Daily Thought

On many occasions when David asked God specific questions, he got an immediate answer, see 1 Sam. 23. 2; 1 Sam. 30. 8; 2 Sam. 2. 1; 1 Chr. 14. 10; and now 2 Sam. 5. 19.

The circumstances this time were as follows. All the tribes of Israel had come together to acknowledge David’s God-given right to the throne of the whole country; ‘the Lord said to thee, Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be a captain over Israel’, v. 2. They solemnly accepted him and anointed him as king over all Israel, v. 3.

His first action was to capture the hitherto unconquered city of Jerusalem and make it the new capital city. God blessed him, and ‘David went on, and grew great, and the Lord God of hosts was with him’, v. 10, and ‘David perceived that the Lord had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake’, v. 12.

David won the acclaim of some neighbouring countries (e.g., Hiram king of Tyre, 2 Sam. 5. 11) but he was perceived as a serious threat by others, e.g., the Philistines, his erstwhile protectors. They invaded the country and camped in the valley of Rephaim, v. 18. Naturally, David ‘enquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? Wilt thou deliver them into mine hand?’, v. 19. The answer was very positive, ‘Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand’, v. 20. There was no doubt about God’s promise - this reminds us that ‘all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God’, 2 Cor. 1. 20.

At first, when David attacked the Philistines, he had a great victory. However, the Philistines regrouped in the valley of Rephaim, so David enquired of the Lord again, this time about specific military tactics. The Lord replied ‘let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines David did so, as the Lord had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba to Gazer’, vv. 24, 25. David really could trust and obey!