Praise the Lord.
We thank the Lord for giving us this opportunity on the Lord’s Day to exalt the Lord, to come into the presence of the Lord, and to listen to His voice. I was advised to go slowly because someone is translating into Portuguese.
Today, I do not have any presentation. I just want to bring a simple message on the recovery of loss. It is a simple story that we may have heard many times, but may the Lord touch us in a new way.
Turn in your Scriptures to 1 Samuel 30:1-4.
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.
Also turn to Genesis 1:26.
And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the birds of the heavens,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Also, Genesis 3:24.
So He drove out the man;
and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim,
and the flame of a sword which turned every way,
to keep the way of the tree of life.
Let us look unto the Lord.
Lord, we come unto the throne of grace, under the sprinkling blood of the Lamb. Speak to us from the throne. Lord, You speak with everyone individually, so let each one hear that still voice—what You want to speak.
Lord, Thy Word is a two-edged sword; it pierces on both sides. Lord, let it do its work. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Here we are looking at two losses: the loss of David, and the loss of Adam and Eve. Although we may be looking at physical loss, this is more spiritual. The enemy is very subtle in this.
When we lose physical things, we feel it. We keep searching for them. We know that we have lost something. We tell a few friends or prayer partners, “Hey, pray for me. I lost maybe a job, maybe a car, maybe something I liked.”
But, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what about spiritual loss? Sometimes we do not even know that we have lost something. We do not consider that we should ask someone to pray because we have lost something spiritually.
I am using the term spiritual loss not merely in the sense of falling down spiritually, but in the sense that there are spiritual losses which need to be identified. Until you know that you have lost something, you do not seek it. Until you know that you are losing something, you will not be aware of it or cautious about it.
The enemy keeps our minds busy with physical things so that we do not think about what we are losing spiritually. We may think, “It is just a bad day.”
As I was praying and reading, a few spiritual losses came before me:
These are invisible things. We can lose them gradually, and we may not even know that they are taking us very far away.
In the case of Adam and Eve, the Lord made them like kings over all the dominion of the earth. They were in charge of everything. But in Genesis 3:24, the Lord drove man out of the garden of Eden and placed a guard at the gate.
From being like a king, man was sent out like one who might return and take something. Who do you send out and lock the doors against? You lock the doors because you are afraid they may snatch something.
One spiritual loss, without our knowing it, can cause many other spiritual losses. It can disconnect us from the Lord, and physical loss can happen as well. But let me say this clearly: not all physical loss is because of spiritual disconnection.
Sometimes you may feel successful in life while having lost many things spiritually. Sometimes God takes us through a difficult road so that we will recognize that we have lost something.
Still, the Lord is gracious. Although Adam and Eve were driven from the garden of Eden, our Lord is a Lord who recovers what has been lost.
Look at Revelation 22:3-4.
And there shall be no curse any more:
and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be therein:
and His servants shall serve Him;
and they shall see His face;
and His name shall be on their foreheads.
What a recovery the Lord has accomplished in Revelation compared with what He had in Genesis 1. That is the heart of the Lord. If we have lost something—primarily spiritually, and sometimes physically—the Lord has a heart to recover it.
Coming to David’s life, we know that David experienced many losses. In 1 Samuel 30:4, it says that David and the people with him wept until they had no more power to weep. This shows a great loss.
The Lord created us for His life to flow in us continuously, not merely for a time. But the enemy is subtle. He puts blockages in the way so that the life of Christ will not flow completely through us and out to other people.
In India, we have many water taps where there is a blockage. Water comes, but there is not a complete flow. The enemy wants to take us in that direction, so that the life of Christ will not flow freely in us and through us.
But the Lord is more powerful than the enemy. He helps us and recovers us, so that the life of Christ may flow in us and through us.
David was called a man after God’s own heart, yet he was deceived by the enemy and experienced many losses. But we know that the Lord recovered him.
How did David enter into the situation described in 1 Samuel 30? How did he come to the point of weeping without strength, while people wanted to stone him? This can happen quickly in anybody’s life.
