1 Chronicles 14:13-17: in context

The Philistines raid the valley a second time, and David, who had already defeated them once, does not simply repeat his earlier tactics. He inquires of God again. And this time God gives him a different instruction: do not go up after them directly; circle around behind them, opposite the mulberry trees, and when you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack, for God has gone out before you. David does exactly as God commands, waiting for the sign, and wins the victory, for God had gone ahead of him into the battle.

The instructive thing here is that David inquired of God again, and received guidance different from before. He had faced the Philistines once already and defeated them with a direct attack. He could have assumed that what worked before would work again, and simply repeated it. Instead he sought God's specific direction for this new situation, and God gave him a different strategy: not a frontal attack this time, but a flanking move, waiting for a sign in the trees. And David obeyed the new guidance exactly, rather than relying on his past experience. Because he sought and followed God's specific direction, God went before him and gave the victory. This teaches us not to rely on yesterday's guidance for today's situation. We can assume that what God led us to do before is what he wants us to do now, that the method that worked last time will work again, and so act on past experience without seeking his direction afresh. David shows a better way: to inquire of God again, for each situation, and to follow the specific guidance he gives, even when it differs from before. God's leading is not a formula to be applied mechanically but a living direction to be sought anew. In all your ways acknowledge him, the proverb says, and he will make your paths straight; and acknowledging him means seeking his direction for the way before us, not assuming we already know it. This calls us to seek God's specific guidance rather than relying on our own experience or assumptions. When a new situation arises, even one that resembles a past one, we are called to inquire of God afresh, to seek his direction for this situation, and to follow it even if it differs from what he led us to do before. Your ears will hear a word behind you, Isaiah says, saying, this is the way, walk in it. God gives fresh guidance for the way before us; and David's willingness to inquire again and follow the new direction, rather than repeating the past, is a model of the dependence on God's leading that lets him go before us and give the victory. Let us not lean on yesterday's guidance for today, but seek God's specific direction afresh, and follow it even when it differs from before.

When a new situation arises, do I rely on my past experience and assume that what God led me to do before is what he wants now, or can David, who inquired of God again and followed a different guidance for the second battle, teach me to seek God's specific direction afresh for the way before me, following even unexpected leading rather than mechanically repeating the past, so that God goes before me?