The Hope of Recovery
THE HOPE OF RECOVERY (1 Samuel 30)
, DAVID and his men had suffered a great and heavy loss. All their houses had been burnt down and their women and children and possessions had been taken captive by the Amalekites. Their loss was so great that even though they were strong men, they all began to weep loudly. Women can weep at any time and anywhere, and nobody will question them. They can weep in the morning or mid-day or evening! They can weep in the bus or train, on the platform or outside it, and any number of times during the day and nobody will say: Why are you weeping so much? But when men start weeping, there must be a very serious reason. Here were strong military men weeping, so much and so loudly that they had no more tears to shed (vs. 4). Their tears were all dried up, their throats were hot, and their heads were aching, so much so that they could not weep any more. So great was their loss, and, humanly speaking, beyond all hope of recovery.
In the same chapter, however, we read that by God's help and grace, they recovered all that they had lost and much more beside. They recovered so much that they were able to pay all the debts that they had incurred during the previous years. Wherever they had been during those years they had been unable to pay for their food and lodging. Whether they stayed in a place for a few days or months or for a longer time they had been given shelter and food. We see in the Scriptures that David had kept a record of the kindness shown to him. There were many good men who had given him that! and fowl and mutton. He knew who had given him fresh food and who had given him stale food. Verses 27 to 31 give a list of the places where he had stayed, and verse 31 shows that wherever he had stayed, whether tor a few days or for a longer time, he now sent gifts to acknowledge kindness shown, and to pay back his debts.
We all feel sad when we lose anything, and all of us have lost something, somewhere and at sometime or other. Some have wept because of what they have lost. some have lost their keys or fountain pens, or have forgotten their umbrellas. Others have lost their bedding in the train, or have forgotten their wrist watches! Whatever the loss may be it makes us feel very sad, but if and whenever we recover such lost things we are tilled with joy. It is a peculiar joy to recover what we have lost, and especially when there has been no hope of recovery,
Some time ago one brother in Hebron was given a sum of Rs. 130 to pay a telephone bill and he kept the paper and the money in a drawer. He was very busy that day, and thought he would pay the bill the next day. The next day it was the same. He was so busy that he thought he would pay the bill the following day. The third day, when he went to pay the bill, he could not find either the bill or the money. I le began to search for it throughout the office. He opened every drawer and almirah and looked into every corner, but could not find the bill or the money,
All of us were very sad when we heard that and began to suspect different persons. Could it be this one? Or could it be so and so? Then we bought new locks that very day and became very, very careful, so suspicious were we of everybody in the office, After two months, however, when they were trying to clean every room in the building they came to the back room, and there saw an almirah. They wanted to clean at the back of the almirah so they moved it and found a hole in the wall. In that hole they found the bill and the amount!
What a clever and highly-trained rat it must have been te have taken it from the one room to the other! We had entertained no hopes of recovering that money, yet we had prayed. ‘Lord, help us to recover that amount somehow, and help us to catch the thief.’ Now we had recovered beth the bill and the amount, and later also caught the thief! What a joy was that recovery! Everybody in the compound was happy that day, saving ‘We have recovered the loss! We have recovered the loss!
So it is with us spiritually! We have many spiritual losses because of our faults and failures. There are many in fact who have lost their joy. Some, because of trouble and trial, may have lost their faith. Others may have lost their consciousness of God's presence. Others have not yet learned the secret of finding God's will.
Many have lost the old power they had when they were first born again. Others have lost their first love. How many hearts there are with some spiritual loss. They are not enjoying their Bibles as before. They have not gat the same burden for prayer as once they had. Some weep openly and some secretly, but they have no faith to recover what they have lost. They want to recover it but they do not know how to recover it, and worse still they have lost the hope of recovery. They are saying in their hearts, ‘Maybe I will never get my former joy and peace again’. They may be saying: 'I can never do the Lord's service as before’. Whatever it may be that you have lost spiritually we have a message for you. Whatever the cause of your loss may be, there is hope for you. Your loss can be recovered. Rather, you can receive much more than you have lost.
The Bible begins with the story of a very great loss (Genesis 3:24), but in the same book God has proved to man that though in the beginning Adam lost everything, yet man is able to recover everything through our Lord Jesus Christ. In Genesis 1:28, God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden. He also gave him power and dominion over the whole earth and over the fish and the birds and animals. In a very real sense he was the king of the whole earth.
Yet, in chapter 3 he was driven out as a thief and the Word of God says it was God Himself who drove him out. In the beginning he could talk to God as man to man, but now he was being driven out from the presence of God. He was driven out from his home in the Garden of Eden and had to surrender all his rights. What a tremendous loss! No man can estimate the loss incurred by the first man, Adam. But in Revelation 21 and 22, we see how the loss in Genesis 3 has been recovered, There we find man ruling the new creation, which will be far more glorious than the old.
In fact God has given to man much more than was lost in Genesis 3. God began the recovery by the power of the Cress. That is why you find the word Lamb repeated twenty-eight times in the Book of Revelation. The message ts that every loss of every sinner and every loss of every believer can be recovered by Goul's grace and by His help, as revealed in the sacrifice of Calvary,
We can divide people into two groups: There are people who have not received salvation. So far they have not found true peace. They cannot say that God has forgiven their sins. They are living without hope and without God. Life for them is a life of defeat, of misery, and of darkness. They have nothing in the world that they can call their own. They are beggars living in poverty and thus their time, money, and energy are being wasted day by day. That is one group of people, who are in darkness, and whose whole life is being wasted and lost. When they are about to die they will very out, knowingly or unknowingly: ‘Mv life is wasted. Soon J will be dead! but my life is wasted!
