We all know what it’s like to finally commit to following God’s call—and then watch the enemy show right back up. In 2 Samuel 5, David faces that exact moment, and what God tells him to do next is not what a warrior would expect.
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Thank you, appreciate that. Turn in your Bibles to 2nd Samuel. 2nd Samuel is what we are in on Wednesday nights, and I started a message Wednesday night that I wanted to finish here. I did that on purpose for a reason because I love this text. So 2nd Samuel chapter 5, and just to kind of give you what some of our Wednesday night attendees know is that we went all the way through the book of 1st Samuel. I’m grateful to do so, and we’ve learned of Samuel and Saul and David, and of course all the opposition between Saul and David, and then what’s leading into what we are seeing or reading here in chapter 5 where David is now anointed king.
What happened when David was to become king after the death of Saul was interrupted by a man named Ish-bosheth. Ish-bosheth is one of those Bible names nobody uses for their child, and the children are thankful and they’re grateful for that—that was not a chosen name out of the Bible. Ish-bosheth was this non-anointed king that took rule at the time after Saul’s death. David, who was to be king, was only king over one tribe, and Ish-bosheth was king over the other tribes as they were recognizing them. Now Ish-bosheth has lost his life and has been killed brutally and sadly.
Where that brings us is in chapter 5 of 2nd Samuel, explaining now that David has control over all the tribes. So that’s where this particular part of the scripture picks up in verse 17: “But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David.” David heard of it and went down to the hold. Now just a brief side note: he had to conquer Jerusalem and turn Jerusalem into his stronghold, his fortress—a place where he could go and be guarded or protected—knowing full well the Philistines were out there.
In doing so, he’s now been given word that the Philistines, knowing full well that David is now king over all of Israel, are pursuing him. David, a man who is a warrior, is used to being pursued because he’s just spent all these years being pursued by Saul for his life, with Saul chasing him and causing him to be a fugitive. Now, he finds himself being pursued by all the Philistines. As it says there, all the Philistines came up to seek David, meaning all the Philistine army.
I tried so hard to pick a title for this message. One was “Then shall the Lord go out before thee”—we are going to get to that. Then the other was “The Lord of the Breakthrough,” we’re about to read about that as well. When thou hearest the sound—so we’re going to talk about mulberry trees. Sure, that’s what you thought you’d hear about today when you came to church—we’re going to talk about agriculture. We’re going to talk about these mulberry trees that God uses to let David know when to pursue the enemy. We’ll get there.
You say, “What does this have to do with missions?” This is the end of Missions Month. You’ve met our missionary for today who’s with us. Thank God for her and her spirit and her heart. I’m telling you, she has a heart to give the gospel and share the gospel without fear. She’s told us some stories of the missions work she does at a rescue mission type place in Springfield, Missouri, where she gives the gospel to people and helps with all kinds of other physical needs and other needs in their life. It just comes off of her how much she loves to talk about even sharing the gospel.
I’m not sure what that enemy is in your life that the Philistines are to David, but what I do know is what David chose to do is a great example of what we should do so that we can continue to advance the gospel. Paul regarded those around him who were trying to discourage him or defame his name, and he said that’s okay; it’s for the furtherance of the gospel. So if they want to slight me, don’t worry about me as long as the gospel is being given and moving forward.
Though we’re not talking about the gospel here, we can hear and learn the principle that David learns by following the Lord in this sense. Going back to the text, in verse 18 it says, “The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Ephraim.” So not only did they pursue after David, they now spread themselves out so they cover more ground in preparing to attack David and his army.
Have you ever felt like that? That once God has given you a place to serve or given you a refreshed spirit to live out what God’s called you to do, and maybe you said, “All right, God, this is it. I’m going to do it. This time I’m going to really follow you. I’m going to rededicate”—which was one of those buzzwords we used to have back in the day; I don’t know if we use it as much anymore—but really, it’s just surrendering your heart back to the Lord and saying, “I will give you my life to do with as you please.”
As soon as you do that and get to that place in your life and say, “All right, I’m ready to go forward,” guess who shows up? The enemy. The enemy may not look like a Philistine army staring you down—it could be a loved one who discourages you. It could just be that guy in the mirror that you look at every morning who says, “Yeah, don’t even try. You’ve already told God you would do this before. Why are you telling him again just to disappoint him again?” The old accuser raises his ugly head and tries to convince you of these things.
