How to Know and Go with God’s Will

  How to Know and Go with God’s Will

1 Samuel 23:1-14

 

Intro: Backstory to 1 Samuel 23

 

The title of the message this morning is, “How to Know and Go with God’s Will.” The title comes from the content of 1 Samuel chapter 23 where David, who as we have seen in the weeks leading up to this chapter, is on the run for his life from king Saul who has set himself against David and is searching for David with a desire to put an end to him. In the midst of it all, we have seen many lessons David has been learning, there are ups, downs, mistakes made, prayers prayed, cries for mercy and grace, and recommitments to God’s will and way. As we continue through our study of 1 Samuel 23 this morning, we will see David turning to God with a desire to know His will and then we will see him go according to God’s will once it is revealed.

As we turn to chapter 23 and see David come to know and then go according to God’s will in his life, we see him model some essential postures for knowing and going with God’s will in our lives personally.  

In Luke 11:2-4, Jesus gave what is known as the “model prayer.” It begins with a focus on our Father, and a request for His will to be done.

 

Luke 11:2, Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.

 

Regarding the will of God, Jesus had much to say throughout His ministry. Regarding God’s will, Jesus tells us to remember and request it as we pray. Surely, there are challenges, difficulties and disparities that exist in this life between “thy will,” and “my will.” 

 

Illus. One’s will.

 

God has a will for our lives. He has direction for every situation and decision that we make. So I want to look this morning not only at how to know and go with God’s will in our lives personally. That said, we will look at four factors we must put in place in order to be those who know and go with God’s will. We will look at where to start, who to seek, what not to select, and how to set your course. Let’s first look at where to start…

 

1. Start With Surrender

 

1 Samuel 23:1-2, Then they informed David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are plundering the threshing floors.” So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”.

• The chapter begins with David receiving some news and then asking the Lord what to do.

 

• What David was informed that certain enemies of the Israelites, the Philistines, were going down to a little down in the Israelite territory of Judah, attacking them and robbing the threshing floors.

 

• The threshing floor what the place where after a harvest, the grain from the harvest would be separated from the straw and husks by beating out or having cattle walk on top of the sheaves until the grain was separated. Then the good grain would be taken for food.

 

• The Philistines were coming in, fighting the small town and taking their harvest and David hears about it.

 

• It was the type of news where upon hearing it, David may have already had in mind what he desired to do. I don’t know his posture prior to prayer specifically, but there are a couple of potential postures.

 

• One potential posture could have been, “thank you for the information, but it’s not my problem.”

 

• It was Saul’s job to protect Israel, he was the king. Clearly, however, Saul was not thinking of protecting and serving, rather he was set on killing David who God declared was the one who would replace him as king.

 

• Another posture could have been, “oh, the Philistines again? Didn’t they learn their lesson when I took out Goliath? I am going in!”

 

• Those are potential postures he could have had prior to his prayer, but we don’t know if either one of those represented his personal posture because upon hearing the news, what he decides to do is inquire of the Lord in prayer.

 

• He asked the question, Lord shall I go? Lord, shall I attack the Philistines and save Keilah?

 

• David inquired of the Lord. It is a word that means he asked, consulted, and sought the Lord specifically regarding what He desired David to do personally.

 

• David had been given news in the past and at times had gone in a direction immediately. As noted in the intro, when David learned Saul was set on killing him, we don’t see David in a posture of prayer, rather he ran away and put a plan of his own in place. It didn’t work.

 

• Here, David hears the news, it seems to me that David could very well have had an idea of what he desired to do… But David inquired of the Lord saying, “Lord, what do you want me to do.”

 

• When it comes to knowing and going according to God’s will, surrender is essential.

 

• To surrender something is to give that something up and into the power of another.

 

• It is a posture seen throughout the Scriptures.

 

• It was the posture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane…

 

Matthew 26:39, And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.”

 

Matthew 26:42, He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.”

