1 Samuel 23:1-14
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Intro
Intro
How do you know what to do next? How do you know what God wants you to do next? That's easy slaughter a sheep and take out its liver, and based on its shape, you can tell what God wants. If that doesn't work, have a cup of tea; after it's all gone, see how the tea leaves form on the bottom of the cup. Based on the patterns that you see, you can tell the future. If that doesn't work, look to the stars, astrology is still prevalent, as people look desperately to the "universe" to give them a sign.
In that desire, we see how inbuilt our belief that God/someone is directing the course of history. And that if I could somehow know which way he wants me to go, then my life would be blessed. Of course, the problem is that people seeking the future from an impersonal "universe" are absurd, and looking at livers or teacups is no better. But we as Christians are not immune from strange ways of trying to determine God's will. We know indubitably that God is directing the course of history, including the path he chose for us. We know that he is not just sovereign over ends but also over every means of achieving those ends.
Yet Even Christians find themselves drawn to bizarre methods of discerning God's will. There's the guy who broke down in front of the Phillippine embassy and took that as a sign he should sell everything and be a missionary to the Philippines. Or there is the empty your mind method of praying, where you pray that God reveals his will, and the first thing that comes to mind is God's will. Or there is the flip to a random bible text method. Take your bible out and let it flip to a random page and then read whatever you put your finger on. Bruce Waltke recounts this method calling it "bible roulette."
A humorous cautionary tale against playing this kind of “Bible roulette” is of a man whose first finger pointing hit “[Judas] went and hanged himself” (Matthew 27:5); his second, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:27); and his third, “What you are to do, do quickly”! (John 13:27).
But all these beg the question, How can we discern God’s will? More importantly, is that even a good question, should we be trying to discern God's will? As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the narrator of 1 Samuel was giving us three little vignettes of David, the one in Nob with Ahimelech, the one in Gath with Achish, and the one back in Judah at the Cave of Adullam, which surfaced character themes that would be developed more fully in David later on. We noted in ch. 21 that David made some erratic choices that had disastrous consequences. Part of the problem was David was not relying on the Lord. He had not made efforts to inquire of the Lord to find out what God wanted him to do next. But then we noted by the end of those three little vignettes, that David was learning to rely on God. Because when back in Judah David listened to the voice of the prophet Gad, as the Lord directed him to stay in Judah. Now in our text today in ch. 23:1-14 we see the narrator draw out the way in which David has learned to rely on God. David does not make a move without first inquiring of the Lord and then listening for his response. Through this episode in David's life, we learn the importance of relying on God's ordinary means to discern God's will.
Because God has given us His ordinary means of grace, we must rely on his word with prayer to discern God’s will.
Summary of the text.
Summary of the text.
One thing that is important to note is that part of the events of this chapter is happening simultaneously with ch. 22. So that while David is saving Keilah from the Philistine raiders, Saul is executing holy war against Nob. Notice in v. 6 that when Abiathar fled to David, he came to Keilah. So from this, we may assume that David hears the news that philistine raiders are attacking the city of Keilah while headquartered in the wilderness of Judah. Upon hearing this, he inquires of the Lord, asking whether he and his men should go and deliver them. The Word from the Lord is yes, go up and deliver Keilah. Now there is some hesitation, so David again consults the Lord, and again the answer is, go up. So they deliver the city from these philistine raiders. It seems then that David takes up residence within the city.
Meanwhile, Abiathar has escaped from Doeg's massacre at Nob and fled to David at Keilah. The narrator gives us an important note that he escaped with the ephod when he came. This is important, and we'll get to the significance of the ephod in a moment.
Then Saul finds out David is holed up in Keilah, which, as Saul notes, is a walled city. Saul thinks perfect now I have David trapped. Of course, having just slaughtered all the priests and having no prophetic counsel, Saul believes this is an omen from God that he is giving David to him. Beware tyrants often think that their tyranny is sanctioned and blessed by God, fueling their often prideful vendettas. But somehow, David finds out that Saul finds out that David is holed up in Keilah. So naturally, he asks God what to do about it. David is worried that the inhabitants of Keilah might not be too keen on David once Saul comes around threatening. Again God directs his course and tells David it's time to move on from Keilah.