David had his struggles, and we’ve followed the path and journey of David—up and down, trusting the Lord, then not trusting the Lord, fighting for God, and then finding himself on the side of the Philistines because he was so tired and weary of the pursuit of his life. But here we find him doing the right thing. We catch David on a good day, and he’s really been on the good part of his journey here lately. Knowing that he’s now been anointed king overall and now that he sees the enemy and their pursuit, it says in verse 19, “And David inquired of the Lord.”
After we see the establishment of David as king over all Israel, we now see that with the enemy pursuing, David turns to God. He inquires of the Lord and asks God, “What should I do? What’s our battle plan? God, how should we handle this pursuit of the enemy?”
Sometimes when God exalt us to a place of service—which by the way is a place of high honor to serve the Lord—it is a place of being exalted to servanthood. It may not sound like that goes together, but it truly is. If God has called you to serve and as one of his children, you’re a child of the king; as a child of the king, we should desire to serve the Lord and want to do as He’s called us to do, entering into His will fully surrendered and given over to Him.
When He calls us to a certain position, we know it wasn’t us that got us there. Just like Paul said, “I don’t exalt myself. I don’t make myself based or exalted. I do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Whether I am exalted or whether I’m low, buried in the ground, I give the glory to the Lord who can do all things. This verse doesn’t mean I can leap tall buildings in a single bound; it means that God can do whatever He wants with my life and I am to surrender to Him and follow Him to a place of exaltation or follow Him to the depths of the valley. But I can trust Him. I can do all those things in Christ who strengthens me.
David, knowing that he himself cannot enter into this battle without the wisdom of the Lord, enters into a place of prayer, inquiring of the Lord and asking God, “What should I do?” Verse 19 says he asked, “Shall I go up to the Philistines?” Then he asks, “Will Thou deliver them into mine hand?” He continues asking—not just should I go, but God, will you go before me? If I go, will you be there?”
From men and women who’ve committed their life to what we call a foreign field—but really what they’re doing is traveling all the way to the center of God’s will for their life—we learn valuable lessons. Yes, it may be a geographical location on the map, but what they’ve determined is that’s no different than moving to Springfield, Missouri, because that’s where God has called them—whether to the wilds of Tanzania or dense cities where people worship idols and do ungodly things in the name of God. They’re saying, “We’re going to take our family there.”
What they’re saying is, “We’re on a pursuit because we heard from God, and we inquired of the Lord, ‘Where should we go to serve you? Is it right here or is it way over there?’” Either way—right here or way over there—the place we’re trying to get in our life is exactly where God wants us to be, right in the center of His will for our life that He’s called us to.
David asked, “Should I go up against the Philistines?” Then he asked, “Will you deliver them into my hand?” The Lord said unto David, “Go up.” It comes with a promise: “I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” You say, “Great! Why doesn’t God answer all my prayers like that? ‘Yeah, you can go because I got you. I’ll take full care of you. Even though you’re in the midst of the battle, I’m going to be right there with you, and I’m going to fight and deliver them into your hand.’ No problem. No reason to doubt, just go.”
I think we would take that deal, right? We wish every decision was like that, “All right, God, I’m going to trust you with this now. Tell me how it’s going to end. What’s it going to be like when we get there?” They’re a pretty big enemy, God, you got them?
The truth of the matter is that every time we trust God, follow God, and make sure that we are hearing from Him—not our own ambition or other people’s preferences in our life—when we hear from God and follow Him, He will always do exactly what He intended to do by sending us wherever He sends us to go. The victory is not in the result; it’s in our decision to trust the Lord. Even if that’s just a personal one-on-one interaction with the gospel, or sharing your testimony with somebody, or deciding, “Hey, I’m going to pick up my family and go across the world,” because He has always promised us He will go with us.
We’ll come right back, but go. Turn to Matthew 28. It is still Missions Month, so Matthew 28, it must be read. Hey man, you can choose to read the other verses that account for the gospel or excuse me, the Great Commission, but I want you to read with me here. We always get to the “All power is given unto me in heaven and earth” in verse 18, and we’ll get there, but I like verse 16: “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them or told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him, but some doubted.”
