The Outcome of Constant Connection

Sometimes, when we think its all ok, thats when things start curling up again. David is now crowned king over Israel, has made the City of David after he took back Jerusalem from the Jebusites. Just when everything looked good, the Philistines, who had once given David refuge/some land in Ziklag, now came to fight David, when they knew that he had become king of Israel."17When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they all went up to find [him], but [he] heard of it and went down to the stronghold. 18The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the Valley of Rephaim." (2 Samuel 5: 17-18) . In response to this "19David 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 surely deliver [them] into your hand. 20And David came to Baal-perazim, and he smote them there, and said, The Lord has broken through my enemies before me, like the bursting out of great waters. So he called the name of that place Baal-perazim [Lord of breaking through]."(2 Samuel 5:19-20) So you think it got over here do you...well not so... Soon after this battle we see "22The Philistines came up again and spread themselves out in the Valley of Rephaim. 23When David inquired of the Lord, He said, You shall not go up, but go around behind them and come upon them over opposite the mulberry (or balsam) trees. 24And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then bestir yourselves, for then has the Lord gone out before you to smite the army of the Philistines.25And David did as the Lord had commanded him, and smote the Philistines from Geba to Gezer."(2 Samuel 5:22:25).

Here's some lessons I learnt from this experience David had

1. No two situations in our life are exactly the same, so we need constant direction from our Lord- Though David was fighting against the Philistines, twice, in the same valley of Rephaim, in the same manner. The Philistines coming and spreading themselves out in the valley and the likes. David did not forget to inquire of the Lord both times.Many times in life, we think, oh we've done this before, I know the strategies, I've fought the same battle before and I will win, but here David shows us something different. Though both situations, seem exactly the same, but when David inquires of the Lord, he finds that the way he has to fight the 2nd one is different from the 1st one. David did not take the situations in his life casually, he wanted God to be involved. Just because we won a spiritual battle by a certain direction from God earlier in our life, doesn't mean we'll win another one, by using that as a formula or a model. I have been through this in my life, when I thought, hey I've done this before and I prayed for the situation the same way I did for the previous one and guess what it didn't work. But then when I asked God to show me an answer for this one, I found the answer to be totally different, even though the end result of both situations were the same.We need to inquire of God, regarding every, I mean EVERY situation of our life.
2. Yesterday's strength will not win today's battle-Here's something wonderful I get to stress on again. Now just because David had inquired of the Lord for the 1st battle and God had given him the strength to win that one, that did not confirm David's victory over the 2nd one. Every day is new and different, even though sometimes we do the same work on most of the days. Just because I had food yesterday, doesn't mean that I don't need food for today. Today's strength to work comes from today's food, not because I ate yesterday. So also, our fellowship with God, strengthens us to face any situation in our life. Now thats a daily spiritual food requirement. Remember in the desert, the Israelites collected Manna every day for each day in the morning. So also, we must inquire of our Lord, every morning, for the directions to win our battles we face on this day.
3. We're never alone in our struggles/battles in life- Most of the time , when we read an account of battle in the OT, we might think David fought and won the battles. However in this episode, I find again, (another account was from Joshua's life) that the angel of the Lord fights against the enemies and the Israelite army just follows.In verse 25 of 2 Samuel 5 we read "24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because that will mean the LORD has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." .". So who do you think did the fighting. I remember reading this passage earlier when I was in college, and boy did it stir up my excitement about God. God told David to wait behind the Philistines, then they would hear the marching over the balsam trees. Now if David is waiting behind there somewhere, then who's sound of marching is it, on the balsam trees? It is our Lord God. I would like you to imagine, David and his army swinging the sword in every direction as they fight and the Lord striking the enemies on behalf of their swinging sword. It tickles me to think, that even when David might have missed hitting someone, that person would be dead, because its the Lord who was striking the army.In our lives too, when we're going through some trouble some pain, or battling a disease, or a fight for a soul of some loved one, God has given us directions, that He has gone out ahead of us and is fighting for us. We've got to swing our sword anyhow, we've got to do or part anyhow. That's faith, that God is doing what He promised. God would mold the person's heart, God would start healing that disease, God would make all finances become whole..and so on. If we ever thought, God has left us alone to fight the battles, I'd say, considering what happened here with David's life....THINK AGAIN.
   
   Conclusion: God honoured David amongst all the people of Israel, because David acknowledged God in EVERY step of his life. So far, whatever David has undertaken, he has not missed inquiring of the Lord. Even though the situations seemed the same, the fight seemed the same...David did not forget to inquire of the Lord. David had a steadfast relationship with God, and God did some pretty amazing things in David's life. David's life episode teaches us the importance of having a continuous dependence on God, because God knows even before we ask. He knows the end from the beginning.
   Isaiah 46:10 (Whole Chapter) I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come." Wouldn't we want God to steer our lives, to be blessed and to be a blessing?