Summary4 min read

The Daily Blade Ep. #289 – Mark Hitchcock // Strengthen Yourself in the Lord

Date: February 9, 2026
Guest Host: Dr. Mark Hitchcock (Pastor, Faith Bible Church, Edmond, Oklahoma)
Topic: Drawing Strength From God in Times of Distress (1 Samuel 30:6)

Episode Overview

In this episode, Dr. Mark Hitchcock takes over hosting duties and delivers a devotional centered on 1 Samuel 30:6, where King David, at the lowest point in his life, strengthens himself in the Lord. Dr. Hitchcock unpacks the context of David’s crisis, explores how David was able to find encouragement, and applies these lessons to strengthening ourselves in God during our own trials.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Context of 1 Samuel 30:6

Crisis at Ziklag:
- David and his men return home to Ziklag only to find it destroyed by the Amalekites, their families taken captive, and the town burned (00:40).
- The men are devastated after a 60-mile march, only to encounter the destruction and loss.
- “David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength left in them to weep.” (01:37–01:45)
Grief turns to anger:
- The men’s grief is so overwhelming that they contemplate stoning David, blaming him for their misfortune.
- “David’s world is in ruins … he hits rock bottom.” (02:05)

2. Strengthening Yourself in the Lord

David’s Response:
- Despite his utter despair, “David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” (02:09)
Why This Matters:
- Navigating life’s turbulence requires learning the discipline of personal spiritual encouragement—not just relying on external support systems (family, friends, ministry).

How Did David Strengthen Himself? (02:30–05:30)

a. Looked Up (to God’s Person):
- David’s pre-existing relationship with God enabled him to turn directly to God when all else failed.
- “All he has at this point is God. … David was an impressed man. He was impressed with God.” (02:44–03:05)
b. Looked Back (to God’s Past Faithfulness):
- While not explicit in the text, Dr. Hitchcock suggests David surely remembered God’s prior deliverance—from lions, bears, and Goliath (03:10).
- “Don’t forget to remember. … Look back and remember what God has done for you when you’re in bad situations.” (03:18)
c. Looked Ahead (to God’s Promises):
- David would have clung to God’s promise that he would become king.
- Applicable promises for us:
  - “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
  - “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you.”
  - “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (03:35)
- Quoting Hudson Taylor: “I have $10 and all the promises of God. And you and I have all the promises of God as well…” (04:00)
d. Looked Within (in Prayer):
- In verse 8, David “inquired of the Lord”—turning back to prayer after neglecting it for over a year (04:30).
- “David took his problems and his troubles to the Lord.” (04:33)

3. Illustration – David Livingstone’s Example

Dr. Hitchcock shares a powerful passage from the missionary David Livingstone’s biography:
- Despite relentless hardship, sickness, and loss, Livingstone persisted:
- “But nothing earthly will make me give up my work. In despair, I encourage myself in the Lord my God and go forward.” (05:00)
Key Application:
- “That’s the spirit that you and I need to have every day. No matter how dark the cloud, even when all seems lost, we strengthen ourselves in the Lord and we go forward. He’ll never fail you.” (05:40)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On personal spiritual strength:
- “We also have to learn to strengthen ourselves in the Lord as David did.”
  — Dr. Mark Hitchcock (02:20)
On remembering God’s faithfulness:
- “Don’t forget to remember. … Look back and remember what God has done for you.”
  — Dr. Mark Hitchcock (03:18)
Hudson Taylor’s confidence:
- “I have $10 and all the promises of God.”
  — Dr. Mark Hitchcock recounting Hudson Taylor (04:00)
David Livingstone’s perseverance:
- “In despair, I encourage myself in the Lord my God and go forward.”
  — Dr. Mark Hitchcock quoting Livingstone (05:11)
On daily courage:
- “No matter how dark the cloud, even when all seems lost, we strengthen ourselves in the Lord and we go forward. He’ll never fail you.”
  — Dr. Mark Hitchcock (05:40)

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Segment | |-------|------------------------------------------------------| | 00:20 | Dr. Hitchcock introduces the episode & context | | 01:00 | The crisis at Ziklag explained | | 02:09 | Key verse: “David strengthened himself in the Lord” | | 02:30 | Four ways David encouraged himself (looked up, back, ahead, within) | | 03:18 | Importance of remembering God’s past work | | 03:35 | Relying on God’s promises | | 04:33 | David returns to prayer | | 05:00 | Story of David Livingstone | | 05:40 | Closing thoughts: Courage to go forward |

Summary

Dr. Mark Hitchcock draws profound lessons from David's lowest moment: when faced with grief, anger, and complete loss, David finds strength not externally but by turning upward, backward, ahead, and inward—through knowing God, remembering His faithfulness, trusting His promises, and turning to Him in prayer. This episode encourages listeners to develop the discipline of strengthening themselves in the Lord, illustrated with vivid historical examples and memorable encouragements to keep pressing forward in faith, whatever the trial.

