Inquire of the Lord

Dannah Gresh: According to Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, the follower of Jesus always has a reason to worship.

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth: Listen, I don’t care how discouraged you are, how overwhelmed you are, what the circumstances are that you may be facing in your life, you can sing to the Lord.

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of Lies Women Believe, for September 5, 2025. I’m Dannah Gresh.

Nancy: Many, many women I'm talking with in the Church today are greatly discouraged. I battle it a lot myself. Even in the ministry, doing things God has called me to, I find myself a lot of times giving way to discouragement. The Scripture provides us a wealth of resource and understanding about how to deal with discouraging times in our lives.

We've been looking at 1 Samuel 30, an incident from the life of David. If you've not been with us, let me just review what has happened. David has been running for his life from King Saul for fifteen years. He has been told by God that he would be the next king, but there is no evidence that God is going to fulfill His promise. It looks to the contrary, as if David is going to lose his life before he gets to the throne.

David and his six hundred men who have gathered around him, who have become his army, his troops, they have gone out to fight and then come back to their hometown in Philistine territory, the town of Ziklag, and have found that another enemy, the Amalekites, have come and burned their city, burned all their possessions, taken their wives, taken their children. They come back to this town with the smoke still rising up out of the ground. Their families are gone. They are obviously greatly distressed. We read in 1 Samuel 30:4:

Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept until they had no more power to weep.

They're devastated. This is an enormous loss. It's a personal loss. David's two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite, had also been taken captive. And then verse 6:

Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him because the soul of all the people was bitter, every man for his sons and his daughters. But [this is what we looked at yesterday] David strengthened or encouraged himself in the LORD his God.

When everyone had turned against him, David turned to the Lord. There he found a source of inner strength and encouragement. He needed it physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually. He strengthened himself in the Lord. He encouraged himself in the Lord.

Now we come to verse 7 today. I want you to see something else that David did when he was discouraged. First, he strengthened or encouraged himself in the Lord. Then verse 7 tells us he got direction from God. Here he is in this hopeless, helpless situation with no idea what to do. There is no human understanding that can tell you. There is no textbook that's been written. He had never been in this situation before. He didn't know what to do, so he turned to God to give him direction. We see in verse 7:

Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. So David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" (vv. 7–8)

When David needed direction, what did he do? First of all, having strengthened himself in the Lord already, having encouraged his heart in the Lord, now he seeks out another believer to help him to discern the will of God. Abiathar the priest is with him. He knows this is a man of God; he's a man that has been appointed by God as a priest to help people get to God as was the way God worked with people in the Old Testament before we had Christ, our High Priest. So David seeks out this believer. He doesn't try and make it alone.

Now the believer isn't for him a substitute for God. He turns first to the Lord. That's where he gets his strength and encouragement because God is the source of all true encouragement. But then God uses another believer to help him get direction and determine what he should do. Could I say to you that once you have sought encouragement in the Lord and as you are letting the Lord encourage your heart, then don't try to be a Lone Ranger Christian? Don't try to make it alone. Find a mature believer. When you find yourself in these circumstances where you have no idea what to do, find a mature believer who can help direct you to the Word.

I did this this past week. I'm embroiled in a situation that is very complex and it involves a number of people. I've been asked to provide some input and I actually have some connection with the situation myself. It's a bizarre, complex situation, and I just found myself just clueless as to what to do and how to function in this situation and how to give helpful counsel to others. I've been praying. I've been seeking the Lord and letting the Lord encourage my heart.

This past week I sought out godly counsel from two men of God who know how to take the Word and apply it to real life situations. I went with a humble heart, a teachable heart, saying, "Can you give me insight from the Word of God as to what is the appropriate way to respond in this circumstance."

Don't try to make it alone. David sought another believer to help him discern the will of God. Then David used the means that God had provided to know His will. In the Old Testament, God provided a number of different means. They didn't have the written Scripture, so God provided priests and prophets. We read in verse 7 that David says to Abiathar the priest, "Please bring the ephod here to me." Abiathar brought the ephod to David.