Hey, let’s go where Jesus is. When we get there, what do we do? We worship Him. Some will, some will doubt. Then in verse 18, what most are familiar with: “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’ Amen.”
What took place before he gave them what we call the Great Commission? They met Jesus where He was, and they worshipped Him—and some doubted. I don’t know if it means there was a group over here that worshipped Him while the others were going, “I don’t know anything about this. What’s going on? This can’t be right. This is not what we should be doing.” It could be that all worshipped, and the others that was great: “Man, I love worshipping Jesus,” but go into all the world—that’s a big place, that’s a scary place out there. He told His followers, His disciples what the world thinks of Jesus, and then He told them, “They hate you because they hate me. Now go, right?” “Hey, they all hate you over there. Go.”
That’s what you want to hear, right? They see that room full of people, “Yeah, they don’t like you. Would you mind going in there?” “Sure.” That’s one of those weird things we do. “Oh, this tastes awful. You try it.” “Okay, I’ll try it.” Why don’t we do that? Why don’t we just trust the person? I accept your wisdom on this; I don’t have to drink it to prove it, okay? But so often that’s how we receive the call of the Lord on our life.
I love to worship Jesus. I’m not so sure about this Great Commission thing. I love coming together to worship Jesus. I like meeting where Jesus is and worshipping Him. Maybe some of you just love your early morning devotions, or whenever you find time to get alone with Jesus in the Word of God, pray and ask Him for wisdom. And now it’s time to go. Why do we have to go? Because that’s where the world is. That’s who needs to hear about the Jesus you just worshipped with. That’s who needs to hear about the Jesus you were just with on the mountain you gathered together. That’s why He says, and He speaks, and He tells you this is what you need to do, but I will go.
You’re going in all the power that’s given unto Me in heaven and earth. When we hear Him say that, it’s going in His strength and His power. Then we can go, and then we can teach all nations, then we can teach them to observe all things He commands us to do. But even as we’re going, doubt will set in. I loved watching the progression of our young people yesterday as we let them off the van to go to these strangers’ houses. At first, when they left, they were very apprehensive. I dropped them all off. Then me and Ryan went a certain way and circled back around after we got done and picked them all back up. There was joy on their faces.
What happened? Because once they started to go and once they finally had that conversation and some of them prayed with people they never met in their life—most of our teenagers are afraid of their own shadow, where they learn that from I don’t know—but they’re definitely afraid of people they don’t know. It’s an interesting thing to watch. But here’s the difference: we didn’t send them by themselves. That would be cruel and unusual punishment, right? “Hey, teenagers, go, go, talk to strangers.” All right, that’s not what we teach our kids to do, right? No, we teach them not to talk to strangers. But we sent them with somebody who has already done that before, and I think once they saw them do it they thought, “That’s not so bad, that’s not so bad after all.” They weren’t as mean as I thought they would be.
They found the joy in serving because they were with somebody who knew the Lord maybe a little more than they did and had a little more experience than they did, and they saw how they were able to speak of Jesus and then pray with someone about their needs to the God of heaven. Because they weren’t going in their own strength; they were going in the strength of somebody else—their buddy who knew how to do that.
Again, as we get back to the text where we started with David, we understand fear is a real thing. There’s no shame in being fearful, but when we are, we are to claim the Word of God: “What can man do unto me?” and trust the Lord who says, “I will go with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.” Here we see David as it says of the Lord, “Go up, I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thy hand.”
Now verse 20: “And David came to Baal Perazim, and David smote them there, and said, The Lord hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me as the breach of waters; therefore he called the name of that place Baal Perazim.”
Baal Perazim, huh? What does that mean? It means the Lord of the breakthrough, or the Lord who breaks through. David recognized that God broke through there—that enemy—like waters breaking through a dam and rushing through. He recognized that when he smote the enemy, it was God breaking through. I’m convinced we need a good old-fashioned breakthrough. We need the Lord to break through in our life individually or collectively, and certainly as a church, we need to inquire of God: “God, please go with me, defeat the enemy, and break through.” I’m praying for a breakthrough where we recognize God working.
It all started with David asking God. God broke through and David prayed through. Yes, David trusted the Lord, and he recognized it as God breaking through. So he named that place Baal Perazim. But he did one thing that he had to do even after God promised him: he had to go. He had to go and fight to see God break through. He had to be that willing vessel that God used to show Him, show the world His glory, and certainly the Philistines, that He could conquer all armies—not just their army.