 

Matthew 26:44, And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

 

• In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9, Paul wrote about a thorn in his flesh, that which kept him from exalting himself. He prayed and pleaded with God to removed that thorn in his flesh, but God responded to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”

 

Romans 12:1-2, Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

• Paul introduces and interesting idea in Romans 12…a living sacrifice.

 

• Those listening to, or reading his words would have understood a sacrifice as an animal, presented on an altar, put to death, and consumed. Sacrifices were not associated with that which was being sacrificed still living.

 

• Paul says, we are presented as living sacrifices, in other words, we are to pursue sacrificial living. Sacrificial living that is acceptable to God.

 

• A mind that is surrendered to God. not conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing of our minds.

 

• Then, Paul wrote, we will be able to prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

• That word “prove” means to recognize something as genuine. In other words, when you surrender to the Lord, transformed and not conformed, you are recognized and those displaying God’s will and way.

 

• It all starts with a surrender of your will and a submission to God’s good and perfect will.

 

• There is something called submissive neutrality. Where a person takes their desires, their wants, their postures, their will, and they set them aside and ask truly for God’s will to be revealed.

 

Isaiah 55:8-9, For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.

 

1. Seek Him and Select “No Substitutes”

 

• After the Lord told David to go attack the Philistines and save Keilah, the news gets back to the men who had joined David in the cave and would one day become his mighty men. This was their response to him…

 

1 Samuel 23:3, But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are fearful here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the ranks of the Philistines?”

 

• David had heard what the Lord had to say, and now, he is hearing what the people thought about the plan.

 

• These are the men who would need to go to battle with David and help him save the city of Keilah.

 

• David reveals to them that the Lord said “go,” and the people said, we don’t think so!

 

• I want to circle this people because it can represent the reality of situations we find ourselves in.

 

Proverbs 11:14, Where there is no guidance the people fall, but in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

 

Proverbs 24:6, For by wise guidance you will wage war, and in an abundance of counselors there is victory.

 

• Scriptures like these are encouraging, Scriptures like these are those that have helped me in seeking wise counsel throughout my life personally, but that counsel can never be a substitute for the counsel given from the Wonderful Counselor.

 

• David had an abundance of counselors. 600 were with him by this time. But those 600 were not advising him as God had previously defined.

 

Illus. Go with God.

 

• In other words, when you know God has spoken on a subject. When you have been given direction from His Word, when He has already presented the plan.

 

Proverbs 19:21, Many plans are in a person’s heart, but the advice of the Lord will stand.

 

• In life, there are going to be people waiting to offer their solution to your situation. Many times people will say, “if I were in your shoes, this is what I would do” ..But they are not in your shoes and the most important direction you can be given is what God desires for you to do.

 

• Jesus and Paul experienced this as well.

 

• In Acts chapter 21, Paul is headed to Jerusalem and three times in the chapter the people voice their thoughts and opinions regarding Paul’s direction and determination to walk according to the will of the Lord.

 

• In verse 4 we read of the people in Tyre telling him not to set foot in Jerusalem, “don’t go!”

 

• We read in verse four that they “kept telling Paul” not to go. “Kept telling” is written in the Greek present tense, meaning, again and again and again for seven days, they kept on telling Paul not to go. It’s a continuous form.

 

• Then in the Caesarea, a man comes down, takes Paul’s belt, binds his hands and feet, “In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and hand him over to the Gentiles.”

 

Acts 21:12-14, When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul replied, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” And since he would not be persuaded, we became quiet, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

 

• This is important for us to see because the reality is, there is competition when it comes to the voice of God.

 

Matthew 16:21-23, From that time Jesus began to point out to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. And yet Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You!” 

 

• When Jesus was on the cross, the people walking, the religious leaders, and also one of the criminals being crucified on a cross next to him said, “are you not the Christ? Save yourself!”

 

Matthew 26:39, And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 

 

• Jesus had gotten on board with the will of the Lord, he was not going to come down from the cross because he knew that He was making the only way, for the world to be saved.

