1 Kings 22:1-5: in context

After three years of peace, Ahab, king of Israel, wants to reclaim Ramoth-Gilead from Syria, and asks Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, to join him in the campaign. Jehoshaphat agrees readily, pledging his people and horses. But before they proceed, he adds a word of caution: please inquire first for the word of the LORD. Before committing to the venture, Jehoshaphat wants to seek God's guidance, to know God's will, rather than simply proceeding on the strength of Ahab's plan.

Jehoshaphat's counsel is a piece of wisdom easily neglected: inquire first for the word of the LORD. Before undertaking the venture, before committing to the plan, he wanted to seek God's guidance, to know whether this was God's will, rather than simply going ahead on human reasoning. Inquire first, he said; seek God before we act. There is wisdom here that we too often ignore. We are prone to make our plans, decide our course, and proceed, and only afterward, if at all, bring God in, asking his blessing on decisions already made rather than his guidance before making them. Jehoshaphat's order is the reverse: inquire first. Before we commit to a venture, a decision, a course of action, the wise thing is to seek God's guidance, to ask his will, to bring the matter to him before we act, rather than proceeding on our own reasoning and only consulting him after. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, the proverb says, and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. To acknowledge God in our ways means to seek him before we decide, to inquire of him first, rather than deciding by our own understanding and hoping he blesses it. This applies to the decisions of our lives, large and small: before the venture, the commitment, the course we are about to take, to inquire first for the word of the LORD, seeking his guidance rather than proceeding on our own. Notice that Jehoshaphat had already, perhaps too readily, pledged himself to Ahab's plan; his instinct to inquire came almost as an afterthought. And often that is our failing too, to commit first and consult God after. The better way is Jehoshaphat's stated principle, if not always his practice: inquire first. Before we act, before we commit, before we decide, to seek God's guidance and will, bringing the matter to him first rather than only after, is the wisdom that acknowledges God in our ways and lets him direct our paths.

When I face a decision or a venture, do I make my plans and decide my course on my own reasoning, only bringing God in afterward to bless what I have already decided, or can I heed Jehoshaphat's counsel to inquire first for the word of the LORD, seeking God's guidance before I commit, acknowledging him in my ways and letting him direct my paths?