We’ll finish it: verse 21, “And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.” It was a true victory. It was a great defeat. We’d say in sports it was a blowout. They didn’t stand a chance, and I’m sure when you have one of those in your life, you rejoice, you’re excited, you praise God for it, you’re so grateful. You say, “I didn’t think God would do it. I was worshipping, I had a little doubt, but God broke through.”
So what happens in your life when God breaks through and you have a great victory and the enemy’s defeated? Guess what? Next verse verse 22: “And the Philistines came up yet again.” Man, again! We just had a major breakthrough! Yeah, welcome to the Christian life. I just had victory. Do I even get time to celebrate it? Now the enemy’s up again; they’re not done yet. Again, the Philistines came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim all over again. We got to do this again? Yes. And again? Yes. And again? Yes.
You raise children, and you have a major breakthrough; they got it—whatever it is you fill in the blank. All the blanks, right? Okay, great. I guess we can move on now. We’ll leave them to themselves—they finally figured out life all at 12 years old? No, that never happens, right? And so they’re fine the rest of their life? No.
A new enemy, and a new enemy, or—as in some of our lives—the same enemy. “I got it this time, God. I defeated it this time, God. I finally understand, God, I’m sinning against you, or I’m doubting you, and I can trust you and obey you, and live this life for you, and I can just cast off this sin, cast off this weight, and finally run the race that you’ve given me, free and clear.” And then that enemy’s right around the corner. “I thought I beat you! Now here comes the Philistines yet again.”
Now David could say, “All right, didn’t ask for this, but I know what to do. I know what to do. We just did it. I’ll pursue them. God will break through. We’ll beat them again.” Here’s the message: David inquired of the Lord again, and verse 23 says, “And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, ‘Thou shalt not go.’”
Wait a minute, God, it just worked—you broke through, you defeated, we smote him, we got him, we killed him—let’s do it again. No! The Lord says, “Thou shalt not go up.” It says, “But fetch,” and other translations say “circle around.” It says, “But fetch a compass or circle around behind them and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.” David’s got to be going, “What? You want me to do this differently? Even though it worked like this before? It’s the same enemy!”
God needs to teach David something else. Even though it’s the same enemy, God needs to do something different in David’s life. So He changes his course for David, and He asks David the warrior to do something David probably doesn’t like to do. That’s wait. When you’re a warrior, what you want to do is get it done. Fight! There’s the enemy. Let’s get him. I see him. I’ve done it before. Come on God, just tell me to go! And God says, “Go behind the mulberry trees and wait.”
“No, I don’t want to do that. Wait for what? They’re right there.” Then He says in verse 24, “And let it be when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, then thou shalt bestir thyself; for then shall the Lord go out before thee.” The word “bestir” meaning to exert effort. Some definitions say from a place of rest, exert effort.
Parents, back to you: you’re enjoying whatever on television, sitting on your couch very comfortably, and you hear a scream from another room. What do you do? Well, unless you have somebody else there, can you go check that out? Right? If it’s a blood-curdling, murderous scream, you bestir yourself off that couch where you’re enjoying some moments of rest and you get up and exert yourself to move to wherever the scream came from. That’s the idea of the word. Most translations say advance quickly.
Here’s what God’s doing with David: “David, go wait and listen for my direction. Listen for the indicator to then move quickly to rise up and go.” So if that’s the case where God asked him to go behind the mulberry trees and wait for the rustling of the tops of the trees, David couldn’t go to sleep. He said, “God’s doing nothing. I’ll just go back here and lay underneath one of these mulberry trees.” Well, don’t do that, because they kind of create a sap. One word calls it Baca trees. I know nothing about trees or anything agriculturally, but it kind of drips a sap off of those. People used it back in that day, so don’t fall asleep under them—you’ll get dripped on by the sap. But the point is, when God says wait, He also says, “Stay ready, be ready, to advance quickly.”
Bill knows this emergency response. That’s what it’s all about, right? Be ready so you can act when the moment of the calling is on you. That’s why we have firehouses everywhere with men who just sit there and eat chili and watch TV. Because when your house is on fire, you want them ready. Oh, they may be resting, but they’re ready. They know how quickly they can get down that pole—if they still do that—I don’t know—onto the fire truck into your house or whosoever’s house is in need. That’s where we need to be.
