2 Samuel 5:23

23 When David asked the LORD, God replied, "Don't attack them directly. Circle around behind them and come at them from in front of the balsam trees.

2 Samuel 5:23 Meaning and Commentary

2 Samuel 5:23

And when David inquired of the Lord
For though he had success before, and got the victory, he would not engage again with them without having the mind and will of God, on whom he knew victory alone depended:

he said, thou shalt not go up;
that is, directly, and in a straight line:

[but] fetch a compass behind them;
and get to the rear of them, instead of falling upon them in the front:

and come upon them over against the mulberry trees:
which grew in the valley of Rephaim, and near where the Philistines had pitched.

2 Samuel 5:23 In-Context

21 The Philistines left their divine images behind, and David and his men carried them off.

22 Once again the Philistines came up and spread out across the Rephaim Valley.

23 When David asked the LORD, God replied, "Don't attack them directly. Circle around behind them and come at them from in front of the balsam trees.

24 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, then attack, for God has attacked in front of you to defeat the Philistine army."

25 David followed God's orders exactly, and they defeated the Philistine army from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.