Spend time in prayer and silence with God asking him to meet you and speak to you.
Bible Reading
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David sought the presence of the Lord. And the Lord said, “It is for Saul and his bloody house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” So the king called the Gibeonites, and spoke to them (now the Gibeonites were not of the sons of Israel but of the remnant of the Amorites, and the sons of Israel made a covenant with them, but Saul had sought to kill them in his zeal for the sons of Israel and Judah). Thus David said to the Gibeonites, “What should I do for you? And how can I make atonement that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?” Then the Gibeonites said to him, “We have no concern of silver or gold with Saul or his house, nor is it for us to put any man to death in Israel.” And he said, I will do for you what-ever you say.” Sot they said to the king, “The man who consumed us and who planned to exterminate us from remaining within any border of Israel, let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we will hang them before the Lord in Gibeah of Saul, the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”
– 2 Samuel 21:1-6
Devotion
David recognized that this famine was divine chastening and asked God for the reason. God answered that Saul, who had been zealous to exterminate the heathen from Israel, had slain some of the Gibeonites with whom Israel had made a treaty (Josh. 9:3-27). This sin needed to be rectified with the Gibeonites. Not all of our difficulties in our life are the result of God chastening us, but sometimes they may be the result of sin in our life or something that we have done that is displeasing to God. God might be withholding His blessing or He might just be closing a door and directing us to another path. Like David, we should always be communicating with God, asking for His direction and insight into all areas of our lives.
The Big Question
Is there past sin in your life that you need to clear up with God? Is there anything that you are doing on your own without seeking the direction of God? Is there anyone with whom you need to reconcile and “make things right”?
Conclude in prayer and silence reflecting on what you’ve learned.