Seeking God’s Will Before Stepping Forward

We live in a world that doesn’t slow down. The moment a story breaks, opinions flood social media. News networks scramble to fill the air with guesses and speculation. Everybody seems to have something to say before they’ve had a chance to stop, think, or pray. We’ve been trained to react right away. But Scripture invites us into a very different rhythm.

Faith is never in a hurry. Faith allows us to slow down, to ask questions, and to wait for clarity. Wisdom seeks God's voice before taking the next step, especially when times feel uncertain.

“After this David inquired of the LORD, ‘Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Go up.’ David said, ‘To which shall I go up?’ And he said, ‘To Hebron.’” (2 Samuel 2:1, ESV)

The crown is right there for the taking. Saul is gone, and David has already been anointed. Most people would grab the throne without hesitation, but David does not rush. He pauses. He does not try to force what God has already promised. Instead, he waits for God to show him the next step.

David sees his kingship not as something to snatch by his own strength but as something that belongs fully to God’s will. That is what sets him apart from Saul, who so often acted without asking the Lord. David shows us a different kind of authority, one rooted in trust and surrender. Even before he rules, he leads by letting God lead him.

Notice how David’s questions grow more specific. First, he asks if he should go. Then, once he has an answer, he asks where to go. He listens and waits until the path becomes clear. That pattern shows up again and again in his life. It is one of the reasons he is remembered as a man after God’s own heart, even though he had plenty of flaws and failures.

Now, we need to be clear about something. Seeking God’s will is not the same as chasing a mystical feeling. It is not guessing. It is not just following your gut. God has given us real ways to know His direction. We open His Word. We pray for clarity. We invite wise and trusted counsel. We ask, and then we ask again. We wait for the Spirit’s peace before we move, and we trust God with what comes next. That is the rhythm of biblical decision making.

The 16th-century pastor Wolfgang Musculus once wrote, “It is not enough that a matter seems good and profitable to us. Unless God gives the command, the result may be disastrous.” That wisdom still holds true. Biblical decision making is not built on impressions but on instruction. We open the Word. We pray deliberately. We invite mature counsel. Then we wait for clarity that is rooted in what God has already revealed.

Let’s be honest, how many times have we been sure a decision was right, only to look back later and realize it was a mistake? We thought we had weighed every option, but the truth is, we are not all-knowing. None of us can see every possible outcome.

That is why it matters where we place our trust. If I have to walk into a minefield, or if some situation in life is going to blow up in my face, I would rather face it knowing I was seeking God’s will and walking in obedience than leaning on my own instincts or worldly wisdom.

Scripture reminds us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5–6, ESV).

Notice also that God does not simply say, “Go.” He gives David a destination: “Go to Hebron.” Hebron is not just any place. It is covenant ground. Abraham purchased land there to bury Sarah, and it became the first piece of the promised land that God’s people ever owned (Genesis 23). That was the beginning of God’s promises taking visible shape in the land. So when God tells David to go to Hebron, He is rooting David’s next step in something He had already promised long ago. When the future feels uncertain, God often anchors our direction in His past faithfulness. Scripture calls us again and again to remember what God has already done when we cannot see what lies ahead.

At Hebron, David is anointed for the second time. The first anointing was private, carried out in the quiet fields, far from attention. The second is public, before the people. It does not cancel the first anointing. It confirms it. That is how God so often works. He shapes His servants in hidden places, teaching them to trust Him in obscurity, before He chooses to reveal them in the open. What God begins in secret, He brings to light in His time.

Then look at David’s very first act as king. Instead of rallying troops or making a show of power, he chooses to honor the men of Jabesh-gilead. Why? Because after Saul’s death, these men risked their lives to retrieve Saul’s body from the Philistines and give him a proper burial (1 Samuel 31:11–13). That was a courageous act of loyalty to a fallen leader.

David hears about what they did and responds with blessing: “May you be blessed by the LORD, because you showed this loyalty to Saul your lord and buried him… and I will do good to you because you have done this thing” (2 Samuel 2:5–6).

Now pause and think about that. Saul had spent years hunting David, throwing spears at him, chasing him through the wilderness, and trying to destroy him. Yet David still chooses to honor the men who honored Saul. That is godly character. That is mercy. Jesus would later teach the same principle: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44, ESV). David models that truth centuries before, Jesus spoke these words. To show honor, even to your enemies, reflects the heart of God.

