2 Sam 5

To read this in Vietnamese, please click here.

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One battlefield, two strategies...

I. Click here to READ 2 Samuel 5 first.

II. One thing the Bible teaches: (Having heard that David had been made king over all Israel, the Philistines planned to attack...)

18 Now the Philistines came and overran the Valley of Rephaim. 19 So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You hand them over to me?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly hand the Philistines over to you.” . . . 

22 Now the Philistines came up once again and overran the Valley of Rephaim. 23 So David inquired of the Lord, but He said, “You shall not go directly up; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the baka-shrubs. 

III. Reflection

* Questions: Who attacked whom? Where? Who inquired of the Lord? Who responded to David's inquiries? How were God's responses different in these two times?

IV. Application

Dear Lord God, I thank You for showing me that there were two wars against the same enemy, fought at the same place. One person was inquiring of You, but You answered very differently in these two times--Go up and Go around. I thank You for showing me that it was a blessing that David inquired again, even though the place was never changed and the enemy was the same. Otherwise, David would have had a costly and bloody experience in finding out the very different directions between going up and going around. I thank You, Lord Jesus, for taking me to this point to remind me of Your teaching that, at all times, we ought to pray and not become discouraged (Luke 18:1). Today, O Lord, please encourage me to pray again--not once for all. You may have a different answer for me. This time. Amen

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Note: If you want to reflect on other books and chapters of the Bible, click here. 

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