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Transcript3 lines

[00:01]
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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.
[00:21]
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Welcome back to the Daily Blade. I'm Dr. Mark Hitchcock. I'm the pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. It's the home church of Kyle Thompson and his family, so I have the privilege to be his pastor. I'm going to be filling in this week for Kyle and Joby. Our text for today is 1st Samuel 36. I want to read this verse for us, and I'll fill in a little bit of the context and give some application of this to our lives. 1 Samuel 36 says this. Moreover, David was greatly distressed. It's referring here to King David. He was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him. For all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. Now, let me just paint a little bit of background about this passage here. What's happened is David and his men have been living in Philistine country, and they've been able to come back now to their home base, which is a village called Ziklag. And while they were away, some Amalekites had come in, taken their wives and children captive and fled and burned the city to the ground. So David and his men, when they arrive back there and they see what's happened, they've been going for 60 miles in a short period of time. You can just imagine their excitement and anticipation to see their wives and their children. And they get there exhausted. But then they're devastated when they see that their town has been torched and they're literally drowning in despair. In fact, in verse four, it says, then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength left in them to weep. And so the men are so distraught by this that they actually rise up and want to kill David. So David's world is in ruins. I mean, literally, his life's in ruins. This is the blackest point in his life. I'm up to this point. He hits rock bottom. But it says here in our text, David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. If we're going to successfully navigate life and all the turbulence and the troubles that are out there, we have to learn the spiritual discipline of strengthening ourselves in the Lord. I hope you have family I hope you have friends who pour encouragement and strength into your life. I know that this ministry does that. It's a great encouragement to you. But we also have to learn to strengthen ourselves in the Lord as David did. So how did David do this? Just a few things, quickly. One is the person he looked up. It says David strengthened himself in the Lord, his God. All he has at this point is God. And David knows God personally. David has a pre existing relationship with God. I like what someone said years ago about King Saul. He was an impressive man, but David was an impressed man. He was impressed with God. So David looked up, he knew God and he called out to him. Secondly, I think David looked to the past. Now, the text doesn't explicitly tell us that, but one of the ways David must have encouraged himself was to remember back how God had delivered him from lions and from bears and how God had helped him vanquish Goliath. It's very important for us in life. Don't forget to remember, to look back and remember what God has done for you when you're in bad situations or tough times. Number three. We have the promises. We have promises. I think David looked ahead. He knew that God had promised him that he was going to be the king. And I think he relied on that promise of God to give him strength. We can claim God's promises for our lives. Promises like delight yourself in the Lord. He'll give you the desires of your heart. Cast your cares on the Lord. He'll sustain you. He'll never let the righteous fall. I will never leave you or forsake you. Another great promise that God is faithful. Another wonderful promise is I am coming quickly. I'm Hudson Taylor, who founded the China Inland Mission. He was asked one time he was going to China, what he had. And he says, I have $10 and all the promises of God. And you and I have all the promises of God as well to allow us to strengthen ourselves in difficult times. But one other thing is prayer. Notice in verse 8 of chapter 30 in 1st Samuel, it says David inquired of the Lord. So David took his problems and his troubles to the Lord. David hadn't sought God probably at this time for about a year and a half. But he begins to pray and to seek God. So David looked up, you could say he looked up to the person of God. He looked back to what God had done in the past for him. He looked ahead to the promises of God and he looked within in prayer. There's a great biography I have on David Livingston, the great missionary and explorer to Africa. He was from Scotland originally. He traversed Africa under the worst conditions imaginable. He was mauled by a lion. He never had the full use of his left arm. After that, constant bouts of malaria and dysenthalia. His wife died. His son Robert was rebellious and went to the United States, joined the Union army, was killed in the Civil War. But near the end of the book, in Livingston's final days on earth, he and his expedition are slogging on a wet margin. Extreme weather day after day of pouring rain, walking in neck deep water with parasites and leeches. He has chronic intestinal bleeding that gets worse day by day and is slowly draining the life out of him. About a month before he died in Africa and an entry in his diary, David Livingston wrote these wor so many obstacles have arisen, but nothing earthly will make me give up my work. In despair, I encourage myself and the Lord my God and go forward. That's the spirit that you and I need to have every day. No matter how dark the cloud, even when all seems lost, we strengthen ourselves in the Lord and we go forward. He'll never fail you.
[06:10]
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Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help, equip other men for the fight. Share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.