By inquiring of the Lord.
By inquiring of the Lord.
The narrator presented two pairs of two times when David inquired of the lord; each pair is similar but different. We noticed a moment ago that the first context for David's inquiry was while still in the wilderness of Judah. The question is, what's going on here. When the text says, "David inquired of the LORD," what does that mean exactly? Is David just praying and then hearing an audible voice from God? I am sure that many have read stories of particularly OT saints like this one and wondered what was going on. The theological question underneath this relates to revelation. How has God revealed himself to us? Theologians have distinguished between a general revelation and a special revelation. God has revealed himself generally in his creation. The order, beauty, complexity all point to a creator. Romans 1 maintain that:
Romans 1:19–20 (ESV) — 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
But this knowledge that there is a god is not enough to save man from his sin, only enough to render him without excuse for not worshipping him. But to know God for salvation, man needs special revelation. Special revelation is God's Word; first and primarily, the Word is His son, the second person of the trinity, the divine Word (Logos) of God. God has fully revealed Himself in the person and work of His Son. But as of course, you have noticed, Jesus does show up until midway through history. So before Christ, how did God reveal himself? Special revelation is the progressive unfolding of God's revelation of Himself by His Word and Acts, by what he has said (of himself and of us), and what he has done (creation and providence). Both of these are written down for us by prophets, men whom God spoke to you, or were witnesses of his mighty acts.
But we may further ask how did the prophet hear God's words? There were many ways that God spoke to his people in the Old covenant. By dreams and visions, by signs, by what's called Urim and Thummim, which we'll talk more about in a moment, by messengers like angels, and sometimes God spoke directly to them, like Moses. But the usual way that God spoke was through his prophets, some of whom heard God speak to them, but many received dreams or visions where God told them what to say. David has the prophet, Gad, with him (see 22:5). So it is most likely that he inquirers of the Lord through him.
But there was also a way for a priest to get a straightforward yes or no answer through Urim and Thummim. Now not a lot is known about how these work. Most think they were some sort of flat stone, maybe with white on one side and black on the other. You would cast them like dice; if you got two white sides, it was yes, two black sides not, and one of each no answer from God. These were kept in the priest's ephod, which is evidently why the narrator alludes to Abiathar bringing with him an ephod. So in the second pair of inquiries, David seems to have consulted with these for an answer from God, receiving two yes answers.
First, I want to draw out a couple of essential things from David inquiring of the Lord. First, Saul is always in Samuel, a foil for David. The hallmark of Saul's kingship is his refusal to listen to God. He did this by not listening to God's spokesmen, His prophets, but chiefly Samuel. On the other hand, David is shown to be attentive to the voice of the Lord through the prophet. They give him a word from God, and he does it. That is what it means to be a man after God's own heart. It is to be a king whose attention is directed to God, waiting to hear his voice and responding in absolute obedience. Secondly, whereas Saul continues to act as king, he does so without a prophet or priest to guide him. Saul lacks God's ordinary means of grace to guide his rule of God's people. This is made more explicit still in the missions each man chooses. Saul is hell-bent on persecuting David and anyone thought to be colluding with him. So he wastes valuable tax money, soldiers, and other valuable resources pursuing a personal enemy who is no threat to the nation. In contrast, David hears of the Philistine incursion on Keliah and promptly gives aid, even though he is in hiding. David is acting like a king; Saul is not. David is doing the right kingly things; Saul is not. David inquires of the Lord, and God responds. Saul hardly ever inquires, and when he does, God doesn't respond, as we will see in Ch. 28.
