The Importance Of Getting Counsel — James Jennings

The Need for Godly Counsel in Major Decisions

To you all on the importance and safety of having an abundance of counselors and guidance and advice from godly, mature Christians. We've got a lot of young people who have recently been converted, and I've seen some individuals make pretty major decisions without obtaining any counsel.

And so part of my burden to stress this this morning is to keep you from your own harm and foolishness by not doing due diligence to get counsel. And one thing to ask as I'm preaching this message is, is there a current situation in your life?

And you might view it as insignificant, but it might be a lot more significant than you realize. Or it might be pretty major, but is there anything presently in your life a major decision by which you're not obtaining any counsel?

You have yet to go to godly counselors and get some input. You know, if you're a believer and Scripture is your guide and your standard, then you cannot avoid the countless proverbs that speak about the vital importance that if I am pursuing wisdom, if I am pursuing to discern the will of God, I can get wisdom imparted to me by the counsel and input of others.

Proverbs on Safety Through Many Counselors

Just a few of those proverbs. Proverbs 11 -14, it should ring in our ears. Where there is no guidance, a people falls. But in an abundance of counselors, there is safety. In an abundance of counselors, there is safety.

Where there's no guidance, people fall. Proverbs 15 -22, without counsel, plans fail. But with the many advisors, they succeed. Alright, no one wants their plans to fail. Right? So why not get counsel?

Well, often because the plans we have are not ultimately from God and we know if we go to the counselors, the plans could get thwarted, so therefore we don't go to the counselors because therefore ultimately we're not resigned to God's plans and God's will.

But safety. All of us want safety. You can think of so many illustrations in your life where it was important to get a second perspective. I was just thinking about when Caleb was born in the hospital, my wife was given Pitocin, and when the lady came in, the nurse came in to give her the Pitocin, another nurse had to come in.

And they both had to check the exact dosage to make sure the right amount of Pitocin was being given to my wife. There was safety in having those two nurses present as they were giving this substance to my wife to make sure not too much was given.

You know, the same thing with our city. Our city cares about how things are built, so they have inspectors come and inspect the work. Right? That's a safety precaution to make sure the person did the job correctly.

But here we are, if you're a Christian, here you are, here I am, we're wanting to do the will of God. It's a lot more important than getting the foundation correct on a building. It's a lot more important than the right amount of Pitocin.

We're trying to discern the will of Almighty God for our own lives as individual Christians. How much more we should have safety to navigate and make our decisions. So you're going to save yourself a lot of grief and harm by having humility and the patience to get counsel from others before you make decisions.

Specifically major decisions. And you're going to save yourself harm by going to the right counselors. And hopefully, by the end of this, you'll have a better sense of discerning that. Because the person without discernment won't discern the people to go to, and then they won't get right counsel.

And they'll say, I got counsel, but it won't be the right counsel. And then ultimately, we need the help of Almighty God to apply and consistently obey the counsel that we are given that is consistent with the Scriptures.

So, even when you get different decisions and different perspectives from different counselors, at least it puts you in a position where you're able to sit back and look at things and say, Lord, what is Your will?

You're able to weigh things in the balance. So we're going to look at 1 Kings 12 at Rehoboam's folly. There's a lot we can learn here. 1 Kings 12. And my hope is to guide you from getting no guidance.

Rehoboam's Folly in 1 Kings 11–12

And then as you get guidance, to help guide you in getting the right guidance. Let's pray. Father, Lord, we need You. Every morning, every hour, we need You. Lord, how much guidance I need as a preacher in the pulpit right now.

Lord, I need You to guide me and to help me. Lord, I will be a useless vessel to help these precious sheep who You died for and You slaughtered Your Son for, apart from Your help. And so, Lord, I pray that You would come and You would help for the sake of Your name.

Lord, for Your glory, for Your honor. Lord, please, would You give discernment in this hour. Would You give help and insight and wisdom. I pray in Jesus' name, Amen. So let's look at 1 Kings 12. Actually, let's look at chapter 11, verse 42.

And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was 40 years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam, his son, reigned in his place.

Chapter 12, verse 1. Rehoboam went to Shechem, for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king. And as soon as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, heard of it, for Jeroboam was still in Egypt where he had fled from King Solomon, then Jeroboam returned from Egypt.

