Monday, May 15, 2017

Difficult choices



II Samuel 13:3, 14:20b Now Amnon had an advisor named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother.  Jonadab was a very shrewd man. … [Joab] my lord has wisdom like that of an angel of God …

If we needed any proof of the wisdom and value of having the right kind of friends and counselors to help us, we certainly have it in this sad story from King David’s life.  Because David’s son Amnon followed the counsel of a “shrewd” man, a whole series of unfortunate, sad, sinful/evil events took place.  The big difference besides the kind of counselors Amnon and David had that influenced the events was the kind of men Amnon and David were.  Amnon had evil intent from the beginning whereas David’s heart was inclined toward God so even though he struggled over forgiving Absalom, his reaction to the adverse circumstances was completely different and more peace-loving and peace-seeking.  I pray that I will always be the kind of person who emulates a godly, peace-loving heart such as we see in David.  It challenges me as I think about the fact that David was a man of war yet responded so many times in a peaceful way to adverse circumstances.  That characteristic is most admirable and desirable and coupled with his wise choice of advisors makes me want to be like him.

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