2 Samuel 4:8–12

And they brought the head of Ishbosheth to David at Hebron, and said to the king, “Here is the head of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul your enemy, who sought your life; and the LORD has avenged my lord the king this day of Saul and his descendants.”

But David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all adversity, when someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,’ thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag—the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news. How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous person in his own house on his bed? Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth?” So David commanded his young men, and they executed them, cut off their hands and feet, and hanged them by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron.

Yikes. Is killing Ishbosheth so far away from what they’re supposed to do that it’s a capital offense?

Yes. Military command structures are authoritarian for this very reason—to prevent junior people from doing immature things with possibly international significance. Ishbosheth did nothing deserving death.

Wars have started over things like this.

This is analogous to many mistakes Christians make in the service of God. These two guys thought they were doing something David wanted them to do, but they didn’t ask David. Remember when David checked with the LORD in 1 Samuel 30:8 before going after the Amalekites who had captured his family?

So David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered him, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.”

Of course, we don’t have access to the ephod, so we can’t use the Urim and the Thummim to inquire of the LORD. So, what do we do? The standard answers are:

1. Check Scripture. If the Bible says anything relevant to our decision, then we have a clear answer.
2. Ask God for guidance. Ask for Him to open doors and close doors, and then keep your eyes open. Also, ask others to pray for you. This is important for many reasons. First off, it fosters deeper relationships with other Christians. For many Christians, this needs shoring up anyway. Second, it sets the stage for the next method.
3. Seek the advice of others. When asking others to pray for us, we can also ask for their advice. Of course, some prayer requests aren’t requests for advice, and that must be respected. But in seeking prayer for decisions, often advice is good too. Sometimes the advice combines with God’s response to prayer in wonderous ways.

These are pretty familiar. This is all just a reminder to never assume.

These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. The Saturday ones are written by Matt Richardson. To subscribe click here:  https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, can be downloaded here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.