(1 Chronicles 14: 8-17)
King David has settled in as king over all of Israel. He has captured Jerusalem and is living in his new palace. He has consolidated his power and is ruler of the entire nation of Israel. Life is good. He is enjoying his life with his wives and his many children. He has hundreds of thousands of warriors ready to do battle at his command. As they say "it is great to be king".
At least for now, David is God's man. He is living and ruling in a way that pleases God. (we all know what happens later) He is called "a man after God's own heart". (1 Samuel 13:14) This is reflected in David's desire to "inquire of God" before he would take action. The Philistines had invaded Israel and raided the Valley of Rephaim to find King David. He learns of their action and pauses to seek God's will in the matter. "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?” (1 Chron 14: 9,10)
For many people in positions of power (and even those that are not), the idea of "inquiring" of God is simply unheard of. They have the power and the ability to make decisions and they rely on their own wisdom. After all, they are "kings"! Too many times, we make our plans and proceed with their execution without ever seeking God's guidance or blessing. We realize later that we didn't include Him and we ask Him to bless what we have already done. Don't get me wrong, it is good that we ask Him in later, but to be sure, He wants to be included in the planning.
James gives us insight into how we should view our planning. "Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil." (James 4:14-16) When we consider our future, our attitude should be that whatever I plan to do, God's will is in charge from the beginning. To make plans without considering His input is arrogant. We have elevated our "wisdom" above God's.
David understood that even as king, he still needed God's direction in his life. He knew true success was found in God's will and not his own. Real success is when we invite God into our plans, submit our plans to His will and then go into battle with His assurance of victory. When we live out that kind of submission, He receives the glory of the success, not us. He is magnified, not us. When we are asked about our successes, we will point to Him. I like that!
May our prayer be that whatever we undertake that God will lead, not follow. That His will be done, not ours. As Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." May we trust the One who made us to lead us. Our own understanding is limited, but His is limitless.
What has really frustrated me this last 6 months or so (maybe longer) is that inquiring of God now does not appear to be what it was for David.
ReplyDeleteHe did not ask a bunch of his respected friends. He did not wait for some type of feeling, or for doors to open or close. He asked God.
The part that I love about that passage is: "The LORD answered him". Then God gives David an answer directly related to his inquiry.
What do I hear when I inquire of God?
nothing.
Maybe David was special, maybe God just doesn't answer people like that anymore, but it's pretty frustrating. The response I get when I talk to people about it is, "maybe you just aren't listening to the answer," or "if God did that, we wouldn't need faith."
Neither of those makes any sense to me at all. David had no way of misunderstanding God's answer; it was clear and directly related to his inquiry. Apparently hearing from God directly wasn't a symptom of lack of faith, either.
Any thoughts on this, Dale?
Lloyd, I wrestle with this myself. Sometimes I wish we could hear from God the same way David did, but then again we have so much more from God than David did. I ask God for wisdom and insight from His word before I make decisions and plans. I am relying on this approach more and more as time goes by. I believe we have His complete will, we are told we have everything we need for life and godliness. I have found that when I am disconnected from God and His will, I am not in His word and spending time in prayer. I totally understand your frustrations, many times it would be awesome to hear Him say.....don't do this or do that. Maybe He wants to see what we do with what He has given us. Don't give up!! Hope to see you soon.
ReplyDelete