Perhaps He Was Led?

Pastor Jan L. Spencer 

“But David thought to himself, ‘one of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand’” (1 Samuel 27:1).

     These words introduce the account of David’s sojourn in the land of the Philistines in a place called Gath. These were the very people from whom the giant, Goliath, came. Just a few chapters before we read about David’s defeat of Goliath and the Philistines. Now these people are the allies of David as he flees from the presence of Saul to escape destruction. Of important note is that the Scripture here gives no indication that David’s activities in this chapter are led by God. Perhaps he was led, perhaps not. It is difficult to conclude either way, even though on the surface David’s life was spared for a season from Saul’s relentless pursuit. The purposes of God seemed to prevail, but we do not see David specifically looking to God for guidance. The Bible simply says that David thought to himself.

     As I look back through the history of my life there are times when I have done like David. I thought to myself and concluded what I thought was best, and then proceeded. It is difficult to tell whether a lot of my decisions were led by God since a number of those decisions showed poor results. Maybe results are not always the most important consideration when evaluating effectiveness. However, I suspect that too many failures I have experienced are tied to poor decisions I made because I did not seek the Lord first. Or, I thought I was seeking the Lord when I was actually justifying what I thought was best before God without waiting long enough to hear His response.

     Admittedly and honestly, I sought long ago to make it a habit to ask God what I should do  in my overall life, but I sadly confess that amid the “routine” areas of responsibility I sometimes do what I think is best and what “I think” God is pleased with. There are times when I am not so sure. Just as this text omits a specific reference to God’s leading in David’s decision to go to Gath, so I can say about my life decisions that sometimes perhaps I am led, perhaps not. The results do not necessarily justify whether I did follow God. His ways are unsearchable.

     What I am hit by most in this text is that I should intentionally avoid making “gray-area” decisions without first consulting with the Lord. He is calling me to pursue Him with greater diligence, especially when tempted to enact decisions based only on past assumptions. He is calling me to clarity in being led through diligent seeking of His leading with greater zeal in everything I do.

     “Lord, I renew my commitment today to seek You about everything in my life with a greater zeal and purpose, while I avoid making decisions based only on my ‘thinking to myself.’ No more ‘perhaps,’ but ‘he was led,’ . . . ‘he is led.’”