Seek the Lord Before You Act

Good morning, welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we're going to be looking at the rest of 2 Samuel chapter 5.

We're going to talk more about David and how is this early kingdom coming together.

And today, well, we've got some interesting stuff going on.

Let's have some coffee. We'll pray. We'll get into God's Word.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for giving us this opportunity to read your Word.

It is perfect and true and righteous altogether.

Please help us to understand it.

And please, Father, give us wisdom how to see it applied to our lives.

Lord, we pray that we would understand the facts.

But that you would also help us to know how it impacts our lives.

In Jesus' name, amen.

Here we go. 2 Samuel chapter 5, beginning at verse 17.

Now, when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel,

all the Philistines went up to search for David.

Well, okay, so it's not going to take too long for there to become an adversarial type relationship here.

And David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.

The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

So David inquired of Jehovah, saying,

Shall I go up against the Philistines?

Will you deliver them into my hands?

And Jehovah said to David,

Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.

So David went to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there.

And he said, Jehovah has broken through my enemies before me, like a breakthrough of water.

Therefore he called the name of that place Baal-perazim.

And they left their images there, and David and his men carried them away.

Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the valley of Rephaim.

Therefore David inquired of Jehovah, and he said,

You shall not go up.

Circle around and behind them, and come up upon them in front of the mulberry trees.

And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees,

then you shall advance quickly.

And when Jehovah will go out before you to strike the camps of the Philistines.

Sorry, for then Jehovah will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.

So David did so, as Jehovah had commanded him.

And he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.

What we need to ask ourselves are three questions.

A. What's this about?

B. What's the best verse to summarize this in?

C. What are we called to do?

So A. What is this passage about?

David becomes king, and the Philistines immediately want to go find him and go to war.

Now there's a thematic thing here that happens.

David goes and he inquires of the Lord.

He wants to know from God,

What am I supposed to do?

Am I supposed to go out against them?

And so the Lord says, yeah, go ahead.

He goes out a second time and he asks God, am I supposed to go against them?

And no, no, no, don't go directly against them.

Wait.

Outflank them.

Come around.

Come outside the mulberry trees and then attack.

It's like the Lord is giving him the strategy for victory here.

And so the Lord is the one who is doing this.

It's the Lord, says to David, go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.

It's the Lord who's going to go out, right?

This is what God had promised even in the Torah, right?

When he was in the law, in the first five books, when he was telling them,

If you're going to go out, the Lord will go before you.

One will chase a thousand, right?

This is supposed to be that God was going to be on their side.

Don't put your trust or hope in princes or in horses,

but your strength should be in God himself.

And so, what is this getting at?

This is David defeating the Philistines.

So much so that, right, they're running, scared,

and they left their images there, and David, who's his men, carried them away.

Now, we don't have the rest of what they did with those images.

I'm hoping what they did with those images is put them under a heavy rock,

crush them into dust, and throw them out into the desert where they belong.

Sadly, I'm not sure we can be so confident because of Israel's history with this type of stuff,

but I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Let's hope that these were pious men after David, who had destroyed,

or were inquiring of the Lord and would destroy these idols.

So, the Lord is giving, is establishing David's throne.

What's the best verse to summarize this?

Well, I have in my Bible verse, what's that, verse 19,

Go up, and I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hands.

And then verse 24,

For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.

So, those are the verses I have underlined.

What are we called to do in response to these words?

What are we supposed to do here?

Do we trust in the Lord?

How often do we just rush into our plans,

thinking we're going to do whatever we're going to do,

and we don't slow down?

We don't go to the Lord in prayer and ask, right?

James even confronts us, right?

We'll say, oh yeah, I'm going to go to the market,

I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.

And he says, no, no, no, hold on.

You just say, if the Lord wills, I'll go.

How much do we plan our steps, decide what our days are going to be,

do whatever we want to do,

and we don't just ask the Lord,

is this what I'm supposed to be doing?

Now, I'm not sure that you're going to be a prophet,

like David was a prophet, right?

I'm not sure the Lord's going to speak directly to you.

But how frequently do we go to the Lord's Word,

and we find out whether these things are so?

By the way, I wish David had gone to the Lord

and asked whether he should be marrying all these wives,

even some of them who are foreign wives.

I wish he had done that, but he doesn't.

All right, so David's not a perfect guy here.

But when we find ourselves drawing near to the Lord,

we're reminded of his promises.

We're reminded of the ways of righteousness and of truth,

and especially of what it looks like to put on Christ

and to walk according to his law.

So I want to encourage you to dwell in Christ,

to enjoy God.

And as you get to know the Lord,

as you dwell in him,

as you long to communicate with him,

that he'll make your path straight.

He'll show you the ways you should go.

They're not always easy ways,

but they are the ways that he has planned for us,

because he loves us.

So let's go ahead and pray.

Father, we thank you that we can come to you

with our worries, our fears, our petitions,

as well as our thanksgivings.

When we don't know what to do, Lord,

we submit ourselves to you knowing that you are sovereign.

You are the king of the universe.

You are the one who is establishing David's throne.

You establish the throne of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

And Father, we know that you also care for us,

even more than the birds of the air.

So, Father, we pray that you would please help us

to follow after you,

to rest in your love,

to think more of you,

and to come and inquire of you, Lord.

Teach us the way we should go.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Well, may God bless you.

May you walk in the joy and peace of Jesus Christ.

May he guard your hearts and your minds always.

I'll see you next time.

Bye.

Thank you.