You might think I thought you said when you began this sermon that you didn't need to resort to divination tricks to discern God's will? Are you saying we just need to get some stones and cast them at the next hard decision? The answer is you are right. We don't need to resort to divination tricks, nor should we be casting Urim and Thummim, or dice, or lots, or any such means, and here's why. Jesus! Jesus changes everything. The author of Hebrews puts it this way:
Hebrews 1:1–2 (ESV) — 1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
By prophets, he means all of the ways in which God spoke to his people in the old covenant, and by Christ, he means that God has more fully revealed who he is in the person and work of His Son. Christians have always struggled with the relationship between the testaments. Is there continuity? If so, how much? Or is there discontinuity, and again if so, how much? As reformed Christians, we lean into continuity. Following the majority throughout church history who have seen as St. Augustine said, “the new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.” We see one over-arching story of God's grace, progressively unfolding, as God's promises all build upon each-other reaching their culmination in Jesus Christ. Westminster puts it this way:
33. Was the covenant of grace always administered after one and the same manner?The covenant of grace was not always administered after the same manner, but the administrations of it under the Old Testament were different from those under the New.
34. How was the covenant of grace administered under the Old Testament? The covenant of grace was administered under the Old Testament, by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the passover, and other types and ordinances, which did all fore-signify Christ then to come, and were for that time sufficient to build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they then had full remission of sin, and eternal salvation.
35. How is the covenant of grace administered under the New Testament? Under the New Testament, when Christ the substance was exhibited, the same covenant of grace was and still is to be administered in the preaching of the Word, and the administration of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper; in which grace and salvation are held forth in more fullness, evidence, and efficacy, to all nations.
David was faithful to avail himself of the means that God gave him to inquire after his will. But were you to attempt to use those means, it would be as if Christ had not come, and the Spirit had not been given. God has replaced those means of grace with different ordinances. These latter days as the author of Hebrews refers to them, are marked by simplicity, Word, sacraments, and prayer, and I would add to that the communion of saints (our fellowship together as the Body of Christ).
David sought the prophet and consulted with the priest who had the ephod, but how do we inquire of God? Actually, not all that different, just a different prophet and better priest. We inquire through Jesus, the great prophet and priest and our king. Unlike the mediators that David had to go through, our mediator is perfect. He never gets the message wrong; his sins never get in the way. He speaks a more perfect word from God, a sure and abiding Word because he is God. And as a priest, he not only offers sacrifice to atone for our sins, but he offered up himself as a sacrifice, taking away once for all the guilt of sin, offering absolution that earthly priests as mediators could only approximate.
This is why Jesus taught his disciples.
John 16:23b (ESV) — Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
We have God's ear because we come to him through his son Jesus Christ. Ending our prayers in Jesus' name is not some cute evangelical Christianize. Whether you say it or not, all our prayers are offered to the Father through the Son—He is our mediator.
The first part of the answer to the question of how do we discern God's will is reliance on God in prayer. As Christians, we know we need to pray; we may even have seen the power of prayer through God's answers. But for many, prayer is hard. If nothing else, it's hard because it seems one-sided, and it sometimes seems like nobody's listening. Prayer is nothing other than the voice of faith or faith's expression. The content of prayer is inexhaustible, for literally, everything is within the purview of prayer. Jesus taught his disciples a simple form of prayer, the Lord's prayer, which provided structure and some hint at content.
The attitude of prayer is dependence, for it is the expression of creature to creator. A good heuristic that I often use is ACTS: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. As WLC # 178 says:
178. What is prayer? Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of His Spirit; with confession of our sins and thankful acknowledgment of His mercies.
David said Lord, what do I do? How do I proceed? What direction should I take? In doing this, he shows us the path of wisdom, which is a daily reliance on God to direct the course of our lives according to his will and for his glory. Inquiring of God means making use of his ordinary means of grace, namely, prayer, offered to the Father, in Jesus' name, and by the Spirit. And then waiting for his response.
By listening to his response.
By listening to his response.
Each time David inquires of the Lord, the Lord responds to him. First, through the prophetic witness, probably the prophet Gad. But also through the yes/no answer of the Urim and Thumim, through Abiathar, the priest. We outlined earlier that David is not resorting to pagan divination practices but is availing himself of the ordinary means of grace as administered under the old covenant. The new testament means ordained by God for the same purpose we saw is prayer, offered to the Father in Jesus name, by the Spirit. Prayer is many things, prayer is a way of expressing praise, thanksgiving, a way to cry out for forgiveness, and it's also the way we inquire of the Lord for direction.
