What is the measuring stick that you use when making decisions? What is your default setting, your go to guide, when indecision makes its inquiry? What are your investigation methods when searching for resolution?

If anything, this global pandemic season has called for some defining spiritual, financial, emotional, and practical decisions.

I’ll ask this question again: what decision have you made during lockdown – something that you’ve started or stopped – that has been a defining moment for you in the last ten weeks?

These questions plague our minds, begging for answers we can’t seem to find: How do we survive this economic epidemic in our home, and in our businesses? What decisions do we make today that will see us through this crisis? Do we send our kids back to school? How can we cut back on our spending? How can we change the direction of our business so that we can survive this pandemic? Do we go back to church now that the government says we can? Does working from home become a more permanent option for us? What are our personal feelings about level 3 lockdown and how do we go forward and proceed with caution while maintaining a relatively ‘normal’ life? Do we need to change our definition of normal in the current global circumstances?

Decisions. Decisions. Decisions.

In 1 Samuel 23, David faced some difficult yet defining decisions that shaped his life.

Let’s look at the first two verses for now:

Verse 1:

When David was told, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing floors,”

Keilah was a town of Judah. The citizens of Keilah had just harvested and threshed all their grain and then the Philistines had stolen it from them. So the citizens ran and told David what was happening. A few interesting things to take note of here:

1. David was in hiding and on the run from king Saul. Saul wanted to kill David because of his jealousy towards him: (1 Samuel 18). David was not king, yet these people took their troubles to David and not king Saul.
2. King Saul was an unfaithful and unrighteous man and the citizens of Keilah recognised this. So, instead they ran to David; a faithful and righteous man of God.
3. God loved His people too much to see them serve at the mercy of a wicked man. So instead, the Lord gave his people a man after His own heart, David.

Acts 13:22 – “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”

Can the same things be said of you? Will God find you faithful? Are you living a life of obedience? How have you chosen to live your life? Are the decisions you have made for your life God honouring?

God had a plan for Davids life. David filled his role as king before he even became king. God allowed people to see David through Kingdom perspective and not an earthly one. There was a huge anointing on Davids life that was evident to everyone, including Saul. That’s why Saul wanted him killed.

From a shepherd boy to a shepherd king, from tending sheep to leading people, from the pastureland to a royal kingdom. Gods plans for our lives are always greater than the plans that we construct for ourselves. He takes the ordinary and turns it into the extraordinary. However, it will require our godly discernment through prayer and our response of obedience.

Verse 2:

“He inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord answered him, “Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”

David had every reason, by very logical explanations, to say NO to the men that asked him to help them. Here’s why:

1. David wasn’t king. Therefore, he had no obligation to help them.
2. David had enough worries of his own to be burdened with someone else’s worries.
3. David was on the run from Saul and if he came out of hiding he would have exposed himself. Therefore, his life was at risk.
4. David had an ‘army’ full of men with less than stellar resumes and bad credit records. (1 Samuel 22:1-2)
5. David could have also said “YES, I can fix this problem” to the men who asked him to save them. But then he would have operated in his own strength.

However, David inquired of the Lord. (1 Samuel 23:2)

What is your default setting when making decisions? Do you run to friends, family, google, self-help books? Or do you run to the Lord? Do you inquire of the Lord when you’re feeling overwhelmed and under pressure, uncertain and undecided?

Three things stand out about Davids character:

1. David loved God.
2. David loved Gods people.
3. David was a man after Gods own heart. (1 Samuel 13:14)

Davids response shows us that he was a man of wisdom and godliness. He responded to life’s circumstances through the lens of godly discernment. Do you?

It’s important that we take a look at our own lives when reflecting on Gods Word. We can use it as the perfect measuring stick when making decisions.

Can the same be said of your character? If not, why not? What will you do differently from now on? What is God teaching you through this story? How will you tackle the rocky terrain of indecision? 

Write. Read. Remember. Pray!

Attached please from the corresponding Bible Study:

Isaiah 30:21 – “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”