And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and delightful and perfect. Romans 12:2.

“Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.” 1 Samuel 15:22-23.

Today your LORD (יהוה) God says:

Many believers are seeking to know My Will for their lives but feel frustrated and are putting their lives on hold because they feel they have never found it. And unbelievers too are seeking to find their purpose and path in life but many times they turn to demonic spirits for direction by divination such as palm reading, astrology, psychic help lines, fortune tellers, and other “occult” sources. And it grieves Me that some believers venture into this realm as well. But those means are an abomination to Me for they mislead you along the way of destruction, as they did King Saul. When you have the truth why go to a counterfeit source? Adam and Eve suffered the results from that and put all their descendants over there too—into the unknowing realm of darkness. And if your eye be darkness, how deep will the darkness be.

Others, both believers and unbelievers, would not say they are in the occult realm, but they go through life without having specific guidance or goals and just look at what makes the most money, has prestige, is approved by peers, friends and/or family, or what gives them pleasure at the moment. But this is also a form of divination and not Divine communication because it exalts man and secular humanism above Me. It takes no account of My input and treats Me as if I am not there and as if you were made without Me and are totally reliant only upon yourself and worldly counsel for your life’s work and goals. Take care how you live, for if you magnify yourself too much and only seek your own pleasures and glory you will end up bound in fetters and caught in the cords of affliction. Job 36:8-9. But if you just turn to Me, I will open your ear to instruction, and if you hear and serve Me, you will end your days in prosperity and your years in pleasures. But if you do not hear, you shall perish and die without knowledge. Job 36:10-12. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. Revelation 3:20. And in Me you will wisdom, true wisdom, and knowledge. And these are treasures. And where are they stored? In My Word.

The good news for all of you is that if you really want divine direction and to know My Will, you can. It is not difficult. My Word is near you, even in your heart and in your mouth, it is right before your eyes. And thus begins a new series: “How to Know God’s Will for Your Life,” and today we begin with Life Lesson No. 1: “Divine Communication, Not Divination.”

My sheep hear My voice, I know them and they follow Me, I go before them and lead them out and lead them in. With Me they find verdant pastures and restful healing waters of peace. With Me there is no lack. And how do I lead? Those who are My children are led by My Spirit. Romans 8:14. And how does He lead? By My Word and the inner witness. My Spirit speaks. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; Revelation 3:6, 13, 22. He speaks to each member of the Body of Christ, the Church, but He only speaks My Word for He breathed it and inspired the prophets to write it. All of My Word is Spirit-breathed. 2 Timothy 3:16.

I would like you to consider Divine communication as exhibited by some incidents in the life of My servant David, the sweet psalmist of Israel. 2 Samuel 23:1. And that title tells you much about fellowship right there. David sought fellowship with Me since he was a young lad watching his father’s sheep in the fields of Bethlehem, where he was raised, his father, Jesse, being the grandson of Ruth and Boaz. And David learned at an early age to get direction from Me when facing an adversary. Remember Goliath?

You will find that even as king of Israel and Judah, before David went into battles with the enemy, he inquired of Me for the battle strategy and plan. So you see that inquiry is a way to discern My Will at any given moment. So I am going to a particular time in David’s life where he inquired and obeyed with very good results, and another instant where he did not and had a bad result, which he later corrected.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; and David heard of it and went out against them. Now the Philistines had come and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim. David did not just assume I was with him and go on his own plan to fight. He inquired of Me, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?” I answered, for when you call I answer, “Go up, for I will give them into your hand.” So they came up to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there; and David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand, like the breakthrough of waters.” Therefore he named that place Baal-perazim. The Lord of the Breakthrough. 1 Chronicles 14:8-12. Then the Philistines made yet another raid in the valley. And David did not assume the strategy would be the same but he inquired again of Me, and I told him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. It shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” David did just as I had commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even as far as Gezer. Then the fame of David went out into all the lands; and I brought the fear of him on all the nations. 1 Chronicles 14:13-15.

When you face a problem, a trial, an enemy (and you do have an adversary named Satan that you do not see except in the people he has taken captive to do his will), you must inquire of Me as to what to do. And this is whether it is tangible or intangible. One of the simplest ways to know My Will for you each day is to focus on a question you have or a project or challenge you must solve and inquire of Me what I would have you to do. Take out your tablet and be ready to write down My answer. And ask Me for a Scripture to back it up and witness with it. I will and do answer. This process becomes quicker and easier if you are in a habit of taking time to read My Word and to converse with Me. David had composed psalms of fellowship with Me for years. He advised you to pour out your heart before Me. And I shared My heart with him. Draw close to Me and I will draw close to you. It is that simple.

David, though, did not always inquire or run things by Me, especially when he thought he was doing something that would please Me. But if you act contrary to My Word, you do not please Me, in fact the opposite. I tell you that rebellion to My Word, even if you say you are doing what you do to please Me, as Saul did about offering the sacrifice without waiting for Samuel as he had been directed to do, is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. 1 Samuel 15:23. Do you see that? Rebellion to My Word, acting directly contrary to what is clearly set forth in My Word, is as the sin of divination. And I warned My people that I did not want anyone among them who used divination, practiced witchcraft, interpreted omens, was a sorcerer, or casted spells, or was a medium, or a spiritist, or one who called up the dead. Deuteronomy 18:10-12. These are detestable things straight from the father of lies who was a murderer from the beginning.

