Psalms 27:4 One [thing] I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the LORD, And to inquire in His temple.
As I read 1 Samuel, I noticed a trend of David’s. Before he engaged in any battle, he inquired of the Lord.
1 Samuel 30:8 says, ‘So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake [them] and without fail recover [all.]” ‘
It’s like He needed God’s opinion about anything that he dared to attempt. He wouldn’t make a move without hearing from God first.
This was his custom as seen in 1 Samuel 23:2; (Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”) and 2 Samuel 2:1; (It happened after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.” David said, “Where shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.”)
This is so vulnerable of David, and yet recommendable. Yes his heart desired to pursue troops. But He desired to check if his desire wasn’t compromising His God’s. He wanted to confirm if he was in line with the big guy, or if he had a go-ahead from God, the highest authority.
In today’s setting, this could be related to asking God questions like; Should I marry him or her? Should I do this course? Should I join this? Should I be friends with so and so? Should I build in this place? Should I invest here?…
Shockingly, to all the questions David asked, God didn’t answer him with a ‘no’ at any one time. But what if to yours, He says ‘no’. He’d save you from pursuing something that could harm you or lead to your death. He’d save you from a bad investment.
In 2 Chronicles 20, Jehoshaphat set up a fast and prayed alongside his nation over the multitudes of enemies that had organised to attack them. In that inquiry, an answer came. God told them that the battle was His and not theirs. So they praised Him in advance. By the time they got to the enemy camp, their fiends had ambushed each other, died and left an abundance of valuables.
The Israelites enjoyed the spoils of a war they didn’t fight.
All to say that it’s a good thing to inquire of the Lord, even the simplest of things such as what you’d wear to work today or tomorrow!
Do not name your children after Alejandro, a character from a soap opera. Name them after inquiring of the Lord. Don’t lean on your own understanding!
By inquiring of God, we acknowledge that He is God, and Lord of our hearts. In so doing, He always, and I mean always DIRECTS our paths; Just like He did for David.
If you don’t inquire of God, how can you know that you are doing the right thing? How will you tell if you’re walking according to His will!
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:9, that a man’s heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps. Planning is different from directing. Directing is to execute or implement what had been envisioned by planning.
Other versions say ‘man can plan, but the Lord establishes His steps.’ This to me means, a man could have a vision, but the goals or objectives to attaining it could be blurry, unsure, too many or insignificant. By insignificant, I mean, they could not help at all fulfill the vision, yet the man thinks they can. Inquiring of God then sieves out the unimportant, and helps us save time with the most sure route.
When the poet realized this, he said, ‘commit to the Lord whatever you’ll do, and He will establish your plans.’ (Prov 16:3) So commit to him the coming year. Inquire of Him what He expects of you. Seek His guidance before you enlist your 2023 goals. Maybe some of our ‘new year resolutions’ fail because we never committed them to Him in the first place …
Inquire of Him today. Ask Him of what you ought to do, or His opinion about it and He’ll be delighted when you do, directing your next steps. 😇
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Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
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