Because the promise comes with this very direction given by the Lord: “Bestir thyself, for then shall the Lord go out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines.” So are we ready? That’s the question. When we hear God’s call—whatever that sounds like, maybe it’s as simple as the rustling of the trees—but while we’re waiting, we’re trusting. While we’re waiting, we’re listening.
David had to listen because he said once you hear it, advance quickly. Sometimes there’s trees rustling everywhere, and Christians are just slumbered, and they don’t even hear it. And some hear and go out, “Maybe that’s not the one He was talking about.” That divine opportunity comes your way, or that person asks you a question or somebody’s in great need or somebody just—you could tell they need to hear a word from the Lord, and they need to hear or be given the gospel because the door has opened and the opportunity is there.
What is that? That’s the rustling of the mulberry trees in your life. You don’t look around and go, “Man, I hope someone else heard that so they can go help this person.” No, it’s your calling. If you’re ready and you’ve been sitting ready, prepared to follow the Lord in your life, and you’ve just been told to kind of circle back behind the enemy, but wait, wait for my calling. Once you hear it, advance quickly; don’t hesitate.
My pastor, you say to delay is to disobey. Again, you get frustrated when you give somebody clear instructions and they wait and think about it and go, “Well, I didn’t think you really meant it. I didn’t think you meant right now.” Well, why did I tell you to do it right then? Sometimes that’s how God is. “Oh, you meant now, God? You meant me? You want me to go? You want me to talk to Him? You want me to share with Him? You want me to serve here?” Advance quickly.
Here’s the best part: verse 25, “And David did so.” And David did so as the Lord had commanded and smote the Philistines from Gaba until thou come to Gazer. Same result, different process. Why? Because God had to teach him in the first reaction to the enemy just to trust Him that they will be delivered and to go just got “God says go, I’ve got this, just go.”
The next time around He had to teach David to wait but stay ready, and listen for what we would say is God’s voice through His Word or through the encouragement of others, but knowing full well it is God that’s rustling those trees in my life, saying, “It’s time for me to rise up, to exert that effort, and to advance quickly.”
In Proverbs there are two accounts of a lion using the reference of a lion. In Proverbs 26:13, there someone says to another, “There’s a lion in the street,” and it says the slothful, I would assume, looks up and says, “Yes, there is,” and turns over and goes back to sleep.
Then Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” How are we going to serve the Lord? Are we going to trust Him? The enemy is going to keep coming, and there are lessons that are going to have to be learned. God’s teaching us all the time—that’s why He puts things in our lives we would never choose for ourselves.
It’s not to frustrate us; it’s not to get us to doubt whether He’s even with us or if He’s already abandoned us. No, it’s that we may learn how to do what He’s asked us to do His way. His way but most importantly that when we are waiting, we are preparing for His call for us to go so that we can move immediately.
Let’s pray.
Well, we thank you again for this great truth given to us in this great way to understand that our Christian life isn’t going to be that simple. The Lord, there are going to be valleys, and there are going to be enemies, and I pray when there’s a valley and there’s an enemy, the first thing we do is stop and inquire of You what You would have us do.
I know we’re going into a time where we’ll face opposition, and Lord, our immediate reaction is to try to fix the problem, solve it, defeat the enemy so we can move forward. Lord, please teach us. Teach us to wait behind the mulberry trees.
Remind us, Lord, that You will protect us there. Remind us even more that You’ll go before us when the time is right. But I pray as we think of the Great Commission that we first think of getting to where You are so that we may worship You.
Lord, even if we carry a sense of doubt, I pray we just give that to You. But I pray if there’s someone here that doesn’t know You as their Savior that they would respond to the free gift of salvation that has once again been offered or extended to them.
Lord, for us who’ve served You or are Your children and have yet to decide where we should go, I pray that while we wait, we listen. And Lord, when we hear Your clear direction, that we bestir ourselves and advance quickly, and not hesitate.
Lord, work in our life. Work in our hearts. Speak to us, please. I pray for genuine response to the Holy Spirit. I ask You to please help us as a church to understand what we’re to do next and listen for that rustling of the mulberry trees.
In Your name we pray, Amen.
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