And they sent and they called Jeroboam. And Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and they said to Rehoboam, Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore, lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.

He said to them, Go away for three days, then come again to me. So the people went away. Verse 6. Then King Rehoboam took counsel with the old men who had stood before Solomon his father while he was yet alive, saying, How do you advise me to answer this people?

And they said to him, If you will be a servant to this people today and serve them and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever. Verse 8. But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him, and he took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him.

And he said to them, What do you advise? That we answer this people who have said to me, Lighten the yoke that your father put on us. And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us.

Thus you shall say to them, My little finger is thicker than my father's thighs. And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.

So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had said, Come to me again the third day. Verse 13. And the king answered the people harshly. And forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him, he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke.

My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions. So the king did not listen to the people. For it was a turn of affairs brought about by the Lord that he might fulfill his word, which the people spoke by Ajijah the Shulanite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Verse 16. Let's read a little more to get the full context. And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse.

To your tents, O Israel. Look now to your own house, David. So Israel went to their tents. But Rehoboam reigned over the people of Israel who lived in the cities of Judah. Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was the taskmaster, over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones.

And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem. So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day. And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over Israel.

There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only. When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180 ,000 chosen warriors to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

But the Word of God came. To Shimei, the man of God, say to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, to all the house of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people,. Thus says the Lord. You shall not go up or fight against your relatives, the people of Israel.

Every man return to his home, for this saying is from me, the Lord. So they listened to the Word of the Lord and went home according to the Word of the Lord. Amen. What a passage. What a passage. So much wisdom we could learn here.

We're going to try to scratch the surface this morning. So the first thing to consider here is this. When you look at this, the first thing you recognize is at least Rehoboam did the right thing and he stopped and he said, come back in three days, and he went and got counsel.

A lot of people, they miss it right there. They feel such a demand on them that they have to make a decision right away that they get no counsel. They just feel pushed. And there are some decisions you've got to make a counsel right away.

But they feel so pushed that I have to do this and they don't get counsel. Rehoboam, it says there, he said come back in three days. And then Rehoboam, where did he go? First place he went was to the older men to get counsel.

So that is very commendable. He didn't make a decision on the spot. He realized he had time. He stepped back, went to get counsel. That's great. Many people, they miss it right there. Proverbs 24, 5, it says this, A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might.

For by wise guidance you can wage war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory. Wisdom is too high for a fool, and the gate he doesn't open his mouth. You see, you have the gate in the city and all the men are congregating there and you've got all the people there.

And the fool, he's in the midst of all these people. All this guidance could be obtained, and he keeps his mouth shut. Rehoboam, at least he didn't do that. At least he did not do that. And you think through the Scriptures, there are men, godly men, who missed it.

Joshua's Failure to Seek the Lord

Who's one who really missed it? He had a circumstance thrust upon him out of nowhere. A group of people, they come up to him and they're wanting to make peace and have a covenant with him. What did he do?

What did he do when the Gibeonites came? Did he seek the Lord? No, he didn't. Joshua and them did not seek the Lord. Joshua 19, For they took provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. Why do you think they didn't ask counsel?

It seems so innocent, right? I mean, some people walk in the door, their clothes are tattered up, they've got old rotten food. I mean, there's no way these guys are our enemies that we're about to kill and they've heard that we're coming and so they're faking it.

I mean, there's no way they're that smart, right? Friends, we have an enemy who does what? Disguises himself as an angel of light. We have an enemy who deceived Eve in the garden. And Paul, the apostle, says to those at Corinth, he's afraid for them, that their minds could be led astray from a simple and pure devotion to Jesus Christ, just as the serpent deceived Eve.

So we don't want to be the fools who think all these things are so insignificant, so innocent. There are often many things and many decisions we face that prove to have a lot bigger implications than we realize.

We might look at it and say, it's a pretty minor decision. Ten years from now, you might look at that and say that was a massive major decision and one of the most biggest decisions you ever made. So, and you know what's ironic?

How many days did Rehoboam go and get counsel for? Three. How many days did it take for Israel to recognize who the Gibeonites were? Three. Three days. If Joshua would just step back, let's think about this, let's consult the Lord, let's get more evidence.

