Daily Reading: Judges 20
Scripture Focus: Behold, you people of Israel, all of you, give your advice and counsel here.” (Judges 20.7)
Devotional Thought: I appreciate my daughter, Jenny, writing yesterday's devotional. When she saw her assignment, she wasn't exactly thrilled with her dad! Judges 19, is tough, and I was just as glad that she had it! (She did a great job BTW.) Then I came to Judges 20! (Spoiler alert: it doesn't get easier tomorrow!)
Judges reminds me that just because someone in the Bible does it, that doesn't make it right. Most people in the Bible are just as ignorant as we are today. That's why I highlighted today's verse. The people compounded the problem by seeking a solution in the wrong place. They had a human council, instead of seeking godly counsel. Instead of humbling themselves, broken and desperate before God, they scratched their heads and looked at each other asking, "What do you think we should do?"
Confusion, death, and destruction sometimes come when God allows us to have what we ask for... I believe that God would rather this whole sordid affair had never happened. I believe that God would have preferred that the tribe of Benjamin take care of it. Self-righteous, hyper-critical judges do not normally come to sound conclusions - especially when they don't know the Bible! I believe that God would have preferred that Israel seek peaceful resolution, not make threatening demands. Blessed are the peacemakers, not trouble makers! I believe that God would have preferred for Benjamin to turn over the guilty murderers, rather than protect them illegally. God had made cities of refuge for that purpose.
Once again, we see how dangerous it is when everybody does as he sees fit. Where do you go for advice and counsel? Let the Word of God be your counsel and advice.
Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I substitute men's advice for God's truth, political correctness for biblical counsel. Help me to know the difference and to seek your wisdom. In the name of Jesus who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 58.1-8
1 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods? Do you judge the children of man uprightly? 2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs; your hands deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies. 4 They have venom like the venom of a serpent, like the deaf adder that stops its ear, 5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord! 7 Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted. 8 Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
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