Without going into a lot of detail, an ephod was one of the priestly garments—the clothes worn, the outer clothing tunic worn by the high priest. And on that ephod was a pouch that had in it two stones that were known as the Urim and the Thummim. That's meaningless if you haven't studied the Old Testament. These were means (and the Scripture doesn't even really tell us how God did it) but these were means that God had given to people that the priest would help people to know God's will. That was the means God had provided. So David says, "Bring to me the means . . . the vehicle through which I can know the will of God."

Now we don't have an ephod or a Urim or a Thummim today to know the will of God. What do we have? We have the Word of God. And aren't you glad? My goodness! I've seen this week just a number of situations, but one in particular comes to mind where I really needed direction about a ministry-related decision. I didn't know how to think this through. I got into the Word and found the Word of God being a light and a lamp to my feet and my path. It just became so clear. The principles, the truths of God's Word, they're pure. They're right. They lead us. God used His Word in a very specific and direct way this week to shine light on my path.

As we're living in the Word of God, as we're saturated with the Word of God, we will be able to apply the Word of God to real-life circumstances and situations. Of course, that's the role of the Holy Spirit living within us—to shine light on the Word and to illuminate it to us and to direct our steps. He does it through the Word of God. God gives us His Word to encourage us, give us hope, and to help us to endure when we think we cannot go on.

You read this in Romans 15, where the apostle Paul says,

For everything that was written in the past [that's all the Old Testament Scriptures], it was written to teach us so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." (vv. 4–6 NIV)

What does God use to encourage us, to direct us, in these discouraging times? It's the Word of God—the encouragement we find through the Word.

I was working on this series a couple of nights ago and thought about a pastor and his wife who live in the Memphis, Tennessee area, who are just great encouragers. They've been real encouragers in my life over a period of many years. I know that this particular wife has had for years now a major neuromuscular disease that has caused the deterioration of her neck muscles. She has been in constant, horrible pain and deteriorating physical condition for years.

Now she and her husband are sixty-ish, and they've been such encouragers to me. So I picked up the phone and called them because I was speaking about encouragement. I said, "Brother Bobby and Joyce, how are you doing?" They both got on the phone. "You've encouraged me so many times over the years when I've been discouraged. I know you must have had some discouraging times as you're walking through this physical situation." You know, their hearts were so full of praise and thanks. I said, "Joyce, how do you encourage yourself?" She said, "I get in the Word. I get in the Word. That's where God provides encouragement."

Then we see that David prayed. He inquired of the Lord. He asked God what he should do. He sought out another believer. He used the means God had provided. And then he said, "God, what should I do?" He prayed. He didn't assume that the first plan that came into his mind was God's plan. You know, we make our plans. We say, "I'm going to fight this. I know what I'm going to do. I've got this cancer. I've got this situation with my child. I've got this situation in my job." We kick into high gear, and we put our plans into motion.

Well, David was a smart man. He could have thought of plans on his own. But he wanted God's plan. Isn't that what you want, really? Not to depend on your own understanding, but to acknowledge Him and let Him direct your steps? So David inquired of the Lord, verse 8, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?"

When we go back a couple of chapters, we find that David had failed to inquire of the Lord before he went to battle with the Philistines. That's how he ended up in this situation. I think David didn't want to make the same mistake again. He knew that when he had not inquired of the Lord previously, he had ended up in a big mess. Now he says, "I'm going to inquire of the Lord this time. I'm going to ask God what I should do." Aren't you glad that it's not too late to repent? You may have failed to seek the Lord in the past. You may have leaned on your own understanding in the past. But now you can seek the Lord. You can come back to Him in humility and say, "God, I've done it my own way, now I want to do it Your way."

Doing it God's way does not mean that God will make all your problems go away. It doesn't mean He'll just wave His magic wand in the air and all your problems will be gone. But it does mean that God will walk with you through that valley, through those circumstances.  

My pastor friend in the Memphis, Tennessee area has said this: "Fight all your battles on your knees." David inquired of the Lord. We're going to see that God came to David's rescue and showed him exactly what he should do.

Dannah: Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth will be right back with part two of today’s teaching. Before that, I want to remind you that we’ve created a resource for times of discouragement. It’s called Endure: Forty Days of Fortitude. This book walks you through a forty-day challenge, inspiring you to defy discouragement by running to the Lord. You can find it at ReviveOurHearts.com. 

