“And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” So David did as God commanded him, and they drove back the army of the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer.”
(1 Chronicles 14:15-16)

This passage is also recorded in 2 Samuel 5. This is about the history of David becoming king in the early times. After David became king, he often thought about the matters of God. In 1 Chronicles 13, it records that David wanted to move the Ark of the Covenant into the Kirjath Jearim. This was also recorded in 2 Samuel 6. Both 1 Chronicles 13 and 2 Samuel 6 record the same incident, but each chapter records the chronology of the incident differently. In 2 Samuel, it records that after David triumphed over the Philistines, he moved the ark of the covenant into the City of David.

But in 1 Chronicles 13, the order is reversed. It seems there is an intention behind this. In 1 Chronicles, the author wanted to stress that it was God’s will for David to become king; it was indeed according to God’s will that David became king. After David became king and his kingdom became stable, the first thing he wanted to do was to move the ark of the covenant into the city. But Uzza put his hand on the ark and was killed by the Lord. As such, a joyous occasion became a sorrowful occasion and the ark was not moved into the City of David. David was exceedingly sorrowful, and he was afraid of God. He felt that his attitude before God was not correct. But at the same time, David saw that God blessed the family of Obed-Edom who took the ark into his house. That was what David was hoping to receive from God when he received the ark of the covenant into the city, which was the grace and blessing of God. However, at the end of the day, he did not finish moving the ark of the covenant into his house. Then in 1 Chronicles 14, it records how God helped David to triumph over the Philistines twice. This is telling us that if we come to draw near to God with the wrong intentions, the consequences would not be what we wish for. But if one is willing to change and understand what the problem is, then God will continue to guide that person and give His blessings. From the events that David defeated the Philistines, this is to show that God is with David and his kingdom.

In 1 Chronicles 14, it records that Hiram king of Tyre sent David many materials to build him a house. It does not say what David had done for the king of Tyre but that the king of Tyre wanted to send many gifts to David.

“So David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel, for his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel.”
(1 Chronicles 14:2)

David knew that the reason his kingdom was prosperous was because of God and because God wanted to bless the people. This tells us that as long as we are willing to draw near to God and serve Him, God will bless us and show His favor unto us before God and men. As long as we are willing to submit and keep His commandments.

“My son, do not forget my law,
But let your heart keep my commands;
For length of days and long life
And peace they will add to you.
Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.”
(Proverbs 3:1-4)

Here it tells us that God has given His people laws and commands to keep. This is so that we can receive peace, to manifest the mercy of God, and so that we can be as truthful as Him. If we continue to have mercy and truth around us, then we will find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. This promise was fulfilled in David. Truly, David was willing to draw near to God. He really cared about the house of God. However, in the process, he neglected the commands of God. He overlooked the commands of God and was not careful in observing every single command of God. Therefore, God used His hand to chastise David so that he would understand. We then see that in 1 Chronicles 14, the king of Tyre took the initiative to ally himself with David. If we take the initiative to accept the chastisement of God, His hands of grace will come upon us.

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
(Proverbs 3:11-12)

Here it tells us that God will chastise and correct His son so that he will become righteous. This is out of God’s love.

Let us go to 1 Chronicles 14.

God’s blessing was also upon David in the way that David had many children who also established their own families. The main point starts in 1 Chronicles 14:8. It tells us about how God guided the people of Israel to defeat the Philistines.

“Now when the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. And David heard of it and went out against them. Then the Philistines went and made a raid on the Valley of Rephaim.”
(1 Chronicles 14:8-9)

The Philistines took the initiative to attack Israel after they heard that David had become king. Earlier, David had gone to the land of the Philistines and was subjugated beneath the king. But now that David had become king of Israel, God blessed him and Israel had become prosperous. But the Philistines did not want to see Israel prosperous because they were against God. Those who are against God do not wish to see the prosperity of God’s kingdom. At this time, David had just become the king of Israel. Therefore, the Philistines wanted to attack Israel first. David was courageous to face the enemy. This was one of his duties as king, to lead his people to defeat their enemies.

Today, in our life of faith, we often face many battles. Whether as individuals or as the church—we both face many spiritual battles. When we determine to grow in our faith, we often face a lot of challenges; suddenly our lives have great turbulence and troubles come. This will hinder us from growing in our faith. This is the same with the whole church when we try to move forward in holy work. When we set our minds to do holy work, the devil would often take the opportunity to hinder us. We are battling with the powers of darkness to fight for the souls of people. Satan is unwilling to see the kingdom of God prosper. But King David was a courageous warrior who faced the enemy. He was always ready. And hence when the enemies attacked, David was ready to fight back.

Why do we encourage everyone to be alert in our faith and draw near to God? Because when anything comes in our lives or when challenges come to the church, we need to see that this might be the work of Satan, our enemy.

“lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”
(2 Corinthians 2:11)

The Bible here reminds us that sometimes Satan takes advantage of us. We must discern in such situations and know how to overcome it. This verse here tells us that we do actually know Satan’s schemes. When Satan wants to damage the house of God, the easiest way is to sow division so that the church loses a united spirit and members lose their faith in God, such that they lose hope in the kingdom of God. So we do indeed know the schemes of Satan. The Bible reminds us that we must be victorious over it through being watchful. This is something we can learn from David—he was always ready to face his enemies when they attacked. There were many Philistines. How did he face them?

“And David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”
The Lord said to him, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.””
1 Chronicles 14:10

Here, David first inquired of God to ask if he should go up against the Philistines. We know that David was an experienced warrior since his childhood, from the time in his youth that he fought against Goliath and he was escaping from his life from Saul. Now, he was the anointed king. Now that the Philistines came to attack them, he acted as if he was a new soldier with no experience. Yet David knew that God was his Protector and Rock. In the Book of Psalms, he often described God as his Rock of salvation, his Banner. Therefore, he understood that when he fought against his enemies, it was by God’s strength.

“We will rejoice in your salvation,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.”
(Psalm 20:5-6)

David really understood that God would save his anointed and listen to him from His holy heaven. Therefore, he wanted to call upon the Lord.

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses;
But we will remember the name of the Lord our God.”
(Psalm 20:7)

Here it says that we will call on the name of the Lord. When we are in trouble, we must call upon God’s name for help. Today in our life of faith, we must continually call upon the Lord. As we call upon the Lord, we know that the Lord would be on our side. That’s why when David prayed to God, asking if he could go up, that was why God gave him permission to God. David was an experienced warrior and he knew exactly how to fight the Philistines. But he gave this sovereignty, this power to decide, into God’s hands. David knew that God was actually the King over the nation. King David was different from King Saul. The king before king David, king Saul, when the Philistines came to attack him, he was very terrified. History tells us that king Saul was actually killed by the Philistines. In 1 Samuel it records how afraid King Saul was when he faced his enemies, the Philistines. In the end, he even went to the medium to ask for the dead soul of Samuel. When Saul inquired of God, God did not answer him for God had already departed from him. But David was different. He knew how to face his enemies, but he was willing to inquire of God. So God helped him and God gave him a direction. God told him to go up and delivered the enemies into David’s hand. This time around, the Israelites were triumphant. It was the opposite outcome from the time of King Saul when they suffered great loss. When we know how to inquire of the Lord and to ask for His help, He will show us the way to go.

This is where King David gave thanks to God.

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord!
Call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples!
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him;
Talk of all His wondrous works!
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!”
1 Chronicles 16:8-11

Those who seek the Lord and His strength would not be ashamed. Whoever does that would be able to be victorious. Indeed, David had total triumph. And according to God’s words and promise, the enemy was given into his hands.
“So they went up to Baal Perazim, and David defeated them there. Then David said, “God has broken through my enemies by my hand like a breakthrough of water.” Therefore they called the name of that place Baal Perazim.”
1 Chronicles 14:11

What did David say after he defeated the Philistines? He said that God had broken through my enemies through my hand like a .. of water. When he triumphed over his enemies, he did not give credit to himself or the warriors who fought alongside him. Instead, David gave the credit to God—all glory belonged to God. When he was triumphant, David did not become proud. His actions were different from that of King Saul. When King Saul triumphed over his enemies, he became proud immediately and he stopped listening to God’s commands. David, however, was very clear that God had given his enemies into his hands.

Verse 12 also tells us that David knew the heart of God. David did not leave anything for himself as a memorial.

“And when they left their gods there, David gave a commandment, and they were burned with fire.”
(1 Chronicles 14:12)

When the Philistines were fighting Israel, they brought the sculptures of their gods with them. When they were defeated, they left all their gods there. David gave the command to gather all these sculptures of gods and to burn them with fire. This was the command of God. Any time they faced any of the idols, they needed to burn them with fire. Most people, when they see these beautiful sculptures, may keep them as a souvenir and proof of their victory. To the Philistines, these idols would have been very precious. But these were abominations in God’s eyes. Therefore David commanded them to burn the idols all with fire—these gods that needed to be destroyed could not be brought back to their camp. David had a heart of jealousy against the idols; David would not take anything God disliked.

“And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.”
Joshua 6:18

This is actually first recorded in Deuteronomy, in the commandments of God. The things that are accursed need to be destroyed or they would make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it. Therefore David commanded his army to destroy all the accursed things. He wanted to keep the command of God to the end. That was very different from what King Saul did; King Saul only kept the commandments of God partially.

In this first experience of triumph over the Philistines, God showed David that those who trust in God would always be blessed.

“Then the Philistines once again made a raid on the valley.”
(1 Chronicles 14:13)

The Philistines made a raid again. The enemies would not give up so easily to battle you. Even though they were defeated the first time, now they gathered even more people to fight against Israel. Let us see what David did.