In three days, these people couldn't keep their mouths shut anyways and people found out they were Gibeonites. Three days of waiting would have saved Israel a thorn in their side. But that didn't happen.

They quickly, hastily made a decision because it seemed so insignificant, it seemed so small. You know, it's good that Rehoboam waits. How many people would be affected by this decision that he makes?

Who all came to him with him wanting to make a decision? Did it say a few people in the congregation? It said all of the assembly went before him. This decision that this man makes is going to affect all the thousands of Israelites.

That's pretty major. That's pretty major. Proverbs 19 .2, it says, desire without knowledge, it's not good. Meaning you have a desire for something, you don't have all this knowledge about it. You don't really know what direction you're going in.

You don't have biblical knowledge on it. And then he says, whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way. Whoever makes haste. I mentioned a negative thing at the beginning of the message. I've seen some young people make decisions without any counsel.

On the flip side, I've seen some of you get tons of counsel and not be hasty in order to not miss your way. And that's very encouraging. That happens all the time in the church. Conrad Murrell, in his article Discerning the Voice of the Lord, he says this, it is the devil who puts you in a rush and demands that you act immediately.

You will feel that if you take time to pray and wait, that you'll miss something. Do not listen to that spirit. It's not God, but the devil. God will lead you and guide you in time to consider until you are fully persuaded.

And there will be peace in the action, not pressure and torment. So, Rehoboam, he's commendable in that he got counsel, he waited three days, he was not hasty, and he went to the old men first. But let's secondly here just think for a moment about who he gets counsel from.

Choosing Counselors With Wisdom and Relevant Knowledge

Right? Two groups. And each of these groups contains a plurality. Okay? He wasn't going to one individual. Each group had multiple men. You see that in 12. Seven and they said to him. Okay, so they. These are the older men.

There's a plurality of these men saying to him. Now, first question. Were these men aware of the specific situation that Rehoboam was seeking counsel on? Would these men be aware of how Solomon ruled his kingdom and whether or not there's too much taxation and there were too many building projects going on right now.

Would these men have been aware of the situation? Yes. Because they had been with him the whole time. They were the older men, the counselors of his father. And so these men were aware of the specific situation.

It's not like Rehoboam could have gone to them and omitted certain details that he didn't want them to know that could alter how they did their counsel. These men, they knew all the details. So there's nothing Rehoboam could hide from them.

They knew it all. And often that can be the danger. People go to someone, they don't know enough about the specific situation. You know, you get someone, they call you on the church phone and they give their perspective.

They're wanting my counsel. And it's like, what are they omitting and not telling me that I don't know about? And I can't give counsel from Texas all the way to them up there in Canada in an accurate way.

So, what was their counsel? Well, as their counsel was basically to be a servant, verse 7, if you will be a servant to this people today and serve them and speak good words to them when you answer them, then they will be your servants forever.

Okay, I mean, morally, does that sound like good counsel? Is there anything sinful about telling a king to be a servant to his people? No. I mean, that's good advice. That's good advice right there. Here's something else to think about.

How did these men get in their position? How did these men even get in the position they're in? Say again? Well, who put them in the position? This man's father. Who was Rehoboam's father? Solomon. Who was Solomon?

It's not just he was king. Look, flip back to 10 .1. Let's go to 1 Kings 4. This is a staggering... You're going to find that the men who Rehoboam rejected their counsel, these men, they had association with a man who had wisdom like none other.

1 Kings 4 .29, God gave Solomon, this is Rehoboam's father, wisdom and understanding beyond measure. And breath of mind like the sand on the seashore. So that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt.

For he was wiser than all other men. Wiser than, and then it lists names. Verse 32, he also spoke 3 ,000 proverbs, and his psalms were 1 ,005. Flip over to chapter 10 in 1 Kings 10 .1. Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions.

She came to Jerusalem with a very great retina, with camels bearing spices. Retune. Great retune. Forgive my pronunciation of that word. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind, and Solomon answered all her questions.

There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. Okay, this really paints more of a perspective here. The old men who he's going to get counsel from are the men who served under the wisest man that ever lived and was alive right then and there.