Turn back to 1 Samuel 27. This is a good story for young adults, who have to make many choices in life. Parents also need to help their children make good choices, because life is about the choices we make, how we make them, whose influence we follow, and where our confidence is placed.
At the end of 1 Samuel 26, Saul said to David:
Blessed be thou, my son David:
thou shalt both do mightily, and shalt surely prevail.
So David went his way,
and Saul returned to his place.
Then 1 Samuel 27:1 says:
And David said in his heart,
I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.
This is where the beginning of David’s loss came. Without realizing it, he lost the consciousness of the Lord’s presence with him and in his life.
It was a simple thought—not a big thought. David was going through a very difficult time, running through the mountains. There is no doubt about that. But the thought came: “I shall perish.” He thought he would finish. He thought he would die.
The enemy brought this thought, and David wanted an earthly solution. When we lose the consciousness of the Lord’s presence, our thoughts can draw us in another direction.
David made this loss without knowing it. He was moving in a physical direction to save himself. This is very common for all of us: making choices under the influence of our own thoughts, fears, and unfavorable circumstances.
The enemy made David forget the most important dimension—the consciousness of the presence of the Lord.
For the young people, consider Psalm 78:9-12.
The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows,
turned back in the day of battle.They kept not the covenant of God,
and refused to walk in His law;
and they forgot His doings,
and His wondrous works that He had showed them.Marvellous things did He in the sight of their fathers,
in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
They forgot. They forgot to such an extent that they lost the consciousness of the presence of the Lord. They had everything, but they turned back.
This is the same David who knew the presence of the Lord when he was a young man facing Goliath. He said, “I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts.” He knew the Lord then. But having something and losing something are very different matters.
When you lose the consciousness of the Lord, it does not merely pull you down. It can lead you into earthly choices and earthly solutions that may appear successful but are spiritually dangerous.
In 1 Samuel 27:2, David took six hundred men with him and went to Achish, king of Gath. David was moving in the direction of the Philistines, toward his old enemies, toward a place of weakness.
When you lose the consciousness of the Lord’s presence, when there is a spiritual deficiency, you can move in a direction that is not toward the Lord. David did not see the spiritual loss. He thought he had found the better solution because he was thinking primarily of physical safety.
Not only did David go in the wrong direction; he took the men who followed him, along with their wives and children. As heads of families, or as those who influence others, when we have spiritual loss, we can put those who depend on us in the wrong direction too.
Physical loss is visible; spiritual loss is invisible. It is easy to convince someone about physical loss. If you say, “Brother, I lost my car,” they understand. If you say, “Brother, I lost the consciousness of the Lord’s presence,” people may not understand so easily.
But one spiritual loss can become exponential. Loss can grow very fast.
In 1 Samuel 27:5, David said to Achish:
If I have now found favor 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?
David had begun seeking the favor of the enemy. The second fall was losing the understanding of God’s grace and beginning to seek the grace of the enemy.
There is a difference between receiving grace from a dear brother or sister in Christ and seeking favor from the enemy. David had experienced much grace. He had been a shepherd, anointed by God, and delivered in his battle with Goliath. People praised him. Yet now, step by step, he was seeking the grace of the enemy.
Then he called himself Achish’s servant. He was willing to become dependent on the Philistine king.
It is easy to be a Christian in church. It is easy to work in a Christian setting and say, “Come, brother, let us pray. We need to do something as believers.” The setting is there.
But the real test comes when you are in the world. Then it becomes more difficult. There is often a reward for being good in church. People will say, “This young man shares the Word of God,” or, “This person is helping with the cleaning.” There can be recognition in the church.
But to follow Christ in society and in the world, you may have to pay a price. There may be no reward.
This is for all the young people and for all of us, because we have to live life outside the church. Only then can we be a light in the world. Our decisions and our lives cause people to come unto the Lord.
The enemy’s purpose is not merely to cause physical loss. The enemy’s purpose is to cause spiritual loss. We need to identify it.