Now, David again inquired of God. This inquiry is a great reminder for us. In the first time, David inquired of the Lord about the Philistines and God told him what to do. He was triumphant. Now that this was happening for the second time, David did not omit this process of inquiring of God. It is easy for us to be self-satisfied in our triumphs that we become prideful. Even though this was the second time that David was facing the Philistines, he did not use his prior experience as a tactic to face his enemies. This second time he met with his enemies, David prayed and asked of God again. This time, God gave him a different direction.

Think about ourselves. If this happened to us, would we inquire of God and prayed? This is the same enemy. In the past, God had already told us how to face this enemy. We would often take our past experience to face the new situation in the same way.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and depart from evil.”
Proverbs 3:5-7

We often read this passage and know that we must trust in the Lord with all our hearts. But here it tells us not to lean on our own understanding and not to be wise in our own eyes. In all our ways we need to acknowledge Him. A lot of times we pray before we do something. But in our prayers are we acknowledging God and His way, completely? Think about our own experience. In what situation are we most able to completely acknowledge Him and submit to His way? When we do the work of God, sometimes it is usually someone who first comes to serve God and does not know what to do who will seek God for help. It is when we have grown to have more experienced that it is harder for us to acknowledge God in all things. The more experience we have, we would do accordingly to our own experience. It would be harder for us to acknowledge God’s way.

But David inquired of the Lord no matter how many times he faced the same enemy. This time, God gave him a different method to face the enemy.

“Therefore David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.””
(1 Chronicles 14:14-15)

Something interesting is happening here. God gave David a different set of instructions.

“So David did as God commanded him,”
(1 Chronicles 14:16)

“And David did so, as the Lord commanded him;”
(2 Samuel 5:25a)

According to God’s command here, God wanted David to go behind his enemies and carefully listen to the sound that God wanted him to hear—the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees; this indicated that the army of God was advancing forward and was God’s form of guidance for David. How David was to attack the enemy from behind, God would guide him. David had to listen carefully to the sound. How? To go behind the enemy. This way, they would not be affected by the sound that the enemies would make. But when you go behind your enemy, it shows that you are willing to let God lead and wait for the timing of God. David had to be quiet to watch carefully as well as listen for the sound from above. David did not have to worry. He just had to wait for God’s actions—God has said that He would have action. The action would happen above the mulberry tree. In order for David to hear that sound, he has to be very quiet in his heart to wait. If he were in front of his enemies, he would be greatly distracted. Sometimes when we see that our enemies have certain actions, we would want to respond and our hearts cannot quieten down. But if you go behind your enemy and you cannot see your enemy’s actions, you can be quiet to wait for God’s guidance.

God instructed David to strike after hearing the sound. This is to tell us that once we see the action of God, we have to immediately follow. We cannot wait. As the sound is further and further from you, you cannot discern where it is going. Therefore we need to quickly follow God’s footsteps. We need to work together with God. When He is fast, we need to be quick. We need to follow very closely behind Him. Don’t worry or hesitate, nor be too fast or too slow.

In our spiritual battle, God will direct our paths. How can we hear the sound of God? We need to be willing to submit to God’s guidance. We must let God lead. We must also remember the commands of God. David made a mistake when he was transporting the ark of the covenant into the City of David. Even though he wanted to do this out of his good heart, he did not inquire of God, nor the priests, nor the Levites, how to do this correctly. David merely felt that he was doing this out of his good will. All the leaders of the nation agreed with him. But David forgot that he had to inquire of God and God’s workers. God actually had a very detailed direction of how to do this, but David thought he knew how to do this. Since everyone agreed with him, he did it. As a result, he made a big mistake. Now when he was facing his enemies in battle, he knew that he needed to be careful and inquire of God.

If we put these two incidents as a reminder for our faith, then we know that when we are preaching the gospel to others, it is like battling. In such a scenario, we can see our enemies before us clearly. We need to ask God, “What should I do? How should I preach the gospel?”

The transporting of the ark is worshiping God. We have the heart to worship God and to serve Him. We have a heart of love towards God. If everyone arounds us agrees with us, then it is easy for us to overlook what God really wants. We would overlook God’s clear commands of how to worship Him. As a result, we would make a mistake. Whether we are preaching, which is external, or pastoring members, which is internal, we need to inquire of God. Not only do we need a heart of love, we also need to be submissive towards God’s guidance. We have to be careful—not everything that everyone agrees on is good in the eyes of God. Whatever everyone agrees on—is that according to God’s way? Do we truly know what God wants us to do? This is something we can learn from this passage today. David, when he did according to God’s command, was triumphant.

“Then the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.”
(1 Chronicles 14:17)

It was God who brought the fear of David upon all nations. This was God’s will. He wanted to bring the fear upon all nations so that they would have a quiet time to build the temple of God later on. Let us listen to the voice of God so that we can walk after God’s footsteps and be triumphant.