GOD: LIFE'S BEST CONSULTANT

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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 all Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them. Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of God: “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, I will deliver them into your hands.”

So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand.” So that place was called Baal Perazim. The Philistines had abandoned their gods there, and David gave orders to burn them in the fire.

Once more the Philistines raided the valley; so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.”

So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army, all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him.

1 Chronicles 14:8-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

How many times have you asked for advice in your life?

For me, I think it would be impossible to count. There have been that many times. Maybe you can relate.

So who do you turn to when you are having trouble sorting things out, having trouble deciding what you should do in the midst of life’s circumstances?

A lot of people will seek wisdom from their parents, ones they typically trust as they have spent much of their life with them. Most parents have lived a lot of life and so they naturally become a great source of help as their children can draw from their experience.

But what if you need advice about something your parents don’t know about – or something you don’t want them to know about?

In these instances, we have a tendency to seek out others, people we respect and trust to give us some viable solutions to our problems, to give us direction when we don’t know the way to go.

If your issue is work-related, maybe this might come in the form of a senior person in your workplace, someone who has been at the company for a long time and knows all the ins and outs and inner workings of things.

Outside of work, you may have a mentor, a friend who you know cares about you and has given you sound advice in the past. You have seen them successfully navigate life and you see them as someone who can help you do likewise.

Perhaps, you don’t know who to turn to and so you go to a source unfamiliar to you but one that has the professional or spiritual credentials to counsel and guide. This may come in any variety of pastors or counselors who can assist others with personal or financial matters.

Indeed, there are no shortage of people we can go to when we need help understanding what we’re going through in life, no shortage of those who can listen to us and help point us in the right direction.

But here’s the catch. None of these people mentioned are perfect. They all make mistakes and they are all sinners so each has built in flaws that could possibly provide us with bad recommendations – and face it, we can deal with matters that we can’t afford to make a mistake. Just ask any number of people who listened to financial advice and ended up losing their life’s fortune.

This is why we simply shouldn’t make any person our first point of reference when we need help. Instead, we should be turning to God who is life’s best consultant.

We can see an example of this when we look at the closing verses of 1 Chronicles, Chapter 14. David is facing opposition from the Philistines and he’s not sure how to approach that threat. As we will see, he doesn’t hesitate to turn to God for advice.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went out to meet them. Now the Philistines had come and raided the Valley of Rephaim; so David inquired of God: “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, I will deliver them into your hands.”

So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand.” So that place was called Baal Perazim. The Philistines had abandoned their gods there, and David gave orders to burn them in the fire.

Once more the Philistines raided the valley; so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.”

So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army, all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him.

We learn from the scriptures that the Philistines, upon receiving word that David was anointed king over Israel, had decided to mount a search for him in order to do battle. It sure didn’t take long for David to be tested.

The Philistines began by mounting a raid on the Valley of Rephaim and that is where David went to meet them. But note that David just didn’t spring into action with his army. Instead, he consulted God as to whether it was the right time to attack. Note as well that David knew that if the Israelites were to have victory, it would be because God willed for it to happen, not from his efforts or any efforts of his fighting forces.

Scripture tells us that God did grant David permission to go into battle, saying that He was would deliver the Philistines into David’s hands. In other words, the Israelites would triumph and that’s exactly what happened.

David ensured his victory by first consulting with the God who would deliver it to him.

As we continue in this passage, we find that the Philistines weren’t willing to give up easily. We know this because they mounted another raid, this time in the valley and our focus needs to be on how David handled this second incident because it is of critical importance to us.

I say this because David didn’t assume that God was still going to deliver the Philistines into his hands just as he did the first time. No, David once again consulted God as to what he should do and as we see, it was a wise decision to make.

This is because God order to David was not the same as before. Instead of attack right away, God instructed David to lead his men around the Philistine forces, circling behind them until they were in front of poplar trees. Once there, David was to listen for the sound of marching from the trees, the signal from God that it was time for him to advance on his enemies for God was out in front, leading them to victory.

And so David did just what God commanded and predictably, God did once again help the Israelites defeat the Philistine army. As a result, David’s reputation was bolstered as word passed through surrounding lands of his victories, a word that brought other nations to fear Israel.

Friends, we have so much to learn from this passage today. Here are the key takeaways:

1. We should never enter into any action without first consulting God.

We should never rely on our own intellect and judgment or the wisdom of others above God. Period. When David relied on God to guide him, he and his people were victorious. Conversely, there are plenty of other incidents in the Bible where people failed and fell badly because they chose to not inquire of God before acting.

2. We should never assume that God’s plan in one instance will be the same in another, no matter how similar the occasions might seem.

We can’t see what God sees and His ways are always perfect. I’m sure if left to his own devices, David wouldn’t had come up with a plan to circle around the Philistines, stand in front of some poplar trees, and listen for marching sounds before attacking. No, he most probably would have done what anyone else would have done, face the enemy head on with the idea of defeating them mano-a-mano.

I don’t know why God had David do what He had him do. I’m sure David was confused as well. All I know is that God said it and it worked. That’s enough for me.

In my own life, I have learned to consult God on all matters. His path typically ends up being much different than the one I would have walked on but that makes sense because He is God and I am just a man. What He has taught me as I walk the course He establishes is that there is much joy in the journey, so much I would have missed out on had I went my own way.

A big part of that joy comes in knowing I was obedient to the One who always guides me the right way, the One who never leads me astray, the God who is life’s best consultant.

Is He yours today?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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