Charles Ellicott Commentary Numbers 24:1

"And when Balaam saw that it pleased Jehovah to bless Israel, he went not, as at the other times, to meet with enchantments, but he set his face toward the wilderness." — Numbers 24:1 (ASV)

He set his face toward the wilderness. —that is, towards the place where the Israelites were encamped on the steppes of Moab.