David A man after Gods own heart.   p 4

The third characteristic which marked David out as a man after Gods own heart was that unlike Saul who feared the people and listened to their voice David feared the Lord and listened to his voice.
Throughout his life David emerges as a man who always sought to know the council of the Lord even when it would have seemed simple or obvious to take a certain course set before him.
He would not take a major decision without first knowing the mind of the Lord on that matter.
In contrast Saul would act under severe pressure by caving in to the pressure of the people or rather by acting impetuously, but never had the same confidence that God would speak or fear of the Lord in his life to not commit to a course until he had first enquired of the Lord.
This one attitude which we can see so clearly evident in Davids life marks him out as a man who greatly respected the will of God and had no wish to presume that he knew it before he had sought it diligently.
 In 1 Sam 15 we read of king Saul failure to carry out the Lords command to wipe out the Amalek nation because of their wickedness and because of their treatment towards Israel years before when they attacked them as they were coming out of Egypt.
Everything was to be irrevocably given over to the Lord
.Nothing was to be kept back or kept alive.
Saul however did not obey what the Lord had clearly spoken to him through Samuel but kept alive the Amalekite king Agag, and the choicest of the sheep oxen and the lambs.
Initially when Samuel confronts him with his sin he uses the excuse that the livestock were kept alive for the purposes of sacrificing to the Lord,however as Samuel reminds him
"Has the Lord as great 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." 1 Sam 15 22, 23
 God did not ask Saul to offer sacrifices he asked him to destroy everything, and as Samuel challenges Saul eventually he is convicted of his sin and reveals his true motive for his disobedience,
v24
"I have sinned,for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words,because I feared the people and obeyed their voice."

In contrast to this consider David response in a situation where he faced extraordinary pressures against him yet would not act until he had first enquired of the Lord.
In 1 Sam 30 we read the account of when David returned to Ziklag to discover that in his absence the Amalekites had raided his village burned it with fire and kidnapped his wives and his children, along with the wives and children of all his men.
The bible records that David and his men wept and lifted up their voices until they had no more power left to weep.
"Then David was greatly distressed for the people spoke of stoning him,because the soul of all the people was grieved,every man for his sons and daughters.
But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God."1  Sam 30 vs6
Just when it seemed that things could get no worse for David he faced the prospect of his own men stoning him to death out of bitterness of soul.
David we are told immediately strengthened himself in the Lord his God, that is he looked to the Lord first to encourage him and strengthen himself.
Then we are told that
David said to Abiathar the priest,Ahimelechs son,"Please bring the ephod here to me."
And Abithar brought the ephod to David.
So David enquired 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."
This passage speaks volumes to us of David resolve even under the most testing of circumstances to do nothing without first enquiring of the Lord.
How easy it would have been for David as he men began to turn against him to have roused their loyalty by rashly pursuing the Amalekite band without first enquiring of the Lord.
David could have rallied the men spirits with a call to pursue but had he done so on his own initiative he would have been acting presumptuously.
Neither was this incident an isolated one in David life.
As you read through the account of Davids exploits you find the same words again and again,
 "And David enquired of the Lord"
The bible states plainly that the fear of man brings a snare but those who trust in the Lord shall be safe.Prov 29, 25
Paul wrote in Galatians 1 vs 10
"For do I now persuade men or God?
Or do I seek to please men?
For if I still pleased men I would not be a bond servant of Christ."
Regardless of how we may seek to justify ourselves the same question needs to be asked of all who are truly followers of Christ,
"Am I seeking now to please men or God"
I have found that in every instance in my life where the Lord has spoken clearly to myself and to my wife regarding future direction there has been someone who came to contradict it.
I am a passionate supporter of the prophetic however I also have a personal concern that in immaturity many in the body of Christ have sought direction and "a word from the Lord " from another rather then developing their confidence to hear the Lord and believe what he is saying for themselves.
If I am looking at another to give me direction then I can also be knocked off course by another also.
I believe that in the comings days it is going to be imperative that we grow in our own relationship with the Lord to where we look to Him alone to speak to us and to direct us.
Should he choose to use another to underline or bring clarity to what we have heard so be it, but we have come to a place where we do not need to hear from any other person for ourselves.
There is a passage of scripture in 1 kings chapter 13 that offer us a very important insight into what I am writing about.
In this chapter we read of a nameless man of God who goes by revelation to cry out against the wicked king Jeroboam and against the altar because of the idolatry and false sacrifices.
In judgement the kings hand shrivels up as he stretches out his hand against the man of God, and in judgement the altar of God breaks in two and its ashes are poured out.
The king cries out to the man of God to pray to God that his hand would be restored, and when the man of God does so, God restored his hand whole.
In gratitude the king invites the man of God to come home with him and dine with him before his return journey, and the king promises to give to him a reward.
However the man of God responds by saying
"If you were to give me half your house,I would not go in with you;nor would I eat bread,nor drink water in this place.
For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord,saying,"You shall not eat bread,nor drink water,nor return by the same way you came."
Later however an old prophet who hears of what has occurred goes to the man of God as he was on his journey home and invites him as well to come home with him and dine with him.
The older man is so desirous to have the younger man of God return with him that he tricks him by telling a lie, claiming that an angel of God appeared to him subsequently and told him to request the younger mans presence in his house to dine with him.
The man of God complies but as they are eating the word of the Lord comes to the older prophet saying,
"Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you,but you came back,ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you,"Eat no bread and drink no water,"your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers."1 kings 13 vs 21  22.
God had clearly spoken to the younger man of God not to stay in the place where he would prophesy a word of judgement under any circumstances but to return straight home.
When the apostate king invited him to stay he easily refused but when the older prophet requested it even though he initially refused he was later was persuaded.
Why?
Because he believed that if the older prophet had heard God it released him from his obligation to fulfil what he had been instructed to do,  even though he had not heard God saying to him to stay he was persuaded by what another told him God had supposedly said.
This younger man of God had been used to perform a powerful sign and wonder in Israel but his instructions were not conditional; his mission was not accomplished until he had safely returned home.
The older prophet had not heard God overriding this younger mans instructions because God had not changed his mind about what he had asked the man of God to do.
Therefore even though the older prophet was deceitful the responsibility was upon the younger man of God to have refused the older prophets request since he had not heard God saying that for himself.
This is a profound lesson for us also, we cannot rely upon another to do our hearing for us, we must know what God is saying for ourselves.
No matter how great the man or woman of God might be God does not speak to another what he wishes us to hear for ourselves.
David is a great model of one who respected and reverenced God to the degree that he never presumed to know God will until he enquired of the Lord himself.
His fear of displeasing the Lord was greater then his fear of men and in that we surely can learn and do likewise.