After having just defeated the Philistines, David once more found himself threatened by them. What to do?
Instead
of going off his own idea, he chose instead to ask the Lord what to do just as
he had so many times before. In fact, this may have been one of the reasons God
called him a “man after my own heart.” (Acts 13:22).
God
was faithful to respond.
“As
soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move
out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you …” (I
Chronicles 14:15).
It
was as the Psalmist said, “a sign of God’s goodness” (Psalm 86:17). David
waited to hear that marching, and then God gave him victory.
This
story gives us a pattern for our own lives.
First. When we face a battle of any kind,
we first go to the Lord and ask what we should do. We sometimes struggle with
dashing into action before taking the time to pray and then regret our
impulsiveness. Best to pray first.
Second. We wait for God’s guidance and
watch for the signs of his goodness he might choose to send us. Sometimes, in
hindsight it’s easy to see the Lord’s mercies to us that we might have seen in
the present if we had been watching.
Third. We live in obedience to what He
has told us. When we hear the Lord, then we move accordingly.
The
point is also clear that it was God who had gone before David to fight the
battle just as it is God who goes before us in our battles. It’s comforting to
remember that the Lord is ahead of us in every situation. What a relief! We’re
not left alone in this world but have one fighting for us who is able to do “immeasurably
more than all we ask or imagine.”
So,
let’s listen for the marching in the treetops and take comfort in all God is
doing on our behalf.