12. STRESSFUL ATTACKS – HOW DAVID, HANNAH AND JEHOSHAPHAT HANDLED IT

(The Faith Forum Series)

I’ve been thinking: What did David, Hannah and Jehoshaphat have in common?

They all faithfully served God and loved him yet they all went through at least one time in their lives that was so difficult, so painful, so dreadful, that they felt fearful, depressed and overwhelmed. They all responded initially to their problem by wallowing in self-pity, sadness and paralysis. They all responded as the human nature tells us to, when we go through something difficult.

They all sat and cried or felt sorry for themselves or afraid… but thank God, they did not stay there! They wallowed in self-pity yes, some for a very short while and others for longer but what I particularly love is that at some point, they suddenly switched the strategy on the enemy.

They no longer saw themselves as the victim but they clothed themselves in who they were in the Lord: VICTORS. They remembered who their heavenly Father was and that no one, absolutely no one, had the right to mess with God’s precious children.

At some point, they got up, realized that nursing their grief wasn’t going to get them anywhere and they went to the Master.

Because they all had a relationship with God, they knew full well that while they had not a clue what to do and no power to do it, God was all-wise and all powerful. They knew that they were properly stuck and in trouble and that they could not handle what they were facing but from their own past experiences with Him, they knew HE could.

Let us look at the scriptures pertaining to these three people and note how they switched the strategy on the enemy which resulted in success. They brought Jehovah God into the mix and the enemy did not even know what hit him.

God just did his thing (because he is honoured when we acknowledge that we don’t know what to do and ask him for help) and the enemy was silenced, just like that!

DAVID

HIS PROBLEM: His family and the families of the men under him had been abducted. As if that was not sorrowful enough, the men in their pain were blaming him for what had transpired and were even considering stoning him to death.

1 Samuel 30:1-20 states:

• “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 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.

• Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power 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 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.

• 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. 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.

• 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. But David pursued, he and four hundred men…

• 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. And David recovered all that the Amalekites had carried away: and David rescued his two wives. 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. And David took all the flocks and the herds, which they drave before those other cattle, and said, This is David’s spoil.”

HANNAH

HER PROBLEM: She was married to a man who had a second wife and while the second wife had children for her husband, she Hannah, had none. To make matters worse, the second wife kept laughing at her and teasing her because of her barren state, never allowing her to forget it.

1 Samuel 1:1 -20, 24 -28 states:

• “Now there was a certain man of Ramathaimzophim, of mount Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephrathite: And he had two wives; the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there. And when the time was that Elkanah offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion; for he loved Hannah: but the LORD had shut up her womb.

• And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb. And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat.

• Then said Elkanah her husband to her, Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?

• So Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh, and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by a post of the temple of the LORD. And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore. And she vowed a vow, and said, O LORD of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.

• And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth. Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? put away thy wine from thee. And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.

• And they rose up in the morning early, and worshipped before the LORD, and returned, and came to their house to Ramah: and Elkanah knew Hannah his wife; and the LORD remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after Hannah had conceived, that she bare a son, and called his name Samuel, saying, Because I have asked him of the LORD.

• …And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the LORD in Shiloh: and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, Oh my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto the LORD. For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to the LORD; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to the LORD. And he worshipped the LORD there.”

JEHOSHAPHAT

HIS PROBLEM: He was a King and had just received news that his enemies had combined forces, had formed one gigantic army and they were already on their way to fight, completely annihilate, wipe out and destroy Jehoshaphat and his people.

2 Chronicles 20 states:

• “It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazontamar, which is Engedi.

• And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.

• And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.

• And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children. Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. Tomorrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

• And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.

• And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten. For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.

• And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.

• And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day. Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies. And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel. So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.”

What can we learn from David, Hannah and Jehoshaphat’s story?

Well first of all, we learn that it is perfectly normal and understandable to spend some time grieving over a situation when you feel powerless to do anything. However, we also learn that if we want the situation to change, we cannot continue wallowing in self-pity and depression.

At some point, if we are children of God and truly believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, we must make the decision to get up from where we are and go to God. Feeling sorry for yourself perpetually, will get you nowhere. It will only strengthen the enemy’s hand against you.

We may not have a clue what to do but we know that God does. We may not know how to begin to fight our enemies but if we ask him to intervene and are obedient, he will fight our battles for us.

Our problems are nothing for God to solve and our enemies are nothing when compared to almighty God. We have to consult him and keep him in the mix and at some point (even if not immediately), he will show up and give us the victory.

Switch up your strategy. Change gears on the enemy. Your foes expect you to die but remember that in Christ Jesus, you shall live! You have his resurrection power coursing through your veins if he is truly Lord over your life. No enemy can mess with that and come out untouched.

God wants to fight for you but you have to let him in. Yes you may have prayed about the issue yesterday and the day before but remember, God loves persistence. Keep at it. Pray from your heart, meaning every word and believing that he will come and deliver you.

Take your problem to Jesus and you will be amazed by the results. He will save you, strengthen you, guide you, deliver you and perform miracles in your life.

If anyone knows how to silence the enemy, it is God.

(Written on 21st March, 2016)

Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative or edifying, you may also be interested in reading the following:

Note 171 – ‘Dear Peninnah’