"19 So you, too, please stay here tonight, that I may know what more the Lord will say to me.” 20 And God came to Balaam at night and said to him, “If the men have come to call you, rise, go with them; but only do what I tell you.” 21 So Balaam rose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the princes of Moab."
Numbers 22:19-22
There is a difficulty in understanding the anger kindled in God against Balaam (22) in view of the permission given him in 20; but the sense would seem to be as follows: When Balaam went the second time to the Lord and to have gone back a second time to ask about God's will could only mean that he wanted a different answer we must assume that the Lord, reading his heart said to him, in effect, 'I see that you are determined to go. Then have your own way'. Thus, the words in 20 represent God's permissive, rather than His directive will. Hence God's anger when Balaam went with the messengers of Balak (22). God sometimes does allow us our own way, without preventing it, allows us to play with fire, and allows us to be burned, to our cost. It is written of Israel in one of the Psalms, 'He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul '(Psalm 106:15). But how did such a thing come about? The critical point is between 18 and 19. It is clear that Balaam's firm attitude in 18 began to waver, and that it was the hope of gain that made it do so. And we may suppose a debate in his mind, in which he first wanted the Lord to change His mind on the matter, and then convinced himself that He had in fact done so. It is here that we see that this is not only ancient history, but also the unveiling of the deceitfulness of our own hearts. How easy it is to allow our estimation of what is God's will to be coloured and decided by our own secret hankerings and determinations.