SHOULD I GO...AND IF SO, WHERE?

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In Christ, Mark

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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 our 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. My wife 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. At the time, 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…something that led to me having to make my difficult decision. For my church was associated with a denomination that decided to change its 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. It led me to a place where I needed to ask the Lord what I should do…stay at the church or go.

The answer came loud and clear. I was to go.

And so we did go and I wouldn’t be truthful if I didn’t say it was extremely difficult. We had developed so many loving relationships 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 and obedience to His Word were 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 the scriptures in all things. It didn’t take us feel blessed to be a part of our new church family and over time the Lord opened up opportunities to serve in many of the same roles I held while at my former church.

Shortly after the COVID period in our country, I once again found myself faced with the dilemma of remaining a part of my congregation or moving on into another church to serve. This time the problem was internal, one that left me feeling betrayed by someone I had trusted. And so I went to the Lord again for guidance and as before, He showed me it was His will for me to move on.

So once again, we prayed over the next step and again, the Lord showed us just the place He wanted us to worship and serve. We’ve been actively doing that ever since and again, I am in many of the same roles with even some additional ones added.

Through it all, I’ve learned that we go through different seasons in life and this includes spiritual ones. Like fall transitions to winter which ushers in a spring that leads to summer before the cycle repeats itself, we move from one point to the other in life. The good news is that the Lord is always there to guide us and dictate moves when they happen as long as we simply trust in Him.

Why go into this?

Because it directly informs our message today as we look at the closing verses of 2 Samuel, chapter 5. Let’s look again at those verses here:

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

Here, we find David, the newly anointed king over all of Israel, at a point where he needed guidance. This was because he faced a threat from the Philistines who went in “full force to search for him”. Yes, this was the same Philistine army that he nearly ended up fighting alongside 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 this time around.

And 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 here that David could have just made the decision himself. But if he did that, how could be sure that what he was doing what God wanted him to do?

And so David, who we know was described in the scriptures as a man after God’s own heart, wisely asked Him if he should go and He would bring him and the Israelites to victory. In response, we see where Lord tells him to go for He was indeed going to hand over the Philistines to David and his army.

With that, David and his forces went as the Lord commanded and attacked the Philistines as they were “spread out in the Valley of Rephaim”, defeating them at Baal Perazim. Then David did something just as important as being obedient to God’s calling for we read where 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."

Well, unfortunately the Philistines weren’t about to give up. For once more we read where they “came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim”, prompting David to once again go to God and ask whether or not he should go forward and attack again. This time, the Lord had some different counsel, 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 this direction, “did as the Lord commanded”…and “struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer”. In the end translation, he and the Israelites gained victory but none of it would have been possible without first seeking God’s will…first asking if they should go…and then once permission was granted, where to go. When it all played out, the Lord positioned David and his men right where He wanted them to be so He could deliver them to success…just as He guided my wife and I to new church homes.

So what’s our take away from this passage?

First, God always has a place where He wants us to be. We only need to ask Him where He wants us to go first.

Then, we need to go to where He wants us to go so to experience success and victory in and through 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 where we will ultimately give Him all honor, glory, and praise…honor, glory, and praise for His goodness, faithfulness, and guidance that always puts us where He wants us…when He wants us there…to fulfill His blessed purposes through every season in life.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.