2 Samuel 4 - People make stupid choices

Sometimes people can be really stupid.

It was likely well known how David responded to the death of Saul, and what happened to the man claiming to have killed him. Even the recent death of Abner, an enemy of David until he changed sides, was mourned by David, publicly.

But even the death of Abner could be understood, if not accepted, in the light of revenge. But Ish-Bosheth, Saul's son and technically David's enemy, was not killed out of revenge, but in the hopes of currying favour with David. It's like they don't know what fate awaited the last man to do something similar.

Stupidity is not limited to the past, or to other people. There are plenty of occasions when I have been stupid - or if we want to phrase it in a nicer way: unwise.

Are there times when you have been unwise as well? Repercussions may not seem as bad today as it was back in David's time, but there are still consequences to our actions. We have seen how David was in constant conversation with God, from his time tending sheep, to running for his life from a murderous King, to where to go, and when to go there. When we don't pay attention to God it can be really easy to think we know the best thing for us. Baanah and Recab thought they knew what was best for them, but that didn't turn out as they had hoped.

My challenge, to myself as much as to anybody else, is to pay attention to God. That means stopping what we're doing and listening. Not just once; regularly. How else will we recognise God's voice if we don't listen to it?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, You know what is best for me, and You care about the choices that I make. Please help me to pay attention to Your wise guidance, instead of making my own "unwise" decisions.

Amen