Now What, God?

2 Samuel 2:1-11

¹ After this David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And he said, “To Hebron.

² So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel

³ And David brought up his men who were with him, everyone with his household, and they lived in the towns of Hebron.

⁴ And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah. When they told David, “It was the men of Jabesh-gilead who buried Saul,”

⁵ David sent messengers to the men of Jabesh-gilead and said to them, “May you be blessed by the Lord, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him.

⁶ Now may the Lord show steadfast love and faithfulness to you. And I will do good to you because you have done this thing.

⁷ Now therefore let your hands be strong, and be valiant, for Saul your lord is dead, and the house of Judah has anointed me king over them.”

⁸ But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul’s army, took Ish-bosheth the son of Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim,

⁹ and he made him king over Gilead and the Ashurites and Jezreel and Ephraim and Benjamin and all Israel.

¹⁰ Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. But the house of Judah followed David.

¹¹ And the time that David was king in Hebron over the house of Judah was seven years and six months.

There are often times when I look to the heavens and say, “Now what, God?” Circumstances may have changed or the future just seems unclear. What’s the next step? And every now and then, I get it right and ask God rather than just making it up as I go along. While I have never received an email from God, directing my future, He always makes His will clear and there is blessing in obedience.

David finds himself in just such a situation. The Kingdom of Israel has been defeated by the Philistines and her northern cities are enemy occupied. Saul and three of his sons are dead. It looks like the time that God had promised has finally arrived. David will be king over Israel. And yet the very first thing David does after mourning for Saul and Jonathan is inquire of the Lord about his next step. Instead of charging ahead and taking what had been promised, he takes a minute to actually ask God, “what’s next?” In the meantime, Ish-bosheth, Saul’s only remaining son, is place upon the throne by the commander of Saul’s army. It’s a logical move, right? While the text doesn’t state this, I find it interesting that David probably could have easily defeated what remained of Saul’s army. They had just suffered a terrible defeat at the hands of the Philistines and were most likely decimated thus making them easy pickings for David and his men. But this is not what David was told to do by God, so he doesn’t make that move. Instead he continues to wait. The folks in Hebron make him king over that area and one of his first acts is to commend the people who buried and honored Saul. Again, David’s strong character shines.

Our take home point for the day (at least for me personally) lies in those words of verse one. “After this David inquired of the Lord.” Would that all of my decisions could be prefaced by the phrase, “she inquired of the Lord.” On the negative side of that particular path are the times when we ask God what to do next only to lump His directives into the pile as one of the options we might consider. How often will God share His direction for our lives only to have us reject those thoughts and choose one of our own instead? I see this happen all the time in the lives of those around me (and honestly, I probably do it too). God’s path is not just something to be considered but a path to be followed. So, if you don’t want His direction, maybe it’s better not to ask. I’m not recommending that by the way; but I would suggest caution! Does God care enough to direct and guide you? Absolutely! Do you care enough to listen? That’s up to you.