Inquire

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

INGUIRE

1 Sam 23:1-14

23:1 When David was told, "Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors," 2 he inquired of the LORD, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" The LORD answered him, "Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah." 3 But David's men said to him, "Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!" 4 Once again David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him, "Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand." 5 So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah. 6(Now Abiathar, son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.) 7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, "God has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars." 8 And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring the ephod." 10 David said, "O LORD, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, tell your servant." And the LORD said, "He will." 12 Again David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will." 13 So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there. 14 David stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

NIV

We are in the times of Saul chasing  David with the intent to kill him. Again, we see the rage of Saul because the LORD was no longer with him; instead, his heart had turned to the dark side, motivated by hatred, jealousy, or evil. However, our story is about David and how he constantly inquired of the LORD. Within this narrative, he inquired four times. Once, if he were to go and attack the Philistines, second, he inquired about attacking the Philistines. David inquired of the LORD about the plans of Saul and if he was coming to attack him. Then he inquired if the people of Keilah would hand him over to Saul. Each time David asked the LORD a question, the LORD answered him. What stands out to us is that David was not asking for anything other than guidance in his daily life. Should he do this, or that? Will they do this or that? What should he do next? Your Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light onto my path, O Sovereign Lord. This is the lesson we need to take to heart, to always inquire of the Lord as to what our next step should be. Sometimes we get so invested, almost to the point of being distracted by trying to be a good Christian, or by doing all the right things we think a good Christian should be doing, that we miss out or ignore time to inquire of the Lord. We can see that the LORD answered David clearly as to what would happen and what he should do. We wonder if there are times when we either don’t want to inquire of the Lord, or simply forget to inquire because we are too interested in what we want to do, or think we are doing what the Lord wants. But, unless we take the time, if it is just a moment, for we are not told how long David spent in his inquiring of the LORD, then we will hear from Him as to what our should be our next step. However, to do that, we must take to heart the fact that His word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light onto our path. Then we would always  inquire.