Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - This is God's Will For Your Life | Historical Books | 1 Samuel 23:1-14

Episode Date: May 12, 2025

How do you know God's will for your life? Do you treat the Bible like a magic 8-ball? How do we grow in wisdom? In today's episode, Keith shares how 1 Samuel 23:1-14 encourages us to be obedient to God's will and trust his plans for our lives. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Samuel 23:1-14

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. How do you find God's will for your life? I think that's one of the most common questions that Christians ask. How do I know which school to go to? Does God want me to take this job in a new city? Is it God's will I marry this person I've been dating?

Should we keep trying to have children, or should we start looking into adoption? Well, we're in 1 Samuel 23 today, and David is asking the same kinds of questions we're are. But before we dive in, let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would open your word to us so that we might understand it. And I pray that you'd open our hearts so that your word would transform us. Amen. Well, in this section of 1st Samuel, Saul is pursuing David with the intention of killing him in order to protect his throne for himself and his family. David, on the other hand, is on the run trying to put physical distance between himself and Saul. The narrator keeps highlight. The narrator keeps highlight the spiritual distance between these two men.

Saul has rejected God's authority and is foolishly running into his own destruction. David continues to seek God's will and rely on his strength. 1 Samuel 23 verse 1. One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Kila, stealing grain from the threshing floors. So the Philistines attack one of the Israelite cities in order to steal grain. This sets the scene for another way that Saul and David are different, namely the way they make important decisions. We're going to see that David consistently asks God for guidance before

making decisions while Saul relies on rumors and human wisdom. When the Philistines attacked the city, verse two tells us how David responds. David asked the Lord, should I go and attack them? Yes, go and save Kila, the Lord told him. So you see what happened there. David asked, God answered, and David is ready to obey God, but his troops aren't. Verse three. But David, David's men said, we're afraid. Even here in Judah, we certainly don't want to go to Kila to fight the whole Philistine army. Verse four. So David asked the Lord again. And again, the Lord replied, go down to Kila, for I will help you conquer the Philistines. So again, David asked the Lord for guidance, and again, the Lord answers him. Now, this is in stark contrast from Saul, who long ago stopped asking God to guide him.

I think it's clear that Saul doesn't want to know God's will because he isn't interested in following God's will. Now, two more times in the same story, David asked God to guide his steps, to guide his decisions. It seems whether you live in a thousand BC like David and Saul did or 2025, all believers need God's guidance. Lord, we pray for hearts like David, hearts that want to do your will. There are examples in the Old Testament of God speaking directly with people. Think of how God called Abraham or spoke to Jacob in a dream or to Moses in a burning bush. then God gave Israel the Ten Commandments and the written law. Now God's people could find God's will in written form.

But clearly, believers like David continue to pray and ask God to reveal his specific will for their lives. There are two passages in the New Testament that are particularly relevant to this discussion about divine guidance. The first is in Romans 12, verse 2. It says, do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will. See, as Christians resist being conformed by worldly values, but instead renew their mind on God's word, they'll be able to discern God's will for their life. You could say the first step to discovering God's will for your life is filling your mind and heart with the truth of Scripture

so that God's values will shape you. And the other New Testament verse that's important to think about is James, 1-5. It says, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. Wisdom here refers to the kind of knowledge that really deepens your relationship with God and makes clear the kind of life that pleases him. So Lord, we pray that you would give us wisdom to know how we should live so that we'd please you in every area of our life. Let me share part of my personal story that might surprise you. When my wife and I graduated from college, we went on staff with a group called Campus Crusade for Christ because they had

such a big impact in our life. After five years, we left staff with Campus Crusade and went to seminary. When that was finished, we moved from Chicago back to Columbia, Missouri to work with a friend to start the church where I'm now a pastor. And throughout this whole process, I could never tell you that I knew for sure what the next step God wanted for me was. Like, I didn't know if going on staff with Camposurcet or leaving staff or going to seminary or going to planet church was for sure God's will from my life. I didn't know if it was God's will for me to propose to Christine or if it was God's will for us to have four kids.

I never felt confident the path that I chose was God's will. That disappointed a lot of people because they wanted me to have some sign or word from God or some sort of feeling that confirmed that I knew God's will for me. There was a time in my life where I was probably disappointed too. I mean, don't we all want to know God's specific will for our life? Maybe like me, you've thought, if God has a plan for my life, why hasn't he told me what it is? But eventually I became convinced that God has a plan for everyone's life, but that we aren't necessarily supposed to figure it out ahead of time. We walk by faith, not by sight. So what can you know about God's plan for your life. Well, the first place we start is in the Bible. You can be sure what the Bible

says is God's will for you. And in the Bible, we find all kinds of commands, commands to pursue him, commands to love our neighbor as ourselves, to love our enemy, commands to confess our sin, to read the scriptures, to be a part of a local church. You can be sure that those commands and all the other commands we find in scripture are God's will for you. So if you want to know God's will, where do you start? You open your Bible and you read it. The second thing you do when you want to know God's will is you examine your motives. Because sometimes our motive to find God's will isn't so much that God will be pleased