And because this month’s theme is all about fortitude—standing firm in God’s grace—we’re offering this book to everyone who makes a donation of any amount in September. To give, visit ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959. When you do, be sure to ask for Endure: Forty Days of Fortitude.

Let’s get back to Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth’s teaching from 1 Samuel chapter 30.

Nancy: David believed God's promise and obeyed God's direction. He stepped out in faith, based on the promises of God, and he obeyed God based on the direction that God had given. The promises of God and the direction. Step out in faith on the promises and obey the direction that God has given.

So God says to David in verse 8, "God answered him." Aren't you glad that God does answer when you ask? You say, "Well, God's never spoken to me like this."

Listen. David didn't have this Book. We do. So as we pray, as we inquire of the Lord, the Holy Spirit takes this Book if we're reading it, if we're internalizing it and He makes application.

The Lord showed me an answer to a question I had about a potential staff member this past week. Now the Bible doesn't have that potential staff member's name in the Bible anywhere, but it was in the Word that God showed me what to do about whether or not to hire this person for the ministry of Revive Our Hearts. The Lord used the Word. The Spirit applied the Word in a very clear way to my heart. He does that, if we'll let Him.

So verse 8 says, "God answered him, and God said, 'Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.'" In God's answer, there is a direction to be obeyed and there is a promise to be believed.

What is the direction? Pursue them. What is the promise? You will overtake them and you will recover everything. That's not a very long answer, but it's all the answer David needed. God had given His word. There is clear direction. David believed God and did what God told him to do—even though at this moment David was exhausted. He was discouraged. He was defeated. And yet, he stepped out in faith to obey God. He trusted that God would give him the strength to fight this battle.

Now, we're going to see that the battle against the Amalekites, who had taken the wives and the children, it was a twenty-four-hour battle—from one evening until twilight of the next day, for twenty-four  hours! David was in no physical condition, and neither were his men, to fight this kind of battle.

Sometimes God gives us direction and our instinct is to say, "But God, I am so worn out! I can't do this!" God says, "You step out. You obey, and I'll give you the strength to obey." As Paul says, "God quickens our mortal bodies."

I can't tell you how many times in the course of obeying God I have felt, "I just can't do this! It's too hard! I'm too tired! It hasn't worked before."

Yet you step out and you find that, as Oswald Chambers says, "When you obey God, you link arms with the omnipotence of God. You find all of God's resources, all of His strength right at your disposal as you seek to obey Him."

So when you don't know what to do, you seek the Lord. Ask Him what to do. Then having been in His Word, you do what you know to do.

God says to pursue, so what does David do? He pursues. He doesn't know how the battles going to go. He doesn't know what the battle's going to be like. He doesn't know what he's going to find. He just does what he knows to do.

If you and I stop to think about it, there's a lot we already know to do. I think one of the problems is in our times of distress and discouragement that we don't step out and do what we already know to do. We're looking for some grand new revelation. And God is saying, "I've already told you what to do. You know My Word."

I took time last night just to write down some commands from the Scripture that most of us are familiar with. Let me just read those. When you don't know what else to do, here are some things you can do for sure. Some of these may not apply to your specific situation, but these are things we know to do.

First of all, God's Word says, "Don't worry about anything. Instead, pray about everything." That's a command. We know what to do. We can do that. God says, "Give to those who have need." God says, "Abstain from sexual immorality. Flee immorality." That's a command of God's Word we can obey.

God's Word says, "Show hospitality." Welcome people into your home. I found myself recently being challenged to provide hospitality at a time that wasn't good on my schedule. I was feeling some sense of being overwhelmed and being discouraged, and God brought this Scripture to my mind.

Hospitality didn't have anything to do with what I was facing directly at that moment. But I thought, That's one thing I do know to do. God's Word says, "Show hospitality without grudging." So I opened my home. I didn't have time to make the preparations. It wasn't a good week for me, but God brought the situation into my life. And I said, "This is life. This is obeying God right now, when I feel like I've got so many things to do. It's not a good time. I will obey God. I will show hospitality."

God's Word says, "Put away lying. Speak the truth in love." Some of you are dealing with relational issues. You don't know what to do, and you're discouraged over it. One thing you do know is that you're not to lie. You're not to deceive. You're not to be manipulative in that relationship. You're to speak the truth in love.

