God can bring you through complicated situations when you pray for wisdom step-by-step.
Sometimes we pray for wisdom about simple situations. The situation is simple not in the sense that it is easy to solve or trivial, but that the answer to just one or two crucial questions will answer what is basically just one important need.
At other times we pray for wisdom about complicated situations that have many moving parts. Such is David’s situation in the following story.
As you read, notice two things. First, note the complications in David’s situation, that is, the number of individuals, groups, opponents, and problems he must address. Second, notice how many times David inquires of the Lord and how the narrator wants to call attention to this.
The context of these events: David is living in the wilderness with his personal army of 600 men, avoiding King Saul, who jealously seeks to find and kill him. David and his men have been living in recurring danger, on the move and insecure.
Pray for wisdom step-by-step
1 Samuel 23:1–14 says:
[1] Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” [2] Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
[3] But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” [4] Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
[5] And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
[6] When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech [the high priest of Israel whom King Saul had just murdered] had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. [Note: The ephod of the priest was a vest to which was attached the Urim and Thummim, which were sacred lots used for decision making.]
[7] Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” [8] And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
[9] David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” [10] Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. [11] Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.”
And the LORD said, “He will come down.” [Note: Perhaps David used the Urim and Thummim in this inquiry, but God went beyond the yes or no answer that casting the lots might have provided and spoke his answer.]
[12] Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.”
[13] Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.”
It’s complicated
In this story, David prayed for specific wisdom four times, all of which God answered—succinctly—no extra words, no information beyond what David asked. (Compare these brief answers with the detailed map of upcoming events that the prophet Samuel provided Saul early in their relationship, recorded in 1 Samuel 10:1–13.)
David had to take into account the strength of the Philistine army, as well as the support of his own troops, and then the threat from Saul and his army, and then the loyalty of the residents of Keilah. This was a complicated situation with tens of thousands of people and numerous groups involved. David had to take into account military tactics, geography and travel, troop morale and loyalty, and so on.
And when David inquired, God told him what to do one step at a time.
Three takeaways
1. God can bring you through complicated situations when you pray for wisdom step-by-step.
2. Getting one piece of a complicated puzzle in the right place does not solve the puzzle.
Inquiring of God and getting one answer might not enable you to live happily ever after. When God’s wisdom gave David victory over the Philistines, that led to his being in a new position of danger from Saul, which led to being in danger from the people he had just rescued. So do not be surprised if you need to keep going back to God for additional wisdom.
3. God might give you reassurance when you feel legitimate need to keep asking more questions.
Notice in verses 1–4 that God clearly answered David’s first inquiry, but when David told his troops they objected. Instead of saying, “Men, God told me what to do. You have nothing to worry about,” David went back to God and apparently asked the same question to make sure he heard it right. Remember, they were going into battle; this was a life-and-death question for 600 men.
David also showed his need for reassurance by asking for the ephod from the priest Abiathar, who had just come into the camp. David had not had the ephod available previously, and yet he had inquired of God successfully without it. But now that the ephod is available, he apparently felt this could help him pray for wisdom more effectively.
David needed reassurance; sometimes you need reassurance. If you are not acting in unbelief, God might confirm his answer.
If so, he will give you wisdom not by means of an ephod, or Urim and Thummim. Instead he has given you the Holy Spirit within, who has united with your human spirit, and he has said, “The anointing that you received from him abides in you…his anointing teaches you about everything” (1 John 2:27).
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)