My title is Listening to Wise Counsel vs Foolish Counsel.
I read each morning from the ESV Reader’s Bible. It has no verse numbering or chapter divisions. This morning I started reading Proverbs 8. It sure seemed to be a long chapter but I thought “Oh well.” Unbeknownst to me, the pages turned together and I found myself in chapter 9. I found that out when I went to journal. I underlined verse 9 when I was reading: “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.” By itself seemingly simple. But combine that with a story from 2 Chronicles 10 and it is amazing how Scripture can be tied together.
It’s the story of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam (R). Following Solomon’s death the people came to R and made a request: “Please lighten the load your father put on us and we will serve you.” So he told them to return in 3 days for their answer. He sought counsel from the older men who worked alongside his father. They suggested he do just that. His peers, guys he had hung around, suggested making it harder (using quite descriptive language). R chose the latter.
A wiser man would have listened to his elders. The ensuing result was the disgruntlement of the people and their refusal to follow R. Ultimately, the kingdom split. R showed himself to be a fool. He should have heeded his own father’s words.
“Father, may I be a man of wisdom-one who seeks your counsel and the counsel of other wise men. I’m not an island and at times I cannot and should not be an arbitrary decision-maker. Help me to seek wise counsel on tough decisions and then heed it.”