They're around Solomon as he's leading the kingdom. They're hearing his wisdom. They're hearing his insight. It's rubbing off on them, no doubt. And get this. Solomon's actually getting counsel from them.

Solomon, the wisest, got counsel. Look at Proverbs. Go to Proverbs. Keep your hand in 1 Kings. Maybe you don't have to turn here, but Proverbs 1. Look what Solomon says in verse 5. Let the wise hear and increase in learning.

Let the one who understands, that's Solomon, obtain guidance. So Solomon himself kept wanting to obtain more and more guidance and understanding. Incredible. He had not yet arrived, as you might say. So Solomon, did he have counselors?

Yeah, what a surprise. You'd kind of assume that Solomon did not have any counselors, right? Wait, there's old men who counseled my dad that I can go to? My dad was the wisest guy. Why was he hanging around anyone else?

He was so far above the rest. No, no, no. You know, when Solomon wrote many of the Proverbs, and it's amazing, you find here in 10 .1 the Proverbs of Solomon. He says in 11 .14, where there's no guidance, the people falls.

But in abundance of counselors, there is safety. Here, another question is, what name did the man, the primary man most likely to whom the book of Proverbs was written specifically to? What's his name?

What's the name of the man that most likely the book of Proverbs was written specifically to? Rehoboam. Rehoboam. Proverbs 1. Proverbs 1, throughout here, he refers, verse 8, Hear, my son, your father's instruction.

Forsake not your mother's teaching. Verse 10, my son. Now, did he have many sons? He did. But how many sons were heir to the throne? One man. Rehoboam. And so you have to assume that if you're Solomon, and you're writing these Proverbs, and you have a son, Rehoboam, who's going to be the heir of the throne, that one of the prime sons you're concerned about taking heed to the counsel in the book of Proverbs is that man.

And in the book of Proverbs, the wisest man who ever lived writes saying it's smart to get an abundance of counselors, and he lived that out himself. And here his son is actually obeying that initially by going to the old men to get and obtain counsel.

To get and obtain counsel. One thing this tells about us, our need for counsel, our need for guidance, our need for input, it tells us that we don't know at all. Right? You feel that. Like you've got a major decision.

You should feel not confident in one sense. You should not sit there thinking, yeah, I know what to do. There should be a sense that, Lord, I need help. I need help from others in the church. You put me in a body here, and this body has many members and gifts, and they're able to help me to discern what to do.

So, the older men who are selected by the man with the most wisdom alive, Rehoboam rejects it. We're in 1 Kings 12, verse 8. He abandoned. He abandoned the counsel that the old men gave. Now, look how this reads here.

He abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him, and he said to them, what do you advise? It sounds like he already abandoned their counsel prior to even going to the young men.

It sounds like he already heard them out, said that's not right, and then he goes to the younger group to get their input. He's already rejected, it appears in the way it reads right there, that he's already rejected the counsel of the old men.

In some way, he's already made up his mind here. He didn't get advice from both and weigh out the two options. He didn't go to the old men and get their counsel and then go to the young men and say this is what the old men said, what should I do here?

And then he took the young men's counsel and went back to the old men and said, hey, this is what these guys said, can you poke holes in it and show me where they're wrong? He didn't do that apparently.

The Limits of Age and the Need for Spiritual Wisdom

Now, let's think of the second group. We already looked at the first group that he got counsel from. The second group, it says the young lads in the KJV. Here it says the young guys. How young were these guys?

Well, to answer that, how old was Rehoboam? Rehoboam in 1 Kings 14, we read that he was 41 when he began to reign. So Rehoboam is 41 and these guys he grew up with are obviously around their 40s as well.

So when you read young here, don't be thinking 19 and 20. These guys are in their 40s. What does that say about the elders that were actually physically older? The older men, they were probably in their what?

60s, 70s, or 80s. And some of you are thinking, oh wow, that person I got counsel from, I thought they were old because they're in their 40s. No, they're young. Again, you find from Timothy, don't enroll a young widow when she's under 60.

The Bible looks at you being old when you get past 60, apparently. That's not here nor now. And don't take false comfort in that that you're young. So second group. I know this does not bode well for me.

