David is old and “advanced in age.” That’s not so
bad. The bad thing is when you're weak, people have a tendency to try and take
advantage of you if you have something that they want. In this chapter of 1
Kings, Adonijah is described as a handsome dude who made some friends in high
places. He decided to call himself the ruler. He really wasn't that much of a
threat though; he only had power that was skin deep. David used his remaining
power to foil Adonijah’s plan. David simply had the chief prophet anoint
Solomon as king and gave orders for it to be announced. Adonijah’s followers
sheepishly walked away when they heard the news (vs. 46).
It’s fairly easy to be fooled by
glamour, style, and charm. We need to learn what God does. God’s insight
and wisdom is really amazing. (Of course, He’s God. You need to have
the best way of doing things or how can you be God?). In 1 Samuel 16:7, God
sends out his prophet Samuel to find David, His new king for Israel. God says,
“Do not look on his appearance or on his
height of his statue, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man
sees; Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
That verse right there has always been
interesting to me. How can we look more at the heart instead of focus on the
appearance of things and people? Can we really learn to see people for who they
are? I see our society: it’s really really easy to look at the lights and the
glamour. Have we actually taught ourselves to only see things that are obvious?
Have we become so lazy to just give up digging and accept what’s right in front
of us, no questions asked? If you haven’t, good for you - but it’s so so easy
to just take what we see on the surface as truth.
I believe there are
ways to see the heart without God’s power to see the heart, mind and thoughts.
The first thing we need to do is to learn to obtain wisdom and discernment. We
can not do this all ourselves. We need to humble ourselves and ask God for
those attributes. The second step is to be humble in your observation of
others. For example, let’s start simple. If a person wants to move an arm or a
leg or any part of the body, they must first think about the action. You know
for a fact that the person you're observing thought, “hey, I’m going to move my
hand!” That principle can be compared to seeing thoughts, because thoughts
equal actions. Let’s apply this rudimentary principle to seeing the heart or
mind of an individual. If someone steals on a regular basis, you can directly
discern that the person is dishonest. If they just stole once or twice, it is
possible that there is a deeper reason, like necessity. It’s “possible,” but
still leans on the side of being dishonest.
Be careful, seeking
God’s wisdom and opinion should always be applied before any personal judgment
can be made. This is tricky. I highly suggest this method not be taken lightly
or alone. Don’t be prideful enough to just take on this process without a lot
of thought and listening to the Holy Spirit. We are only human; God is the only
one who can hear our thoughts and who knows our hearts. Humility is key. Humility
is just the truth. On our own, we aren't that cool, but God alone deems us cool
enough to die for us.
Wow….His love is good.
Lord, You are everything for us.
Lord, You are everything for us.
-Matthew
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