Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold.
Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, "Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?"
The Lord answered him, "Go, for I will surely hand the Philistines over to you."
So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, "As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me." So that place was called Baal Perazim. The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.
Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, "Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.
2 Samuel 5:17-25
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
It’s been a few years now since I had to make a very difficult decision. Grace and I had been members of a congregation for over 14 years and during that time, I had been very involved in the life of the church…serving as an elder, committee chairperson for evangelism and witness, worship leader, Sunday School teacher, and singer during my tenure.
The church was everything you would expect a church to be. Loving to one another inside… active locally and globally…with solid preaching from an experienced pastor. It was as good as it could get.
But then something happened, not inside our church but outside, that led to me having to make my difficult decision. For my church was associated with a denomination that decided to change it’s doctrine in a direction that was in violation of God’s word…and in the end, it was a change I couldn’t ignore in good conscience as I was led to the point where I needed to ask the Lord what I should do…stay at the church or go. And when I asked the Lord what I should do, the answer came to me loud and clear. I was to go.
And so Grace and I did go. It was so difficult. We had so many loving relationships established within the congregation and as I stated, I was very actively involved in many ministry areas. But in the end, our relationship with the Lord was more important and so we obediently followed the Lord’s lead and resigned our membership. The Lord had answered our question, “Should we go?” with great clarity, telling us to move on. Now we had a second question for Him, “Where do we go now?”
Confident that the Lord had a place in mind for us, we began to attend different churches, praying for the Lord to guide and lead us to the place He wanted us to be. And after several months of seeking, we settled on a church and its associated denomination that we felt was holding strong to the foundation of God’s word in all things. And after being there a few years now, we have been richly blessed by becoming part of a new church family and I have returned to many of the same roles I held while at my former church.
Well, as we look at our scriptures from 2nd Samuel, we find David also at a point where he needed to ask the Lord some questions. He had just assumed rule over all of Israel and Judah, attributing his ascension to the Lord which came as little surprise when we consider David was a man after God’s own heart.
As he came into rule, it didn’t take long for David to face a challenge in the way of the Philistines who went in “full force to search for him”. Yes…this was the same Philistine army that he nearly ended up fighting with against Saul and Israel…the same Philistine army that saw its monster warrior Goliath killed by David well before he ascended to the throne. Needless to say, the Philistines weren’t looking for David to exchange pleasantries.
So David, having heard that the Philistines were looking for him, “went down to the stronghold” and “inquired of the Lord asking, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" Note that David could have just made the decision himself. But if he did that, how could be sure that what he was doing was in step with the Lord’s expectations?
And so David, wisely asked the Lord if he should go and if the Lord was going to bring him victory. We that the Lord tells him to go for He was indeed going to hand over the Philistines to David and his army.
And so this is what David did. He went where the Lord told him to go and attacked the Philistines as they were “spread out in the Valley of Rephaim”…to Baal Perazim where “he defeated them”. Then David did something as important as being obedient to the Lord’s wishes. For He gave the Lord all the praise and glory from his victory saying, “As waters break out, the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me."
But we see that the Philistines weren’t about to give up. For once more they “came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim”. And again, “David inquired of the Lord” as to if and where he should go. The Lord answered him saying, "Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." And so David, armed with the knowledge that the Lord wanted him to go coupled with where and when He wanted him to go, “did as the Lord commanded”…and “struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer”.
David and his men gained victory but none of it would have been possible if David had not communicated with the Lord to find out if he should go and. If so, where he should go. In the end, the Lord placed David and his men where He wanted them to be so He could deliver them to success…just as He guided Grace and me to our new church home.
So what do we learn from this passage?
First, the Lord always has a place where He wants us to be. We need only ask Him where we are to go and He will lead us.
And secondly, we need only ask the Lord where He wants us to go and He will tell us. Then we need only go where He wants us to go and experience success and victory in Him while we’re there.
The end result of this glorious submissive experience…this surrendering our sense of direction for the Lord’s…is that we will always be led to the place where we give the Lord all the praise, honor and glory…for His goodness…for His faithfulness…and for His guidance that always will out us where He wants us…when He wants us there…to fulfill His blessed purpose. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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