2 Samuel 5:23-25 - Make it a habit to inquire in the Lord in what you should do

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. And David did so, as the Lord commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer.’”

2 Samuel 5:23-25

Once again David inquired the Lord in what he should do. We can see from this that David was in the habit of inquiring of the Lord. David did not trust in his own wisdom when making choices. He trusted in the Lord. He also was obedient to the Lord and His guidance and direction in his life. Because of this he was successful in these endeavors. Inquiring of the Lord, listening to God, and obeying the Holy Spirit are essential to walking with God. Let’s get in the habit of inquiring of the Lord. Let’s allow God to direct our hearts. Let’s obey and do the Lord’s will. God will never steer us wrong.

Father, David was in the habit of inquiring of You in what He should do. May we be in the habit of that too. May we not trust in our own wisdom when making choices. May we trust in You. May we be obedient to You and Your guidance and direction in our lives. We know that You will never steer us wrong and our efforts will be successful. We want to walk closely with You, Lord. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

2 Samuel 5:19 - Take the time to inquire of the Lord in what you should do

“So David inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.’”

2 Samuel 5:19

As long as David inquired the Lord for guidance, his efforts were successful. When he did things apart from the Lord, he landed in trouble, even though he was anointed and appointed by God. The same is true for us. Take time to be with the Lord each and every day. It is never wasted time. It is time well spent. Be sure to inquire of the Lord for His guidance. He will lead and guide you. He will impress things upon your heart. Don’t base your decisions and do things apart from Him. You don’t want to find yourself in trouble. You may be called. You may be anointed. You may be appointed. But You still need the Lord’s guidance and direction in your life for your efforts to be successful. Even Jesus spent time with the Lord and was instructed by Him each and every morning. If He needed to, how much more do we.

Father, we see yet again another time where David inquired in You in what He should do. We can see in His life that when he inquired of You his efforts were successful. We can also see where he landed in trouble when he went ahead and did what his flesh wanted to do. May this be an example for us. May we inquire of You in what we should do. May we not go ahead and do what our flesh wants to do apart from You. We want our efforts to be successful. We don’t want to end up in trouble. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

2 Samuel 5:10 - Be an utensil that God can use

“So David went on and became great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him.”

2 Samuel 5:10

When we follow after God with all our heart as David did, the presence of the Lord will be with us. David continued on in his journey with the Lord and he became great. God wants you and me to continue on in our journey with Him and make us great too. Not for us, but for Him. He wants to use us for His purposes and plans in this world. He has an eternal perspective. Surrender your life to him each and every day. He is at work in us. Keep your heart pure. 2 Timothy 2:2 says “If you keep yourself pure, you will be a utensil God can use for His purpose. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work.” Let Him make something great out of you.

Father, we humble ourselves before You this day. You are great and You are worthy of our praise. Help us to keep ourselves pure and unspotted from this world. We want to be a utensil You can use for Your purposes. We want our lives to be clean so we will be ready for You to use for every good work. May Your presence always be with us and may we follow after You with all our hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

2 Samuel 4:8 - Please give us spiritual discernment

“And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, ‘Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life; and the Lord has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants.’”

2 Samuel 4:8

Ishbosheth heard that Abner had died. He lost heart. Ishbosheth had two captains. One was Baanah and the other was Rechab. Baanah, Rechab, and the sons of Rimmon went to Ishbosheth’s house and saw him laying in his bed. They stabbed him in the stomach. Baanah and Rechab escaped. They took Ishbosheth’s head to David. David was not pleased. He reminded them that when someone had thought they had done good with Saul and come and told him that he arrested them and had them executed. So David commanded his young men to execute them, cut off their hands and feet, and hang them. The young men took Ishbosheth’s head and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

David was not impressed by the men who tried to sound spiritual. He saw their evil heart as well as their evil deeds. David was a man after God’s own heart. He could not and would not delight in wickedness, even if it appeared to benefit him.

   

Father, help us to have spiritual discernment when dealing with others. May we be able to discern their hearts and see their deeds. May we not delight in wickedness, even if it appears to benefit us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

2 Samuel 3:37 - May our actions line up with our words

“For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it had not been the king’s intent to kill Abner the son of Ner.”

