“But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, the Tishbite, arise go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, is it because there is no God in Israel that you were going to inquire Baal Zebub the god of Ekron?”
– 2 Kings 1:3
So here’s the setup right before 2 Kings 1:3, Ahaziah, the king falls and is sick and he sends messengers to Ball Zebub, the god of Ekron, to find out if he’s going to make it through this sickness. And Elijah, at the bidding of God, goes to these messengers and says to them, why are you looking to another God for answers? There is one true God that you are to seek and Ahaziah ends up hearing after this, that he will die. And as I read this story, I think about how prone you and I are when we need help, counsel, wisdom, to look to different people or to run after different things in this world instead of our first impulse always being to go to God.
The reality is God promises to give us wisdom when we need it.
2 Kings 1:3 Reminds Us God Gives Us Wisdom
When you have a difficult decision, is your first impulse to pray, to seek God, even to fast and ask God for help and direction, or is your first impulse to, let me ask this person what they think or let me go to this person for counsel. The reality is God promises to give us wisdom when we need it.
God desires to lead us in every way for our good, for others’ good for his glory. So why would we go to inquire anywhere else before God? And I’m not saying that God doesn’t speak through other people and use the council of others, particularly other brothers and sisters in Christ who are walking in step with his spirit or a variety of other means that God might use to help and lead and guide us. But the reality is, it’s God who we need to help and lead and guide us. And so we must always turn first and foremost to him.
2 Kings 1:3 Leads Us to Pray for Wisdom
Oh, God, help us, we pray, to inquire of you, to seek you in all things. And every question we have and decisions we make, small decisions, big decisions, God, we pray that you would help us to keep our eyes constantly fixed on you. That the impulse in our minds and our hearts would immediately be to turn to you, to look to you for help, for wisdom, for guidance.
And God we praise you for your promise to give us wisdom when we ask, to give us guidance for not just your promise to give these things to us, but the way you have put your Holy Spirit inside of us, the spirit of wisdom living in us, your spirit to guide and direct our thoughts and desires and our decisions and our words and our deeds, everything we do and filling who we are. God, we praise you for your spirit inside of us. And so we pray that you would help us to constantly inquire of you, to seek you, and to follow your leadership.
This Verse Leads Us to Pray for Other Nations
God, even as we pray this in our own lives, we pray for people groups around the world who are seeking after all kinds of false gods. Father, we pray specifically for the Domari Romani people of Iraq and Iran and the UAE, tens of thousands of them who right now do not know you as the one, true God. God, we pray for the Domari Romani people, this gypsy people group that you would draw them to yourself.
Oh God, especially this is a group that goes from land to land and is often nomadic. God, we pray that you would teach them to inquire of you and that they would find in you what their souls need most. In you, Jesus. God, we pray for your salvation among the Domari Romani people. We pray that you would draw them to inquire of, seek after you, even God, as we pray for this in our own lives, on a daily basis, make us a people who are constantly looking to you for wisdom and direction and guidance from your spirit, according to your word. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