With what sorrow they will say those words, admitting that whatever they had possessed, or whatever they had done in life, was only a waste!
Examine your own heart truthfully .— How is your condition before God? Is your life being wasted? What ate you really accomplishing in your life by your time, your money, or your energy? Do these things give you real peace and joy? Are you of any use to God? Can you say God has used something of your life? Please be honest and truthful with yourself.
Asa sinner your life most certainly is being wasted. The Scriptures describe even our righteousness as filthy rags. Even though we may say we are a great and wealthy people and can boast that we earn much money, tf we are living in sin, God likens our best efforts to filthy rags. I have seen some rags so dirty and rotten that even lepers and poor beggars will not touch them. That is like the heart of man, filthy and hopeless. Even our righteousness, in the sight of God, is like ‘filthy rags’ {Isaiah 64:6). Unless our sins are forgiven and our hearts are cleansed, we shall remain as filthy rags and our time, money and energy will all be a waste, But, praise God, we can be transformed into precious stones in the House of God provided our hearts are cleansed. Are you willing and desirous for your sins ta be forgiven? Jesus Christ came into the world and died and rose again, that we might recover every loss. Even though we have wasted our lives all these years, now we can again become God's co-workers and partners (1 Cor, 3:9).
Have you seen a good gardener working upon a good field ora good garden? What preparation he puts in before he starts working that ground. Once it may have been very -bad and hopeless, full of thorns and thistles, but after a few months the very same field will be yielding fruits in abundance and many colourful flowers. Every inch of it is used. To produce these results, the garden had to be worked upon day and night. The ground needed much preparation. Every stone had to be removed, then the seeds had to be sown and watered every day, and for weeks and months watched over day by day. It is hard to believe at last that it is the same land or field that is now yielding all these things.
In the same way God who compared us to filthy rags, will be able to say, “My beautiful husbandry! My beautiful garden! I hat is how your life can he transformed. Every loss incurred by your sins can be recovered. Because of your sins you have brought reproach upon your own name, your family name and the name of your God. Through your sins you have ruined your life, health and body. Because of your sins you are far away from God. You have not the least understanding of the things of God. You are a fool before God and whatever you are doing is a waste. You will die without hope.
Do you want to be transformed? We have a message for you. Come to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, Come with a repentant heart, feeling sorry for your sins. This day the Lord will forgive you and transform you.
That is wh:
to Save you.
Thirty-one years ago my life was being wasted; completely and absolutely wasted. I was then living a life of shame, defeat and barrenness, but I can testify that ail that I now say and do are of eternal abiding, value. It ]do something wrong my Lord is there to correct me and chastise me and bring me back.
David suffered four great losses in his life-time, and we too as believers suffer in our life-time great losses. By the grace of God and His help David recovered all these losses. In every case there was no hope of recovery, but by the help of God he recovered all those four great losses, and not only what he had lost, but much more beside. We also as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, suffer many losses because of doubts and folly, blindness and defeat, but from God's Word we can see how every spiritual loss in a believer can be recovered.
With the division of Pakistan and India in 1947, many Hindus and Sikhs were driven out from their homes, and when they were told by the Government to prepare a list of the things they had lost or left behind, they gave their lists lo the Government in hope of recovering some compensation. But many gave false statements. If they had lost Rs. 6,000 they mentioned Rs, 26,000.
That is worldly wisdom! Be honest and sincere with God and yourselves and let God recover your losses for you. Pray to Him: 'Lord, do Thou help me to recover all my losses.’ Have you lost your peace? Have you lost your joy or has your faith become somewhat weak? Is your mind full of doubts? Have you lost your hunger and appetite for God's Word?
I know some people who can eat a great deal of rice. They can eat a first, second, third, and even fourth helping! They want a dozen chappatis, a dozen purees, curds, etc; yet when they are sick they refuse to eat even a small quantity. Everybody looking at such a man knows he must be sick! 'T saw him eat so much before’, he thinks, ‘but now he refuses to eat and needs to be forced!!
Spiritually, what has happened to your appetite for God's Word? In the early days of your Christian life you used to read many chapters and with great joy attended every meeting, but now you find it difficult to read even half a chapter. You have lost your appetite for God's Word, lost your burden for prayer, lost your understanding of God's Word and you do not know how to enjoy God's presence. You have lost many privileges in the House of God. Please tell God frankly of all your losses and then pray: Now, Lord, do Thou help me to recover all my losses.’ You are assured from God's Word that you will recover much more than you have lost.
There are some laundries in England, where, if your clothes are lost or torn by the dhobi, they will write to you and say: 'We are very sorry that your that of: or shirt has been lost or torn, please let us know exactly what it was!’ For if your clothes are lost or torn while in their service they will make good your loss. Upon receiving, your complaint they wall say, ‘Please let us know your measurements, and we will give you anew garment.’ Even though the coat you have lost may have been an old one, they wall give you a new one instead.
This had happened to me in England, — not in die! Once the laundry spoiled my coat, and then gave me money for a new one, with which I got one even better. But God will do much more for you than England did for me. He will give you much more than you lost. But you must be honest and truthful and sincere and tell Him all about your loss. We will see from God's Word as we study further how David recovered his four losses, and then how we also can recover all that we have lost spiritually.
Chapter 2