God has been bringing that into my head as I've been dealing with a situation that is a tough relational one. I haven't known how to handle it. One of the things God has been telling me from His Word, "Speak the truth, and do it in love."

God's Word says, "Be kind." You can know in your situation that whatever the trauma, whatever the crisis, you are to be kind. Obey God. God's Word says, "Don't speak evil of one another." So your marriage is in a crisis and your husband is an alcoholic or addicted to pornography and not paying the bills and your family is falling apart around you. One thing you know is true is that you're not to speak evil of your husband. That's a command you can obey. It's a tough one, but you can obey.

Here's a tough one. God's Word says, "In everything give thanks." "Count it all joy when you fall into various trials." "Rejoice in the Lord." Go to the book of Philippians. "Rejoice! Again I say, rejoice." I don't know what your circumstance is, but I know one of God's commands to you in the midst of that circumstance is to rejoice. Give thanks.

God's Word says that "if someone has something against you, go to him and try to be reconciled." That's a command. You can obey that. God's Word says, "Don't return evil for evil, but rather give a blessing."

I think of Martin Burnham, who was martyred in the Philippines. As his widow Gracia emerged from the jungle there after they had been captives there for over a year, she told how at night as he would be chained to a tree there, held by those terrorists, how he would say to his captors, "Thank you. I know you don't want to do this. Good night." He would be kind to them. He would return good for evil. He was obeying the Word of God, and you can, too.

God's Word says, "Love your enemies. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you." You can obey God in your circumstance.

God's Word says to reverence your husband. It doesn't say he is worthy of reverence. It says to reverence him. You can obey God by the power of His Holy Spirit. God says, "Forgive. Forbear with one another. Don't become bitter."

God's Word says—and this is a practical one—"Sing to the Lord." That's a command that's repeated many times in the Scripture. Sing to the Lord. I don't care how discouraged you are, how overwhelmed you are, what the circumstances are that you may be facing in your life, you can sing to the Lord.

I find myself often pulling out a hymnal and singing some of those old songs, like "No One Understands Like Jesus," "There's Not a Friend Like the Lowly Jesus. No Not One," "I Must Tell Jesus All of My Trials." I'll sing songs, choruses, praises of worship, of prayer, singing to the Lord. That's a command. You can do it.

The danger is when we are wallowing is discouragement, when we're in depressing or discouraging circumstances, our tendency is to wallow in discouragement rather than getting up and doing what we know we're supposed to do. David inquired of the Lord. God said, "Pursue them. Go after them." David pursued. He did what he knew to do.

Let me say that in the act, in the process, of obeying the Word of God that you know, you will find yourself strengthened and encouraged.

Dannah: That’s Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth in a series called "Defying Discouragement." She’ll be right back to pray. If you’ve missed any of the episodes in this series so far, you can catch up at ReviveOurHearts.com, or on the Revive Our Hearts app. You might even consider forwarding a link to someone else who needs encouragement.

Also, here’s your reminder that this Sunday is Grandparents Day! If you’re a grandmother, I would love to point you to a special resource we created for you. It’s called the Grandparenting on Purpose Challenge. When you sign up, you’ll receive ten days of emails containing wisdom from real-world grandparents (like me), each of whom have found ways to be intentional and biblical as they invest in the next generation. I hope you’ll consider signing up as a way to celebrate your day this weekend!

When you’re facing discouraging circumstances, it can be tempting to believe it’s all pointless. But we know from Scripture that everything God does is filled with purpose. Join us tomorrow as Nancy talks about God’s sanctifying hand in our hard circumstances. I think you’ll be encouraged.

Here’s Nancy to pray. 

Nancy: Father, You have given to us Your law to instruct us, to guide us. I think about how David said, "Oh how I love your law." Lord, we do love Your laws, we love Your Word, we love the direction You have given to us. Help us to know Your Word, and then in every circumstance and situation in life, help us to step out and do what we know You have told us to do.

We may not know all the details of how to handle it, but as we obey what You have shown us, then You'll show us the next step. You'll give us more light. Make us obedient, even in the times where we are discouraged; that You may make a pathway through that obedience to encourage our hearts. I pray in Jesus' name, amen.

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