2 SAMUEL 21

Once again, I’m confounded by David’s actions. I suppose, like the rest of us, he has times of victory and times of failure. I was confused by what he did in this chapter, so I read some commentaries on the matter. Seems like there are differing opinions as to whether God sanctioned David’s actions with the Gibeonites or not. Either way, one thing is clear: Scripture doesn’t record that David asked God beforehand about what he did.

Here’s the Bible account: "During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the Lord. The Lord said, 'It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.' The king summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them... David asked the Gibeonites, 'What shall I do for you? How shall I make atonement so that you will bless the Lord’s inheritance?'" (vs 1-3)

To me, it appears that David prematurely stopped asking God questions. Once he found out what "the problem" was, he didn’t bother to ask God if He had any solutions in mind! Instead, he went to the Gibeonites, who were more than happy for a little revenge. Some commentaries suggest that David actually got tricked into handing over members of Saul’s family to the Gibeonites. Regardless, what I’d like to know is, why didn’t David ask God the follow-up question? Why didn’t he ask Him what should be done about the famine? Why did he assume that in order to deal with the famine, the Gibeonites would have to "bless the Lord’s inheritance"?

We so easily forget that God always has more for us. He doesn’t just want to ask one question and stop. He is eager to reveal to us more... and more... and more. So, the next time you’re wrestling with God over a tough situation in your life, don’t just get the initial information from God and then run off to do things on your own. Stick with Him for as long as you can. The more you do, the better things will turn out!