January 8

Pslam 36-40, 1 Samuel 14

What’s right? What is wrong? And what does it lead to?

Have you ever found yourself in one of those spots where you aren’t quite sure what the right answer is? The world loves to make trivial, situations that should be clearly defined. So we find ourselves in a world full of what people might “call grey areas.”

David starts our reading today with a message from God. He says, “I have a message from God in my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before their eyes. In their own eyes they flatter themselves too much to detect or hate their sin. The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful: they fail to act wisely or do good. Even on their beds they put evil; they commit themselves to a sinful course and do not reject what is wrong.”

You see, the more we let ourselves be drawn into sin, the more grey ears will appear. When we allow our hearts to continually drive from the Lord, we find the ways of the Lord making sense, less and less.

This brings him to one of the most profound verses written in one of his Psalms. 37:3-4 “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

When you desire to do good, when you try to find delight in pleasing the Lord, he leads and directs you. He helps you to find what is right and gives you the desires of your heart. - why? Because your heart desires to please him. So he leads you to ways of fulfilling this.

When King Saul had already let his heart drift from the Lord, he was still trying to lead in a way that would bring the Israelites victory. Yet he had already let his heart begin to drift. In yesterday’s reading, we saw that he had ignored the direction of the Lord and had handled the sacrifice in a way that was dishonoring to the Lord. So when he goes out to fight the philistines, he makes a decree that came out of his own desire, and not out of God’s direction. And the irony of it, is that it almost sounded like something that God would have wanted of them.

“Cursed by anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.

Yet his son Jonathan went out and trusted in the Lord to defeat a large camp of the Philistines. And when he came back, he ate honey and it brought him strength. In doing so, he went against his father - the king - and disobeyed his command.

When Saul finds out that Jonathan had disobeyed him, he calls his own son to death. Yet the people stood up for Jonathan and would not allow his death.

Do you see where Saul’s focus was? He was only concerned with his own victory and own avenging. This caused him to make selfish decisions and to hold others accountable to a set standard that only made sense in his own conviction.

The truth is, his heart wasn’t set on delighting himself in the Lord. His heart was set on his own agenda and his own vengeance. If we are to navigate seemingly impossible decisions and make the wise choice, we must take delight in the Lord. Then and only then will he give us the ability to make wise choices, and not walk down a path that will ultimately destroy us.

So, may you seek out righteousness today. May you search for God’s heart, and find out what pleases him. May you have the wisdom to navigate decisions that seem impossibly confusing, May you trust in the Lord and do good; so that you may dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. And, may you take delight in the Lord, that he will give you the desires of your heart.