I'm only 34. But I'm one of the elders in the church even though I'm not old physically in age. Look, does many years tend to teach wisdom? It does. Is that an absolute? No, it's not. Timothy, Paul said, don't let anyone despise you for your youth.

And then we know Elihu's thinking, Job 32, verse 6, Elihu, he finally answered Job after all these other people had, and he says, I'm young in years. You're aged. Therefore, I was timid. I was afraid to declare my opinion to you.

I said, let days speak. And many years teach wisdom. And then Elihu said something very profound. But it is the Spirit in man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand. You see, you can be 100 and have no wisdom because God has not given it to you.

And you could be 10 and have incredible wisdom because God has given it to you. Ultimately, you're cast upon the living God. Elihu goes on to say, it is not the old who are wise, nor the age to understand what is right.

Therefore, I say, listen to me. Let me also declare my opinion. Behold, I wait for your words. I listen to your wise sayings while you searched out what to say. So, another thing about this second group of counselors that he went to is it says that he had grown up with them.

He had grown up with them. You see that in v. 8? He took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him. And then it says, and stood before him. The word stood, the idea is they presently are serving him.

They're on his team. Because if you notice here, when he abandoned, he says in v. 9, what do you advise that we answer the people? So he includes the young guys in the decision. Because they're serving already with him as he's trying to lead this kingdom as a new king.

So, they'd grown up with him. What can we learn here? Usually you could think, it's good to get counsel from people who grew up with me. They know me better than anyone else. Yeah, yeah, that could be true.

Right? There's nothing you can omit and not say to them to try to paint their perspective of you. They know who you really are. But it could be dangerous. Because they could be some of the people with the greatest partiality towards you.

And these guys were serving with him. Okay? So how much you tax, how much of the work do we keep doing in building all these buildings, it's going to affect those young guys. Right? In other ways, it's like Rehoboam could be saying to the guys, hey, you know, should we cut back on the hard labor and the building and the taxation?

But by the way, you know, that big palace I promised you, maybe we won't be able to build that now. You see, these people, they have interest in whatever decision he makes because they're part of his team.

He says, what should we do? What should we do? So they've got some partiality here. Some bias. And they grew up with him. Rehoboam, the rich, snobby kid, if you want to call him that, he's hanging out with all the other rich kids.

Right? They don't have all this same wisdom and experience like the older men. They're lacking that. They don't have wisdom in how to run a nation. Apparently, Rehoboam does not either. So these men are in vast contrast to the older men.

In vast contrast. So, option two. In essence, option one, be a servant to the people. Option two, what did the young men say? Speak to the people. Make their yoke heavier. And tell them my little finger is thicker than my father's thighs.

You know, you tend to think of a finger, you're doing something with authority. You're putting it on something. You know, it talks about the hand of God, the finger of God. There's a sense of authority being used through the hand and what someone is saying.

And so it seems like the idea here is take the smallest finger on my hand, my little pinky, and that is thicker than my father's thighs, meaning my father's waist, meaning the authority that my father put down.

I'm going to put it down so much harder. So much more fierce. He used this. We're going to use scorpion whips on the people to get them to obey. Very scary. Rehoboam is going to be harsh. So whose counsel did he go with?

He went with the younger people's counsel. And elsewhere, the Bible gives us a perspective into what was happening here. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 6, it says, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, a servant of Solomon, the son of David, rose up and rebelled against his lord, Rehoboam, and certain worthless scoundrels gathered about him, that's Jeroboam, and defied Rehoboam, the son of Solomon.

When Rehoboam was young, 41, and irresolute, he had no resolve, and he could not withstand them. He couldn't withstand them. Even though he got counsel from the older men, he could not withstand them.

That's what 2 Chronicles 13 says. So rather than the older men, the men with a lifetime of knowledge, who his father, the wisest man in the world, had as his counselors, this man went with his buddy's insight.

Pretty shocking. And the man who the book of Proverbs, you could say, one of the primary intentions of that book being written was for Rehoboam. Had he read that book? And these guys are saying, do everything far more harshly.

You know what's so sad about this? What Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 2 is being fulfilled before our very eyes. Solomon said this, I hate it on my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing I must leave it to the man who will come after me.