But not everyone celebrates David’s rise. Abner, Saul’s cousin and commander of Saul’s army, refuses to accept David’s kingship. Instead, he installs Saul’s son Ish-bosheth as king over the remaining tribes of Israel. What follows is a divided kingdom, with Judah under David’s leadership and the rest of Israel under Ish-bosheth. The unity that God desired for His people is fractured, and that division breeds tension.

It does not take long for the tension to boil over. Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, and Joab, the commander of David’s army, come face to face at the pool of Gibeon. Abner proposes a contest: twelve of his men against twelve of Joab’s. On the surface, it seems like a way to settle things without an all-out battle (2 Samuel 2:14). But what begins as a game quickly turns deadly. The fight grows fierce, swords are drawn, and all twenty-four men fall together in a violent struggle. What started as sport spirals into tragedy.

The conflict does not stop there. Soon the fighting spreads beyond those few men, and the ground around Gibeon is stained with blood. What was supposed to avoid conflict only fuels it further. In the chaos, Ashael, Joab’s brother, chases after Abner and is struck down. The loss is devastating. And what makes it especially heartbreaking is this: it did not have to happen. If cooler heads had prevailed, the bloodshed could have been avoided.

Notice the contrast. David moves forward at the pace of faith. He does not rush ahead of God, and he does not lag behind either. He waits for the Lord to show him the way. When Abner taunts Joab he cannot restrain himself. His violence is not courage but impulse. What begins as a simple challenge erupts into bloodshed, not because Joab is brave but because he is reckless. That is always the danger of acting on instinct without first seeking the Lord. Joab fights to prove himself. David waits to receive from God.

So what about us? When the way forward feels uncertain, whether it is a hard conversation you dread, a decision at work, or a crisis at home, follow David’s example. Ask before you act. Ask specifically. Use the means God has already placed in your hands: open His Word, pray earnestly, invite wise counsel, then take the next faithful step God shows you. You do not need the whole map laid out in front of you. Just do the next right thing. You never have to force what God has promised, and you do not need to prove yourself. Move at the pace of faith.

The psalmist says, “The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the LORD upholds his hand” (Psalm 37:23–24, ESV). The same God who guided David to Hebron will guide you to your next step. All we have to do is be obedient in this moment, and trust God with the timing.

Forged Through Endurance

Let’s be honest, we all want the shortcut. We want purpose without pain, leadership without loss, and spiritual strength without the strain of waiting. But God is never in a rush. He often forges His leaders slowly, through long seasons of testing, when conflict drags on and resolution feels just out of reach.

David’s story is no exception. Scripture says, “There was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David. And David grew stronger and stronger, while the house of Saul became weaker and weaker” (2 Samuel 3:1, ESV). Those two short sentences cover years of bloodshed and heartbreak.

Think about it. David had already been anointed. He had already sought God’s will and refused to seize the crown by force. He had waited on the Lord. Yet obedience did not exempt him from conflict. Even the right path still brought pain. Saul’s house clung to power. The nation remained divided, and the struggle dragged on. But through it all, God was working. Slowly and steadily, He was dismantling what disobedience had built.

Now, God could have ended the conflict in a single moment. He could have united Israel with one stroke of His hand. But He chose not to. Why? Because the delay was part of David’s development. God was preparing him to carry the crown, not just to wear it. The long war was shaping David’s heart. God had used David’s time as a shepherd boy to prepare him for Goliath. God had used his wilderness years to teach him how to lead his people and not lord over them like Saul. Now God was using this long war to teach David patience, discernment, and dependence on the Lord.

And that is often how God works with us too. The very trials we plead with Him to take away are the ones He uses to refine us. James reminds us, “the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3, ESV). In other words, faith grows strong not in ease but in endurance. Strength does not come through shortcuts. It comes through the slow and steady work of God in seasons we would never choose but that we deeply need.

The sooner we recognize that God’s highest goal is not our comfort but our Christlikeness, the sooner we will be able to see His hand at work in every circumstance. Paul says it this way: “for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28, ESV). That means the good times and the hard times, the victories and the setbacks, all serve His purpose of shaping us into the likeness of Christ.

Then suddenly, after years of conflict, hope suddenly seems within David’s grasp. Abner, the very man who had resisted David’s reign and propped up Saul’s son, becomes disillusioned. After a sharp fallout with Ish-bosheth, Abner decides to switch sides and throw his support behind David. For a military leader, this is the moment you dream about. The enemy’s strongest asset is now offering peace. It is the kind of offer no king would normally refuse.