2 Samuel 3:37

Joab found out that David had sent Abner away. Joab felt that Abner had gone to David to deceive him. He thought that Abner was trying to find out the king’s coming in and going out, and to know all that he was doing. Joab didn’t trust him so he sent for him. When Abner came back Joab took matters into his own hands. He took a knife and stabbed him in the stomach. Abner died. When David heard the news, he was displeased. He said “My kingdom and I am guiltless before the Lord forever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner” (2 Samuel 3:28). He went on to say “Let it rest on the head of Joab and on all his father’s house” (2 Samuel 3:29). David mourned for Abner. They buried him and at Abner’s gravesite David “lifted up his voice and wept” (2 Samuel 3:32). The people that were there wept too. Then David lamented in a song. The people wept over him some more. David also wouldn’t eat. The people were able to see for themselves that it wasn’t David’s intent at all that Abner was killed. David innocence shone brightly. David acted wisely to back up his words with how he was feeling. His words and his actions lined up. When our words and our actions line up, everyone benefits. Psalm 17:2 says “Declare me innocent, for you know those who do right.” May our innocence, as David’s innocence, always shine brightly.

Father, we try our best to walk with integrity before you. We can’t make other people’s decisions for them. They are going to do what they want to, but may we act wisely. May we back up our words with how we are feeling. May our words and actions line up. When our words and actions line up, everyone around us benefits. Declare us innocent, for You know we are always trying to do what is right. May our innocence always shine brightly. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

2 Samuel 3:9 - Don't hold on to things too tightly - Love the Lord with all your heart

“May God do so to Abner, and more also, if I do not do for David as the Lord has sworn to him.”

2 Samuel 3:9

The war between the house of Saul and the house of David continued on. During the war Abner was trying to gain power for himself. Saul’s son, Ishbosheth, confronted Abner about sleeping with one of his father’s concubines, Rizpah. This caused Abner to lose his temper with Ishbosheth. He felt that he had personally saved Ishbosheth from David and his men. He was not happy that Ishbosheth made an issue out of sleeping with Saul’s concubine. Abner then and declared his loyalty to David. He would help David accomplish the transferring of the kingdom from the house of Saul to David so that David would be king of both Israel and Judah. Abner wanted David to make a deal with him so that he could bring the whole country of Israel over to David. David agreed on one condition. He wanted Saul’s daughter, Michal, to come back with him. We learn that Abner must have known that David was supposed to be king, but he had been helping Ishbosheth try to become king instead. For some reason he was acting against the will of God. One wonders why. It appears that He was trying to gain power for himself. He wanted to hold on to his position. The thing is that anything you hold too tightly, you will lose. Abner was holding tightly to his position of power. It is best to keep God first place in your life. 1 John 5:21 says “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.” Your loyalty belongs to the Lord. The Lord should be at the center of your heart. Anything else is an idol. If you hold on too tightly to an idol, you will lose it.

Father, may You alone be at the center of our hearts. May You be first place in our lives. May we not have any idols in our lives. We want You to be on the throneroom of our hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

2 Samuel 3:1 - It sometimes takes a battle before His will comes to pass

“Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. But David grew stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.”

2 Samuel 3:1

Just because the Lord had anointed David to be king when he was a young lad it took awhile for the kingdom to be given to David, His beloved. And just because Saul was dead did not mean that the kingdom was handed to David overnight. It took a long time for David to finally bring the nation together under his rule. Ishbosheth and his men and David and his men fought for quite a long time. Yet what our Father promises, He delivers—even if it takes longer than we had expected. We grow stronger and stronger as we wait for the promise to come to pass. Don’t be discouraged if you have received a promise in the Lord and it tarries. God knows your situation and in His timing it will come to pass. Stay closely related to Him. Spend lots of time in the Lord’s presence praying, praising, and worshiping Him. There may be a battle going on in the spiritual realm, but we know who wins. God always gets the victory. As you stand in faith and worship and adore Him, you will be encouraged and your faith will grow stronger. He is faithful and He will bring your promise to pass.

Father, we thank You for everything. We know that You have a plan and a purpose for all of us. We are Your beloved’s, the apple of Your eye.. What You promise, You deliver. Even if it takes longer than we expected. We grow stronger in our faith as we wait for You to bring Your promises to us to pass. We ask You today to loose Your angels to war in the spiritual realm for our behalf. Bring Your will, purposes, and promises to us to pass. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.