"The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations" (Psalms 33:11).
Everyone needs counsel. Yet, can you imagine something as strange as going to someone for advice and his piece of wisdom is - sleep with your father's concubines to overpower him! This is exactly the advice Ahithopel gave to the rebel son Absalom who was desperate for a battle win against his Dad. "Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father, and the hands of everyone with you will be more resolute" (2 Samuel 16:21).
Absalom mad for victory went ahead and did just that! "So they set up a tent on the palace roof where everyone could see it, and Absalom went in and had sex with his father’s concubines" ( vv 22). Well, to take you ahead this was all for naught. For in the end Absalom was caught up in a battle which he lost and was executed by King David's General Joab.
Something of note here. Though Ahithopel was apparently a highly regarded counselor he had betrayed King David. During Absalom's revolt he deserted David and supported Absalom (2 Samuel 15:12). He was a man full of his ego that when his other advice to pursue David's troops in a rush was not taken up; he felt so insulted that he took his life (2 Samuel 17:23).
There is a simple lesson here. Whom do you seek counsel from? Here is a man whose heart was clearly far from God; but that's where Absalom sought advice. Sometime back King Saul also desperate for battle had sought advice from mediums. Saul then said to his advisers, “Find a woman who is a medium, so I can go and ask her what to do.” (1 Samuel 28:7). Well, just as happened to Absalom, of course he lost!
Be careful where you seek your advice from. In the case of Saul and Absalom they were desperate for victory and that blinded then from going to the right source. But the Lord says: "Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the Lord will stand" (Proverbs 19:21)
Prayer today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, today I come to you to seek the right counsel in all my plans, that you may lead me to victory, this I pray in Jesus’s name.
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17/05/2024 - 18/05/2024 All day“And I in righteousness I shall see your face; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with seeing your likeness” (Psalm 17:15)
One of the defining aspects we see in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ is that He began the day with prayer. “Very early in the morning while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35). As he was always surrounded by crowds and after such a busy day before of preaching and engaging the Pharisees in debates this must have been a therapeutic moment for Christ when he would have some good time to himself.
But there was also more. For Jesus being away in a secluded place would also mean a chance to pour out His heart to God, meditate in quietness, plan for the day ahead and listen to the Father. Jesus must have looked up to this moment every day knowing its benefits. Conversations with His Father must have been real and intimate, bringing a certain soothing and uplifting of His spirit. You do not wake up and stick to something on a daily basis that is a drag – this must have been his best time of the day!
Martin Luther the leader of the protestant reformation is reputed to once have said, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Here is the point. In the olden days before the arrival of locomotive transport those who were setting out for a long journey on foot had to start early with the first cock crow before the punishing sun came out. One of the things they had to start with also was a good meal, which was fuel needed to give them energy through the long walk to their destiny.
There are no rules about waking up to pray as first thing- or even saying prayer at a defined hour of the day. God is everywhere and ever with us. He is accessible at any time of the day. But there is something special about prioritizing our lives that the first thing we do is to talk to God. Just like the early traveller we need fuel, for the long day ahead!
Prayer for today: Lord Father God of Abraham, maker of heaven and earth, what a joy and privilege to make time at the start of any day, talk and hear from you, for the power I need through the day, this I pray in Jesus’ name!
