’s going to be very hard, so just don’t go there. Take heed when the Holy Ghost is shouting on the inside of you, “Don’t go there! Don’t say that! Don’t push the envelope any further! Let it go right here! Stop right now and change course!”

I am not going to let the devil push me into that pit. I’m not going to open my mouth and speak what thus saith the devil. I’m going to open my mouth and speak what thus saith the Holy Ghost, what thus saith the Lord God!

In that moment, you have a decision to make, how you are going to respond, and the Holy Spirit is trying to give you the right direction. You must encour-age yourself in the Lord. That’s what David did. Essentially, he said, “Get up! I’m not giving into this.”

The prophet Elijah sank into deep depression after he had the great victory against Ahab and Jezebel’s 450 false prophets on Mt. Carmel. Jezebel sent word: “I’m going to do to you what you did to my prophets,” and this great man of faith and power, who had called fire down from heaven, ran and hid. He sat under a juniper tree in the wilderness


11

and asked God to let him die! He said: “There is nobody left but me. I’m the only real prophet who knows God, and they seek my life,” He was having a pity party. How did God respond? He basi-cally said, “Elijah, shut up and get up! What are you doing, sit-ting there like that? You are not the only one left. You are not the only person who has ever been in this test!”

Sometimes we need to hear this word: You are not the only one that’s been in this kind of tri-al. You are not the only one who’s ever been this sick, who’s been in such pain. You are not the only one who’s faced betrayal and per-secutions—You are not the only one!

It’s true: Even preachers can get depressed sometimes. I had people say to me, “Sister Sharon, you know the Word of God so good, I know you will come out of this test easy.” But those same demons that attack you, come and talk to me too. That same lying devil that comes to you, comes around me too. The point is, I have to do what you have to do, and you have to do what I have to do. We have to encourage our-selves in the Lord.

Coming Next Month: Part Two

september 2013 • usps 184720 • volume 52 • number...

Documents