What decisions have you made over the last month? Perhaps you left your job, put your house on the market, stepped down from a church role or joined a political party. And there will have been numerous smaller decisions every day. If you think about how you made those decisions, there will have been a mix of factors: gut feelings, consulting experts and friends, gathering information and weighing up consequences, and probably some prayer. So what does it mean to seek God’s wisdom on our decisions?

Today’s passage gives us two starkly different approaches. Saul still clings to the vestiges of his identity as God’s anointed king. He assumes events demonstrate God’s action on his behalf (23:7), but he doesn’t speak to God directly. In effect, he is operating on a purely pragmatic basis (23:13). By contrast, David constantly enquires of the Lord (23:2,4,10,12). They are in frequent dialogue and David’s trust of God is such that when God speaks, he obeys even when it means overriding his men’s very valid concerns. 

We aren’t told how God spoke to David, just that he was clear and direct. That’s not always the case, but if we are God-oriented as a general posture, our decisions will naturally be made in the context of this most important relationship. 

‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.’¹

A friend who has been a Christian for forty-odd years said, ‘Guidance does not get any easier with the years.’ We deal daily with choices, but every now and again the Lord closes a chapter and moves us into new areas: whether geographically, job-wise, in ministry or in relationships – and the decisions we face have long-term consequences. Seeking God in those situations and taking wise steps is not easy when so many factors are uncertain. 

David in our reading similarly encounters a challenge. On the one hand, the Philistines attack a Judahite city and he sees the need to help, as is the duty of a king. However, his men worry that coming out of hiding would expose them to danger and, indeed, the very city they deliver will later be prepared to betray them to Saul. In the midst of all this, David calls on God persistently until he is reassured and then he obeys. He is able to enquire of the Lord both in a personal relationship (vs 2,4), as well as through the ephod (probably referring to sacred lots to answer yes/no questions), which was available to kings through the priest (vs 9–12). In all this, he proves himself the model king.

In contrast, Saul, Israel’s de facto king, is so busy with his agenda (chasing his rival) that he neglects his royal obligations to defend the people of his realm. Neither does he ask for guidance but assumes that God presented him with the opportunity to catch David (v 7). Absorbed in his own concerns, he sees the Lord merely as an instrument for achieving his own ends. By the time he enquires of God much later, he has become so hardened in sin that the Lord no longer answers him.²

Lord, help us not to interpret events from our selfish perspective but to seek you until your answers are clear. May we be willing and enabled to follow through with obedience. 

¹ Ps 32:8, NASB  ² 1 Sam 28:6