or that God will be honored, but because we want a great life and we don't want to mess it up. Now the Bible is pretty clear that we're not really going to know what our future is, but neither should we worry about that. Jesus said, don't worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what you will wear. The pagans run after these things, and your Heavenly Father knows you need them. You seek first the kingdom and His righteousness,

and all these things will be given to you as well. Don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough of its own trouble. You might recognize those verses from Matthew chapter 6, and Jesus is telling us there to not worry about our future instead to seek God's kingdom, seek God's glory, obey his commands, and not worry about the future. Maybe it'd be helpful if we talked about some less than ideal approaches to figuring out God's will. One of those is what some people call the open door approach. Like they say God opened this

door for me so it must be his will. Or maybe God hasn't opened the door for me so it's not his will. I don't think this is how the Bible teaches us to think because this approach, the open door approach, is basing God's will on our circumstances. Someone might say, I put my resume out online last week and no one has contacted me. The Lord just isn't opening any doors.

Maybe, but maybe you should go knock on some doors, fill out some more applications, before blaming your job problems on God. Or there's the feeling of peace approach to finding God. God's will. Like, I do have peace, so therefore it must be God's will, or I don't have peace. I mean, did Jesus experience peace in the Garden of Gassimini before we went to the cross? I think clearly the answer is no. So it's important for us to see that he was doing God's will, but he didn't have peace. Or there's the magic eight ball approach to finding God's will. This is the approach that says that I can ask a question and then randomly open the Bible, read a verse, and find out what God's will. will is for my life. There's a story about a person who took that approach to finding God's will for his life. He said, God, what do you want me to do? And then he opened the Bible randomly, and it turned to Matthew 27, verse 5. It was speaking of Judas, but the verse says, then he went away and hanged himself.

The guy thought, I don't want that to be God's will for me, so he quickly turned to another random place in his Bible. This time, it was Luke 1037. And this is in the story of the God's Good Samaritan, it says, go and do likewise. So far we have, then he went away and hanged himself, and then he turned in it said, go and do likewise. So he turned again randomly to the scripture. And this time it was to a verse in First Samuel. It read, then he shouted, hurry, go quickly, don't stop. It's supposed to be a funny story that makes the point that you can't find God's will by randomly opening the Bible. The Bible is not a magic eight ball. So how do I know God's will? Here's the deal. I think the question, how do I know God's specific will for my future is the wrong

question? I think it might be smarter to ask the question, how do I make good, wise, biblical decisions? The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about that, a lot of really practical stuff. Here are a few things to keep in mind. First, rest in God's sovereignty. Proverbs 1633 says, the lot is cast in the lap, but every decision is from the Lord. Casting lots is used a lot in the Old Testament. It's kind of like flipping a coin. And what Proverbs 1633 is saying is that every detail, even something that we think of at random, like flipping a coin, well, it's directed and determined by God. Proverbs 169 says, In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their step.

See, your choices are yours, your plan are yours, and yet, God is sovereign over all your choices. He's sovereign over your life. So the first principle to making wise decisions is to rest in God's sovereignty. The second is that we should ask wise people for advice. Proverbs 1215, the way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice. Now that requires humility. It requires having people in your life that you respect and look up to. Proverbs 12-5, the plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful. See, not all advice is the same. So when somebody offers you advice, you should ask, is this a person I should be listening to?

Who are the people in my life that I respect and look up to? Who are the people that I would say are wise? Seek their advice. A third principle is to make sure your choices are in line with the clear teaching of the Bible. In other words, if you think God is leading you to do something that the Bible forbids, or if you think he's not leading you to do something that the Bible commands, then you know right off the bat you're wrong, because the Bible needs to have the authority in your life,

not your own thinking, not your own intuition. And then finally, just pray for the right desires. Proverbs 16.3 says, commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. Now, what does that mean? It doesn't say commit your plans to God and he will make sure you succeed. In fact, it says the opposite. It says, commit your life, commit your deeds to the Lord, and he will help you make smarter plans.

So let's just review those real quick. What do the Proverbs tell us about making wise decisions? Rest in God's sovereignty. Seek wise people's advice. Make sure your choices are in line with the clear teaching of scripture and pray for the right desires. So we hold God's will very humbly. We should never go around confident that we know that what we're doing is for sure God's will unless the Bible clearly states that it is. Here's James 4. Listen, you who say today or tomorrow we'll go to this city or that city,

spend a year or there, carry on business and make money. I mean, doesn't that sound the way we talk? Here's our plan for our life. But James goes on and says, why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow what is your life you're a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes instead you ought to say if it is the lord's will we will live and do this or that so you hear what he's saying right be really humble be very open-handed you can't be confident that you know god's will for your future instead say if it is the lord's will we will live and do this or that Have an open hand toward God, an open heart. See, that's probably the most important thing is the condition of your heart.

Let's end by praying. God, I pray for hearts that want your will, that will follow your will. Help us, Father, to obey your will whenever we know what it is. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.