Encourage Them

Encourage Them
Oct 15, 2012
2 Samuel 19:7  "Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the Lord that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come on you from your youth till now.”

King David had so much potential as a youth.  It was evident that the Lord was on his life and he had good things ahead of him.  He killed the giant, Goliath, and won many, many battles.  He was a leader and a man among men.  Yet he was not without his troubles.  Even after he was king, his life was not easy.  When his sons grew older, it seems his troubles increased in life.  His son, Absalom, was trying to take over his thrown.  It created strife in the kingdom and David was stressed.  But despite all that was going on for David, the pressures of being a king, the stress of his son's rebellion, David still had to do his job.  David couldn't shirk his responsibilities just because the going got tough.  David needed someone to encourage him, too, but that didn't let him off the hook.

In fact, David had his eyes so focused on his own problems that he couldn't see there were others around him.  He was failing to lead others, his only job, because he was focused on his plight.  His second in command, Joab, had to chastise him, saying that his men were going to revolt unless David got up and encouraged them, led them.  David had others entrusted in his care and no matter what was going on around him, he still had to take care of the needs of others.  It was hard to do, but it was the right thing.  Had David not taken his friend's advice, David would have been without anyone to lead; he would have lost his job.

While there is limited spiritual insight into this Scripture, it speaks loudly of the emotional affects you have on others.  No matter how high or low your position in life, there are still others around you entrusted to your care.  It is always your job to encourage those around you, to support them emotionally despite their salary amount or pay grade.  David's men were soldiers, fighting men.  He wasn't prompted to give them a pay raise, he was prompted to lift their spirits.  Even the most hardened of killers still needed encouraging.

Today you may feel like you are at wits end in this life but there are others around you looking for encouragement.  It is your job to do so.  If we all encouraged each other in this life, then there would be few self esteem issues among us.  People would be comfortable with themselves and confident in the Lord.  It would change our society.  Our world would be a different place.  Crime rates would be lower, drug use would be less, and families would be more likely to stay together.  Encouragement is a necessary component to the human spirit; you need it and so do I.  If this is the case, then everyone around us needs encouragement, too.  This is a daily task, like sleeping and eating, it has an expiration and then more is needed.  Look around you and you'll see there are a few key people who need some encouragement from you.  If we all did this, then someone is bound to encourage you as well.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  2 Sam 19, Ps 10:17, Acts 15:32, Romans 12:18, Eph 6:22, Col 4:8