1 Chronicles 14:14-17 Therefore David inquired again of God; and God said to him, Go not up after them; turn away from them… The word "again" contains the kernel of the special teaching here. I. HOW DAVID ACTED HERE. 1. A wise self-distrust. Self-distrust may be sinful, as it was in the case of Moses, who could not overcome his diffidence even when God had given him the greatest of all encouragements, saying "Certainly I will be with thee." But there is a distrust of self, which is healthy and which leads a man on to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might; and that was what David had now and what secured his success. 2. A full confidence in God. He confided all the circumstances of his case to God. 3. A spirit of obedience. He was ready to abide by the Divine directions. 4. A recognition of wisdom beyond his own. II. HOW DAVID MIGHT HAVE ACTED. 1. He might have said the means which I had before will be enough now; I have very recently defeated those Philistines; their resources I know are much impaired, mine are not; I will go out against them at once. Such reasoning would have been wrong. Means which we have had before, even though intact, are not of necessity enough for us in a new emergency. The same circumstances seldom happen with every incident precisely alike. We may not see where the differences lie, but they may exist nevertheless; and perhaps it is precisely one of those unseen differences which will defeat us. 2. He might have contented himself with thinking generally that God would be with him. For this particular enterprise David asked specific advice. Specific acts of recognition of God receive specific blessings. Lessons — 1. The value of all close contacts with God. 2. We need not be afraid of wearying God with our frequent comings. 3. The value of new infusions of God's wisdom and strength into all old, well known, well tried and successful means. The means will never be any more to us than what God enables them to be. 4. Nothing need grow old with God to keep it fresh. III. WHAT CAME OF DAVID'S ACTING THUS? In all probability escape from defeat. The way which God pointed out in answer to David's inquiry, involved much from him. 1. Apparent cowardice. 2. Much self-restraint; but all these were but the preliminaries to triumph — the short time of waiting before God's plan was perfected in victory.Let us permit God's answers to work themselves out. They must generally evolve. We cannot consult God with reverence, obedience and love, without His taking an interest in whatever we bring before Him. (P. B. Power, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. |
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