II Samuel 5:23 says: “When David inquired of the Lord, He said, ‘You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.” This is in the context of war. :22 says the Philistines had once again come out and spread themselves for battle in the valley of Rephaim. It should be instructive to us that :23 then says “WHEN David inquired of the Lord” — because that is what he was in the habit of doing! We see repeatedly in Samuel that David habitually inquired of Yahweh before he made any move. He didn’t seem to do anything without asking God for direction first — which is what WE should do too!

But it is of note that THIS time, when David inquired of the Lord, He told him to do something DIFFERENT.

Instead of making a frontal assault as he did previously, God commanded David to circle behind the Philistines, because He was going to do something in the balsam trees (:24) which would help deliver them in a different way. Had David not inquired of the Lord, he would not have found this new direction, and the supernatural victory that God had planned on giving him.

This is a good reminder to us that we should not take for granted that God is always going to lead us to do the same things in the same ways. Like David, we need to seek Him afresh and and anew each day in prayer and in His word, and discover His Spirit’s leadership for what He is going to uniquely THIS time in His will for you! Like He did with David, He may want to give you a different direction this time. Don’t miss it because you didn’t seek Him!