David had a great reverence and respect for the Ark of the covenant from the writings of Moses and his knowledge of the tabernacle. Once he became king, he did not rest until he located it, for it had been absent from the Holy of Holies since the days of Eli and his sons when they removed it from the Holy of Holies and took it out to the battlefield where it was captured by the Philistines. The Philistines soon returned it to Israel, however, after a number of supernatural events causing their idol to fall before it and other things put them in great fear of keeping it. However, it did not get back to My tabernacle, but the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took My ark and brought it into the house of Abinadab, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep My Ark. From the day that the Ark remained at Kiriath-jearim, the time was long, for it was twenty years. While Saul was king, he had no interest in it and never sought to have it returned. But David said his eyelids would not rest until he found and honored it by giving it a place of rest. Psalm 132:1-9.

However, when David decided to bring the Ark to Mt. Zion, he did not consider My protocol for the Ark but consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader. He did not inquire of Me about how to do it but called all the assembly of Israel, and all the assembly said that bringing up the Ark to Jerusalem, to Zion, was right in the eyes of all the people. So David and all Israel went up to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there My Ark, the LORD who is enthroned above the cherubim, where My name is called. They carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart. David and all Israel were celebrating before Me with all their might, even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals and with trumpets.

There was one major problem with this, however. I had given very careful instructions to Moses on how My Ark, where I spoke from the mercy seat above the cherubim, was to be transported, and that was for a reason. It was to be carried by the Levites only, on poles on their shoulders. And no one but a consecrated Levite who was cleansed for service could touch it. David disobeyed this and suffered the consequences I had clearly set out in My Word. No matter how much shouting or singing went on it was still disobedience.

So David, stopped the procession and had the Ark taken aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. Thus, My Ark remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months; and I blessed the family of Obed-edom with all that he had.

When David saw how blessed the family of Obed-edom was, he again desired to bring the Ark to his city of Zion in Jerusalem. He prepared a place for the Ark and pitched a tent for it. But this time he consulted My Word and concluded, “No one is to carry the Ark of God but the Levites; for the LORD chose them to carry the Ark of God and to minister to Him forever.” So David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites to prepare for the carrying of the Ark according to My Word. He called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves both you and your relatives, that you may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. Because you did not carry it at the first, the LORD our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.” So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up My Ark. The sons of the Levites carried it on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses had commanded ACCORDING TO MY WORD. 1 Chronicles 15:11-15.

You will note to know My Will for him in this situation, David did not have to inquire of Me for I had made it very clear in My Word what the protocol and procedure was. Things that are clear in My Word you should not be asking Me if I really meant that and be doing what you think is the “modernized” way. David was thinking the old way was no longer needed, but it was there for a reason and My Word does not change. It is the same yesterday, today and forever. It does not matter how much people say about choice, gay pride, pornography, or sexual immorality being acceptable today, I have not changed My Word on these subjects and never will. I have made it very clear what is good for you and what is the best way to prosper and have a fruitful life, as well as the consequences if you go against My Word. My Word to Adam and Eve was concise and clear, they should not have been considering other choices as viable or alternative life styles as acceptable. I told them if they ate it they would die. They ate it and they died.

But David truly had a heart overflowing with worship. So he obeyed My Word and then added more. He added singers and music. And once he brought the Ark to its resting place in the tent he pitched on Mt. Zion he instituted worship twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, during his time as king.

So he spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. So the Levites appointed Heman, Asaph and Ethan to sound aloud cymbals of bronze; and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah, with harps tuned to alamoth; and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the sheminith. Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the Ark.

So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands, who went to bring up My ark of the covenant from the house of Obed-edom with joy. And I helped the Levites who were carrying My Ark of the covenant, so that the offered the peace offering of the priests as instructed in My law given to Moses, sacrificing seven bulls and seven rams.

David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen. Thus all Israel brought up My Ark of the covenant, the sign of My abiding presence, with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres. 1 Chronicles 15:1-28.

And what was King David doing as he led the Levites up according to My Words to Moses? Filled with joy in My presence he was leaping, dancing, and celebrating. 1 Chronicles 15:29. And so were all the people. And after the Ark was placed in the tent and burnt offerings and peace offerings sacrificed, the singer and musicians gave praise and worship and all the people said, “Amen,” and praised Me. And David blessed the people in My Name and distributed to everyone of Israel, both man and woman, to everyone a loaf of bread and a portion of meat and a raisin cake. Then all the people departed each to his house, and David returned to bless his household.

Doing things together according to My Word always brings rejoicing and blessing to all who will join in.

I love you. Do you see? In prayer, inquire, seek answers, but also read My Word for answers and you will find and know My Will each day. Never go off in your own direction, no matter how good the idea seems, if it is contrary to My Word. And tomorrow we will discuss renewing your mind to know My Will.