“After this, David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” The Lord said to him, “Go up.” David said, “To which shall I go up?” And He said, “To Hebron.”
– 2 Samuel 2:1
I love this picture in 2 Samuel 2:1, particularly in light of what we looked at in the podcast episode on 1 Samuel 28 and Saul taking things into his own hands under the guise of wanting to know the direction of God.
May we humbly go before God asking for Him to guide our every step, trusting that this will bring glory to Christ.
David Shows Us the Posture We Should Have Before God
The first thing David does here in 2 Samuel 2:1 as he prepares to be anointed king is he inquires of the Lord. He goes to God and says, “What shall I do? Where shall I go? You lead me, you guide me. I am looking to you.” This is the posture that God has called you and me to live in today to live looking to God. “Lead me, guide me, direct me in everything I do.” This is why I just think time with the Lord in the morning at least some kind of time. Maybe you have more concentrated time with God later in the day or in the evening. But some kind of time in the Lord when the morning where you just fix your eyes on God and say, “I need you to lead me today.”
One of the things I try to do each day, most days in my time with the Lord in the morning is just walk through the day as best as I know what’s coming. Which, I know, yeah, most days don’t go as you plan, but I might know, “Okay, these things are on my schedule. I know I’m going to be around these people. And I know I’m going to be in this place.”
We Can Ask God for Guidance in Each Part of Our Day
I just pray through every detail that I know that’s coming in my day and just pray, “God, please lead me, please guide me, please direct me when I’m in this meeting. Please, please God, I want to make decisions. I want to speak at this meeting in a way that is in tune with your spirit and your word. So help me in that way. God, when I’m having lunch with this person, God help me to encourage them. God, what can I do? How can I best encourage them in Christ? God, how can I best lead my family today? How can I best maximize this time at home that I have with my wife and my kids tonight?”
Whatever it might be, just to say, “God, I’m looking to you. You lead me, you guide me. Where do you want me to go? What do you want me to do? Please direct my every step. Please direct my every word.” I just want to encourage you to live like that. And to pray like that. Let’s pray like that now,
2 Samuel 2:1: We Ask God to Direct Our Steps
God, we fix our eyes on you. You are our Lord, you are our shepherd and we are so thankful you are. We are so thankful. You are a shepherd, you are our leader, you are our guide in life. And you are the director of our lives, so we look to you. We inquire of you. Much like David did here we inquire of you in small things as we’re going throughout our day and in big things as we have big decisions to make God we inquire of you.
I think about big decisions I’m trying to make right now and God, I’m just pleading for your help. What do you want me to do? Show me what you want me to do and I trust that you will lead, I trust that you will guide. We praise you right now for your faithfulness to lead us and guide us. You direct us. You’ve given us your very spirit inside of us. You’ve given us your word before us. Oh God, thank you for the way you lead us and guide us for your word that then we’ve got 66 books. God, thank you. Thank you for this gift, your revelation to us that guides our lives, and then for your spirit inside of us to apply that word to direct our thoughts, and our desires, and our actions, and our decisions.
Asking God to Help Us Walk in Obedience to Him
Oh God, fill us with your spirit we pray, and help us to walk in obedience to your word and total step with your spirit. So we inquire of you right now. Oh God, please help us, please lead us. How do you want us to live today? How do you want us to speak today? And how do you want us to love today? We pray that you will lead and guide us to live, to speak, to act, to love as you call us to, today. We trust this will bring you glory, others good, and us joy. Oh God, we pray this in Jesus’ name. 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.