Do not make this generic by simply saying, “I have fallen down spiritually.” Ask, “What have I lost?” Have you lost the burden to pray for people? Have you lost the consciousness of the Lord’s presence? Have you lost the desire to make decisions by seeking the will of God?
You need to identify the loss. That is what it means to look within yourself.
David’s situation looked like a success story. Achish gave him a place. David could dwell in the country of the Philistines. In worldly eyes, he had convinced the king and received a city.
Sometimes, when we are successful, we do not think about what we have lost spiritually. Usually, when something goes wrong, we search for where we went wrong. But in success, we also need to search for what we may have lost spiritually.
First Samuel 27:7 says:
And the number of the days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.
David had not only success; he had peace. But not every peace is from the Lord. The enemy can make us think that because we are peaceful, successful, and comfortable, we must be in a good place before the Lord.
David had a city. He had achievement. He had peace. What more could a person want? Yet he had a spiritual loss.
Knowing that we believe in God is not enough. We must recognize whether we are walking in the consciousness of His presence and seeking His will.
Then David began to maintain his position through deception. In 1 Samuel 27:10-11, Achish asked David where he had made a raid, and David gave an answer that concealed what he had done.
And Achish said, Whither have ye made a raid to-day?
And David said, Against the South of Judah,
and against the South of the Jerahmeelites,
and against the South of the Kenites.And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, saying,
Lest they should tell on us, saying,
So did David, and so hath been his manner all the while he hath dwelt in the country of the Philistines.
This is the danger. David had built a place for himself, and then he had to maintain it. When we build something while losing spiritual things, we may find ourselves on the wrong road.
We may begin to excuse exaggeration or speak what people call a “white lie.” But there is no such thing as a white lie. If we have lost something spiritually, we may stop recognizing the seriousness of it and begin to see it as simply a way of life.
Not every success means that God has blessed us. We may have paid a spiritual price to gain that success. Young men and young women have many decisions to make—about a future spouse, a job, where to live, and many other things.
Watch out. Do not lose the consciousness of the Lord. Do not lose the desire to seek the will of God. You may be successful in people’s eyes and even in your own eyes, but, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you may have taken a wrong route.
The decline did not end with deception. It went further.
In 1 Samuel 28:1-2, the Philistines gathered their armies to fight against Israel. Achish said to David:
Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me in the host,
thou and thy men.
David answered:
Therefore thou shalt know what thy servant can do.
Achish said:
Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.
What a tragedy. David was being prepared to go to war against the armies of the living God. The same man who had once said, “I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts,” was now ready to fight against God’s people.
This is what spiritual loss can do. It can make us forget everything. We may begin to oppose those whom we should be supporting.
Sometimes we may attack older brothers in the church who are trying to help us and warn us. I am not saying that we cannot ask questions, but we must watch our attitude. We can become successful and peaceful in our own eyes while fighting against the people of the living God.
I do not know where you and I are today. Perhaps we are in the first position, having lost the consciousness of the Lord’s presence. Perhaps we are seeking the favor of the enemy. Perhaps we are leading others in the wrong direction. Perhaps we are becoming servants of worldly systems. Perhaps we are covering our path with lies. Perhaps we are already fighting against the people of God.
These are spiritual losses. I know my own position, and I have asked the Lord, “Lord, please recover it. I cannot recover myself. Please recover this loss.”
The Lord is a Lord of recovery. The Lord is a Lord of restoration. If He can recover so much from Adam to Revelation, He can recover whatever has been lost.
David still did not understand the seriousness of his spiritual loss. He was already on the wrong road. He had hundreds of men following him, and he was moving quickly.
In 1 Samuel 29:7-8, the Philistine rulers would not allow David to go with them into battle. God graciously worked through the Philistine rulers so that they did not take David with them.
God had a plan for David to become king, even though David did not understand it. David had his own plan, but God had His plan.
Achish told him:
Wherefore now return, and go in peace,
that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.
