The Sound in the Trees

"Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said, 'You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. And it shall be, when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly. For then the LORD will go out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.' And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines from Geba as far as Gezer." 2 Sam 5:22-25 NKJV

A great strategy... flank the enemy and attack when the rustling of the trees will cover the sound of your approach and heighten the confusion of the battle.

In 2 Sam 5:19 David had inquired of the Lord and He had said, 'Go up' and with a full frontal assault David's army broke through the enemy ranks like 'water breaking through a dam'.

Two different approaches at two different times... both specifically given by God and both the result of prayer and inquiry.

Some things require a direct approach and others need to be 'flanked' in a creative way. It is not the position of the trees that will tell us which is which. Inquiry with God is what will reveal it.

A Spirit filled person is like the wind... led by God and the pattern is not naturally discernible.

I want to understand tactics but be unpracticed in devising them myself in the flesh. The natural man has a secret agenda... one that may be a secret even to himself. That agenda will blind a person to what God would want done in a situation. God's aim is love and reconciliation making our conflict a war of restoration and healing. Like medics rushing to the battle to bind up the wounded there are hearts that need to be bound and arms that hang down and need to be put back in joint.

Even when Paul led by the Spirit spoke words to Elymas the sorcerer (see Acts 13:8f) and God blinded the man. What was done was the same thing that happened to Paul and led to his conversion. It was a kindness and not a cruelty.