 

• There is a volume of voices in this life. Telling you what to do, where to go, where not to go, and what not to do. But if you are in Christ, it is the Lord’s will that is the best direction for your life. This means that it is the volume of His voice that must be turned up.

 

Jeremiah 42:6, Whether it is pleasant or unpleasant, we will listen to the voice of the Lord our God to whom we are sending you, so that it may go well for us when we listen to the voice of the Lord our God.”

 

• If you are going to know and go with God’s will, select “no substitutes.”

 

Illus. No Substitutes.

 

• What did the people say to David? Don’t even go there…It is bad enough here!

 

• But David was determined to know and go with God’s will, so after hearing what the people had to say, he went back to the Lord.

 

1 Samuel 23:4-5, So David inquired of the Lord once more. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I am going to hand the Philistines over to you.” Then David and his men went to Keilah and fought the Philistines; and he drove away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

 

• David heard the words of the people and went back to the Lord again. It seems that he took their words into consideration, perhaps he even wrestled with what to do. But he did not allow their words to serve as a substitute from knowing or going according to the will of the Lord.

 

• The Lord then confirmed His words to David.

 

Jeremiah 29:12-13, You will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

 

Jeremiah 33:3, ‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

 

Matthew 7:7-8, Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

 

• Jesus’ invitation to “ask, seek, and knock” reads in the literal translation: “keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.”

 

• He is calling us to continually ask, seek and knock. When you don’t know what to do, how to get there or which way to turn; keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking.

 

• Seek His will and it will be defined!

 

Psalm 34:4, I sought the Lord and He answered me!

 

III.  Set Your Course According to His Counsel

 

1 Samuel 23:6-14

 

• In verse 6 to 14, we see Abiathar the priest come to meet David in Keilah and he had an ephod in hand.

 

• The news had gotten to Saul that David and his men went to Keilah to save the city from the Philistines.

 

• And Saul believes, wrongly, that it was the Lord delivering David into his hands. Saul saw the outward signs and seemed to believe that God was on his side of the situation.

 

• Saul then sends his men of war to Keilah to take David and his men out.

 

• David hears about it and makes no moves until he again hears from the Lord on the matter.

 

• The way he sought the will of the Lord was through the priest using the urim and the thummim.

 

• David asked Abiathar to “bring the ephod,” which was a garment worn by priests, particularly the high priest and on this garment there was a pocket with two stones, one was the urim and the other the thummim.

 

• Little is known about them; however, it is believed that one stone was white and the other black. Others suggest they were gemstones that would light up to reveal decisions.

 

• These stones were used with asking God for direction and they represented His answer. One stone meant yes, and the other meant no.

 

• This form of decision making is shown in the Bible, but the little is known about the specifics, but we know God gave revelation through them, and their use was prescribed by Him in the Old Testament.

 

• David again inquires of the Lord.

 

• He asks the Lord specific questions…Will Saul come down to Keilah as I have heard? “He will come down.”

 

• David asked another question, “Will the people of Keilah hand me and my men over to Saul?” The Lord said, “They will hand you over.”

 

• Isn’t that interesting, David and his men just saved them, but they are ready to sell them out before Saul.

 

• Perhaps they heard about what Saul had done to Ahimilech after he prayed for and helped David. They knew how brutal Saul was.

 

• David may have had his own thoughts even on that day. Wait a minute, we just saved these people, they wouldn’t turn their backs on us! He listened to the Lord, however, trusted Him, responded to Him, and set His course according to the Lord’s counsel!

 

Proverbs 3:5-6, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

 

• The Lord tells David what would happen if he stayed in that place, so David, after receiving counsel from the Lord, set out on his course, heading into the hill country and again we see him in the strongholds, hiding out in caves, but the his course was not being set according to the counsel of others, or his own will, but rather, he was going with God’s will.

 

Psalm 32:8, I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will advise you with My eye upon you.

 

Illus. Knowing and Going with God’s Will.

 

Psalm 119:105, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

 

1 Samuel 23:1-14