But David said:
But what have I done?
and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day,
that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
David was asking why he could not go and fight against the armies of the living God. That is a very serious place to reach.
Many of us can be in this place without realizing that we have spiritual loss. We may not seek recovery because we think, “I have peace. I am successful. I am going in the right direction. I am serving the Lord.”
But there can still be spiritual loss.
Let us examine ourselves specifically. Let us ask the Lord, “Where have I fallen? What have I lost?” If you have a close brother or sister, you can say, “I have lost this. I have this spiritual loss. Please pray for me. I want to recover.”
What a heart the Lord has. He will recover.
In 1 Samuel 30, David came back to Ziklag and found that everything had been taken. He and his men wept until they had no strength left to weep.
I am not saying that this physical loss happened only because David had gone against the will of God. But God was gracious enough to use this loss to bring David back and to recover his spiritual loss.
God did not leave David in his apparent success. God wanted to recover David so that his throne could be established. David was crying without strength because of the great physical loss, but he had not fully realized the spiritual losses that had happened earlier.
Then God graciously reminded him.
First Samuel 30:6 says:
But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
What a recovery. I do not know what happened emotionally in David at that moment. Perhaps he examined how he had landed in this place. Perhaps God spoke directly to him. But David gathered himself to God, and God was going to recover his losses.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is speaking to you and me today. Let us not stop. Let us encourage ourselves in the Lord. Let us bring before the Lord what has been lost and say, “Lord, I want to recover it.”
You know what you have lost. You can pray specifically:
For young men and young women, do not make life decisions merely to show others that you have achieved the best job, the best life, or the best partner. That should not be the condition of your heart.
Have the consciousness of the Lord’s presence. Say, “Lord, give me what is best. Give me the best job. Give me the life that You desire.” Do not try to prove yourself to others.
After coming to the United States, I learned something. In India, if you say, “I bought a car,” people may ask, “How much did it cost?” But in the United States, when I said, “I bought a car,” someone said, “Good for you.” I was surprised.
But the question is: is what you have achieved good for you in the sight of the Lord? If it is not good for you in the sight of the Lord, dear brothers and sisters, you have lost the way.
David recovered the consciousness of the Lord’s presence. He knew that he needed to depend on the Lord again.
In 1 Samuel 30:7, David said to Abiathar the priest:
I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod.
Then, in 1 Samuel 30:8:
And David inquired of 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 shalt without fail recover all.
The same David who was ready to wage war against Israel now stopped and inquired of the Lord. He recognized that spiritual recovery was necessary. He asked, “Can I go? Can I recover?” The Lord said, “Pursue; for thou shalt surely overtake them, and shalt without fail recover all.”
That is the message: recover all.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord wants to recover you. He wants to recover your spiritual losses and my spiritual losses.
I have many other verses, but I do not want to go here and there and cause us to lose the simplicity of what the Lord is bringing to us. Young people may lose things and gain them again. But when losses continue for many years, it can be difficult to recover because circumstances may no longer be the same.
Still, the Lord is gracious. He recovers in abundance. He recovered Adam and Eve’s loss through Jesus Christ. The Lord is working in us. Let us give ourselves to Him and say, “Lord, recover my spiritual losses.”
The Lord has made provision. He can recover everything. May we see the goodness of the Lord, and may the Lord see goodness in us. All glory be to the Lord.
Let us close our eyes and look unto the Lord.
Dear Lord, thank You for giving us this opportunity to go through the life of David. It is such a simple story, one we have heard from childhood. Thank You, Lord, for reminding us again, because we are still children in Your sight.
Although we are grown up, Lord, You love us as You love children. Thank You for showing us the spiritual losses that we have made and for reminding us that You want to recover them.
May Your body, the body of Christ, be a light in this place and in the outside world. May many be drawn unto You.
When David recovered, he gave gifts to all Judah, to those who had helped him. We see how the story ended: Saul was killed in that war, and David went on to become king.
Lord, You have plans for us, to bring us an expected end and not to harm us. We give You all glory and honor. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.