David welcomes Abner, but he also shows wisdom. He says, “You shall not see my face unless you first bring Michal, Saul’s daughter” (2 Samuel 3:13). Michal was David’s wife, taken from him by Saul in bitterness during David’s wilderness years and wrongfully given to another man. Her return would not only restore what was broken in David’s family, it would also serve as a public sign of legitimacy. If Abner was serious, this would prove it. Abner agrees, and David prepares a table for him. The one-time enemy is received with honor. Peace, at last, seems possible.

But not everyone is ready for peace. Joab, David’s nephew and commander, hears the news. Years earlier, his brother Asahel was struck down by Abner in battle, and Joab had never forgotten or forgiven. While David looks forward with hope, Joab looks backward with bitterness. He ambushes Abner and murders him at the gate of Hebron before he is able to speak with David. 

In that moment, peace slips away. David is furious. He declares his innocence before the Lord and leads the people in mourning. He honors Abner publicly, saying, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?” (2 Samuel 3:38). Just as he did with Saul, David chooses to honor even an enemy in death. His heart remains soft, even though the path remains hard. But the war still lingers on.

Even so, God does eventually bring the war to an end. Two captains from Ish-bosheth’s side, Rechab and Baanah, fear that they may be on the losing side of this conflict. They choose to sneak into the king’s home, murder him in his sleep, and bring his head to David. They come smiling, certain they will be rewarded. They even cloak their crime with religious language: “The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day” (2 Samuel 4:8).

But David has seen this before. When Saul died, an Amalekite thought David would rejoice. He didn’t. Now, when Ish-bosheth is murdered, Rechab and Baanah expect celebration. Instead, they find justice. David will not build his kingdom on bloodshed and treachery. He knows that shortcuts soaked in sin are not gifts from God but traps from the enemy.

David’s response is a rebuke to all who try to claim God’s name while ignoring God’s ways. He understood that righteous ends are not enough. They must be pursued by righteous means. When the captains presented Ish-bosheth’s head, they thought they were offering David a gift, but what they really held out was a shortcut that would cost more than it gave. David refuses to trade righteousness for results. He remembers the Lord who has delivered him time and again, and he waits for God’s hand, not man’s schemes.

Through all of this, one a few truths become clear. God builds His leaders through tests that last longer than we want. However, he also removes obstacles in our path when the time is right. We never need to take sinful shortcuts or to try to force God’s hand. David did not kill Saul. He did not ambush Abner. He did not reward the murder of Ish-bosheth. He waited. He grieved. He trusted. He endured. And only then, after years of conflict, did Israel finally come to him and say, “Behold, we are your bone and flesh” (2 Samuel 5:1).

Finally, David is king over all Israel. God has kept the promise He made when David was just a shepherd boy in his father’s field. It is not the end of David’s trials, but for now, the promise is fulfilled.

So what do we take away from this? If the wait feels long, if peace always seems to slip through your fingers, if the pressures around you keep mounting, do not confuse delay with the absence of God. He is not in a hurry. He is at work, shaping you in ways that shortcuts never could. The strength you are gaining in the trial is the very strength you will need when the trial is over. As Paul reminds us, “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV). Trust Him to finish what He has started.

Conclusion: 

As we draw this sermon to a close, let’s gather up the threads of David’s story and see where they lead us. As always, David’s story points beyond David. For all his patience, for all his waiting, and for all his moments of faith, David was still a flawed man. But his life points us to a greater King. The Son of David, Jesus Christ, is the perfect King. He does not grasp for power or seize a throne by force. He reigns through self-giving love. As Jesus himself declared, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28, ESV).

In Christ we see the King David could never fully be. David could unite tribes for a season, but Jesus unites all peoples for eternity. David could bring a measure of peace after years of war, but Jesus himself “is our peace” who has broken down every wall of hostility and made us one (Ephesians 2:14, ESV). Where David waited for God’s timing, Jesus perfectly obeyed the Father’s will, even unto death. And where David’s reign eventually faltered, Christ’s kingdom has no end.

So what does this mean for us? It means that when your future feels uncertain, you can take David’s rhythm into your week, but you can also look to Jesus, the greater David, who holds your future in his hands. Seek God first. Let trials do God’s deep work in you. Trust that he will finish what he begins. Open the Scriptures. Pray with clarity. Invite wise counsel. Take the next faithful step, even if it feels small.

The same God who called David is the God who calls you. The apostle Paul assures us, “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24, ESV). That means you do not walk alone. You do not wait in vain. And you do not endure without purpose. The delays, the struggles, and the waiting rooms of life are not wasted. They are the very places where God is shaping you into the likeness of his Son, so that when the crown of life is finally given, you will be ready to wear it.