You might be thinking to yourself, OK, I get prayer, it's not easy to do or be consistent at, but I get it. But I have done that. I have asked God for direction. The harder question, and why we might find it so easy to resort to some form of divination, is hearing His response. If David received direction, according to God's will, to the questions he asked through the various means God gave him can we expect the same thing and with the same level of specificity? To answer that, I want to take a brief detour and ask, is discerning God's will even a good question? Is that something God wants, God encourages us to do?
To discern or not discern
To discern or not discern
What do we mean when we ask that question? We mean ordinarily what is GOd's plan for my life, particularly as it relates to some event or decision in your future. What is god's will for my vocation or my choice of colleges? Or, what is God's will for buying a house, etc.? We usually mean particular things when asking God what His will is; do I do this or that?
Scripture speaks of the "will of God" in primarily two different ways. One is often called His decretive will , which is His sovereign plan by which everything comes to pass. So we read Paul in:
Ephesians 1:5 (ESV) — 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
Our predestination to be adopted as Sons is a part of God's Decretive will His sovereign purposes. Scripture speaks of this as God's plan or God's purpose. It is unalterable. What God has decreed will happen. Luke includes the crucifixion of Jesus at the hands of lawless men in Acts 2:23 as part of God's decretive will. Further, we are warned from trying to speculate what God's decretive will is beyond what he has revealed to us. As Moses warns:
Deuteronomy 29:29 (ESV) — 29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
The things revealed belong to what we might call God's prescriptive will or His moral will. For this scripture uses the language of desire, wants, or wishes. So Paul says
Romans 12:2 (ESV) — 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
As Paul expresses it here, the will of God is what is good and acceptable and perfect, which is set in contrast with conformity to the world. So to renew your mind is to align your desires with God's desires, not the worlds. The prescriptive will of God is not a mystery. God has clearly revealed his desires for how we live in relation to him and our neighbors.
Given these two different ways, the scripture speaks about the will of God which way do we mean when we ask what is the will of God for this situation? Here is where well-intentioned Christians turn and act like pagans. For often, we are not asking how I conform my life to God's desires according to his prescriptive will. Rather we ask, what are the secret plans of God so that I can make sure I am in them secure in his favor.The problem with this kind of thinking is that it wants to shortcut the process of being for immediate results of knowing. But God is less concerned with giving us the answers to every future problem, like some sort of cosmic genie, then he is concerned that we become the kind of people who react to all the variety of situations in life in the right way.
So discerning the will of God is attending to the desires of God, what he loves and what he hates. And God has revealed His will for us in His Word. So we learn the mind of God concerning who we are to be in His Word. That is by attending to the means of grace that God has given for us to discern his will. Indeed, that is different than it was for David. And we are not guaranteed the same level of specificity that David was given when making his decisions. But the same principles undergird them.
By attending to the word of God, reading it, hearing it, listening to it, responding to it, we are being conformed to what is good and acceptable and perfect; we are being conformed to the will of God by the renewing of our minds. That action is preparing us to act according to God's will in every situation that God's plans and purposes bring us to. David has learned the lesson already that going at it alone turns out badly, but even David's bad decisions were a part of God's will. God used all those moments of desperation to teach David to rely on God.
Prayer is not about getting God to do what you want but more about aligning yourself to be what God wants. Lex orandi, lex credandi "the law of praying is the law of believing." Prayer is faith seeking understanding. This is why prayer and the word go together as handmaidens. We don't have the quick-fix solution of divination, but behind those assumptions is bad theology. For there is no decision that you will make that is somehow outside of God's will, for even your sinful actions, mistakes, and big-time blunders, all of those are a part of the will of God for your salvation. Which is a huge weight off. Because you don't need to agonize over whether you choose the right spouse, you did; or the right job, or the right house, because whatever situation you find yourself in, the will of God for you is your conformity to Christ. And as that happens, as you are shaped to be more and more like Christ, you are being conformed to be the kind of person who responds according to God's will.
Because God has given us His ordinary means of grace, we must rely on his word with prayer to discern God’s will.