Well, who's the man who came after him? Rehoboam. And who knows whether Rehoboam, whether he, will be wise or a fool. Incredible. I mean, Solomon's bemoaning that. You know, in a way, look, Solomon had a lot of issues, but in a way, one thing we see here is it shows the parents' humble reality that they cannot guarantee their child be wise.

Solomon is sitting there. Who knows whether he, his own son, will be wise or a fool. That's the helpless state that us parents are in. As much as we want our kids to make wise decisions, we're cast upon the grace and power of Almighty God.

The Consequences of Rejecting Wise Counsel

So Rehoboam destroyed, if you don't know this, this is the mark in your Bible where the united nation and the kingdom of Israel was divided. Thank you, Rehoboam. You didn't listen to counsel. I'm being sarcastic by saying thank you.

You didn't listen to counsel, and here it is. The nation is split. Right here, here it happens, because you have a young king who wants to be an authoritarian leader rather than a servant leader. I mean, that's what's going on here.

He wants to have all this authority, all this power, rather than serve. Rather than serve. His pride in rejecting the counsel led to the nation being split. Incredible. I mean, if you look at this, I hope it's obvious how you would discern between the two options, right?

If you were Rehoboam and you had gotten counsel from this side and this side, I hope it would be pretty obvious that the servant attitude manifests the fruits of the Holy Spirit and is consistent biblically compared to this attitude of being harsh and insulting and mean towards these people.

His friend's advice was wicked. Psalm 1 says, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. Rehoboam, he walked in the counsel of the wicked. Now, let's think here, five or four ways that Rehoboam went wrong.

Four Ways Rehoboam Went Wrong

Let's speculate a little and maybe read in some here on some possibilities. Number one, I would say this, Rehoboam never should have went to the young people to begin with. He never should have went to them.

They were not worthy of allowing their counsel to penetrate his ears. It wasn't worth the time. It wasn't right to open himself to that influence. He already had a clear word from a multitude of men who were chosen by the wisest men who ever lived, and their wisdom was such that it would be a servant very consistent with the Scriptures.

Why would he even go to the young guys? I think he missed it by even going to them and putting himself in the vulnerable position to hear that other word and have that as an option on the table. And you know what?

Usually the last counselor you go to you can leave the strongest impression, right? And so he went to the old first. If he had gone to the young first and then he went to the old and said this is what the young said, the old would have poked all manner of holes in that, would have sunk the ship to the ground, and he would have recognized who's right and who is wrong.

You know, sometimes people out of mere duty, they feel like, well, we'll go to the older people and get counsel first, but I already know I'm not going to agree with it, but I want to have the appearance of wisdom by going to them first, and then I'll go to all the other people who I know are going to say what I want to hear, and that's going to so drown out my conscience on the first counsel that I'll feel enough justification to believe I'm not grieving the Holy Spirit as I make this decision.

So, second, if you're going to go to the young men, why not go back to the older men? I already said this. It makes no sense to go to the old and the young and there's no appearance of him taking that counsel back to the old and saying poke holes in it.

Third, at a heart level, it's clear that he despised being a servant and wanted authority and power and was clueless as to true leadership. If your heart's wrong, and the purpose and the goal of what you're even wanting counsel for, I mean, it's not going to work.

You can get all the input in the world, but if you're an insecure, let's say maybe he was an insecure king who was afraid of losing his power, and he gets this perspective from the young guys, the way to get the power is to put the fist down and be strong.

His heart was wrong. I mean, aren't you grossed out by what these young men told him? Doesn't it disturb you that they would even recommend that? This says something about where Rehoboam is out going into the situation.

He wasn't in a good place prior to this. That's not what's happening here. This is not a fluke in his life and a one-time failure. His rejection of a lifetime of counsel from the older men is an evidence of the direction of his own life.

So, the fourth thing, why use such harsh language? I mean, you could just tell the people no, right? They want you to lighten things, and you go before them and you say, no, we can't do that right now because such and such, right?

I mean, why not do that? Rather than say, we're going to whip you all the harder and our little finger is thicker than my father's waist. If you're going to say no, you can do it in a way that's far more receptive.