2 Samuel 5:23–24: “Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, ‘You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come 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. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.'”

June 14th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Twice in this chapter the Philistines came against David, and both times he asked the Lord if he should go up against them. The first time God said yes, and the second time, no; but both times the Philistines were defeated. It was wise that David asked the Lord the second time and didn’t just assume he should do the same thing again, because the second time, God directed him to do the exact opposite of what He had told him the first time. Instead of a direct frontal attack on the enemy, God had them go behind the enemy and simply wait. The lesson here for us today is that the battle belongs to the Lord, and He wants to do things His own way. God seems to delight in doing things slightly differently each time He moves in our lives.

The enemy is always the same as he tries to destroy our lives. But God uses different approaches to defeat the enemy. It seems that God doesn’t want to be confined to a particular method. No doubt part of the reason is that He wants us to seek Him, the Giver, and not a dry, sterile method. In spite of this truth we find many still claim they have found the secret method to get what they want from God. This temptation to reduce God to a formula or a teachable program has resulted in many books, like “Ten Steps to God” or “Seven Laws of a Godly Relationship.” In the New Testament we see Jesus healing people in many different ways. Jesus put mud in one blind man’s eyes, His fingers in the eyes of another, and with yet another, He didn’t touch the eyes at all. God wants us to seek Him, not a method.

“LORD, forgive us for trying to reduce our relationship with You down to a formula, a method. We seek Your face and pleasure today, by surrendering to Your will now, in Jesus’ name.”