1 Samuel 23:1-13
David Saves the City of Keilah
1 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 Therefore 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.” 3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand. 7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.” 13 So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.
Have you ever been guilty of acting before you ask?
Think about that if you live by the motto it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission then you may be guilty of acting before you ask.
Here is another example of acting before you ask, if you ever tried to put something together and not read the directions then you may be guilty of acting before you ask.
I remember when I first got married my wife and I got as a wedding present some IKEA furniture. And it comes in pieces. I got the total man moment. I said to myself I don't need any instructions. So I pulled out what looked like a million pieces, screws, all these things and I began to assemble this thing and I manage to mess this thing up so bad I was going to take a pitcher of it and send it to IKEA. From that day forward I always read directions.
Here is one more, You may be guilty of this one. You are driving and use the GPS app on the phone and it tells you to go out of your way and you think to yourself there is a sorter way. So you start going the way that is shorter and you see the app had a reason for the long way. Maybe it is an accident or construction on the road.
We live in a day and age when we have all the information at our fingertips but we don't use it. So we act before we ask.
In this section of 1 Samuel 23:1-13 and we find out how important it is to ask before we act. If we are to be individuals like David then we need to Ask God first in all things. David was a man who had a heart after God's own heart and part of that was he always was in communication with God. He prayed always.
In Psalm 5:1-3 David writes this, 1 Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You, I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will lookup.
Do you see David's beautiful instruction, before I even get out of bed I will pray!
Or we can look at Pauls word's, we need to be people who pray without ceasing in 1Thessalonians 5:17
Look at verse two 2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD. Now look at verse
4 Then David inquired of the LORD once again. Now look at verse 10 Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel. Also, look at verse 12 Then David said.
4 times in 13 verses David Prays and goes before the Lord. and God answered him each time.
The principle and truth to the text and the word of God are to ask always in prayer before you act. Can you see that?
But we can be like unruly Teens, right, like someone who takes their parent's car without asking.
I have older siblings who tried it and I learned it was not a good idea very early.
My dad would make you wish you had never done it.
Look at Hebrews 12:6-8
For whom the LORD loves He chastens, And scourges every son whom He receives.”
¶If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?
But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.
God chastises us just as our earthly fathers! Throughout Scripture, God portrays Himself as a Father. Those who have received Jesus as Savior are His children (John 1:12; Galatians 3:26). He uses the analogy of father/son because we understand it. He compares Himself to a loving father who not only blesses but disciplines His beloved children for their own good. Hebrews 12 goes on to show that those who do not receive God’s discipline are not legitimate children (verse 8). A loving father carefully watches his son, and when that son defies his orders and heads for danger, the father disciplines him to keep him safe. God does that with us. When a born-again child of God, heads for sin or refuses to resist temptation, our Heavenly Father brings chastening into his life to direct him back to holiness.
I want to be clear there is no such thing as one-sided communication David went before God and prayed and God answered him.
And it is so with us we are to pray and wait on the Lord. The bible says to Ask, Seek, and Knock.
When you look it up in Greek it means to keep asking, keep knocking and keep seeking. Not we pray once and not pray anymore.
God answers yes, no, or not right now. Have faith and stand upon His word.
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