2 SAMUEL 16 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE MAKING DECISIONS2018 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 2 Samuel 16 Questions To Ask Before Making Decisions

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2018.

2 Samuel chapter 16, and we're just going to look at a few verses this evening and kind of a little bit of a different type of message than what we've been usually looking at on Wednesday evenings as we look at this one situation that happens in the middle of David fleeing from Jerusalem.

And the situation as it is unfolding is that Absalom, David's son, has turned the heart of Israel against David and is seeking to overthrow David. And so he has proclaimed himself to be king. He's amassed quite a gathering and support, and he is now headed for Jerusalem. And

And so David makes a very quick decision and he says, okay, servants, you know, those who are with him, which is just a few, but there are those who are with him. And so he says, we're leaving. And so they leave Jerusalem. And so they're going out of Jerusalem and they're headed out towards the wilderness. And it's,

On that journey that this event takes place, we saw a couple things happen on that journey as David was surveying the people who are going with him and he interacted with those various people. And so we're just picking it up right there. They're just still on their way out of Jerusalem. And here in 2 Samuel chapter 16, there's another encounter that David has this time. It's with a man named Ziba. And Ziba was the servant of Saul originally.

But Saul has died, of course, and now Ziba is the servant of Mephibosheth. Now, you might remember Mephibosheth from back in chapter 9 when David said, isn't there somebody, a descendant of Saul, a descendant of Jonathan that is alive that I could show kindness to and fulfill my promise to Jonathan? And they searched and found Ziba, and Ziba says, yes, there's this young man named Mephibosheth.

And he's lame, but he is the son of Jonathan. And so David brought him into his home and showed kindness to him. And now what we're seeing unfold here is David's interaction with Ziba while Mephibosheth is back in Jerusalem as David is fleeing for the wilderness. And so let's begin by reading verses 1 through 4, and then we'll talk about what the Lord has for us this evening. 2 Samuel 16, verse 1 says...

When David was a little past the top of the mountain, there was Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who met him with a couple of saddled donkeys and on them 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 summer fruits, and a skin of wine. And the king said to Ziba, what do you mean to do with these? So Ziba said, the donkeys are for the king's household to ride on.

So the king said to Ziba,

Here, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours. And Ziba said, I humbly bow before you that I may find favor in your sight, my lord, O king. Here in verses one through four of 2 Samuel 16, we have this interesting exchange that takes place between David and Ziba. And there's a decision that is made. And we find out later that

In 2 Samuel chapter 19, actually, the fuller picture of the story is David actually gets to talk with Mephibosheth about what happened. But before all of that, before David knows all of that, David hears what happens from Ziba.

and makes a decision about Mephibosheth and all that Mephibosheth has. I've titled the message this evening, Questions to Ask Before Making Decisions.

This is one of those classic passages that we can look at and learn a lot from about what not to do and really how not to make decisions and come to conclusions and make judgments about a situation or a person. By looking at the example of David, we learn what not to do. And here, David, not in a evil and malicious way, but in the midst of the circumstances that he's facing here,

He doesn't make a great decision here. And so from this, we want to look at this and learn a bit for ourselves so that we don't follow in that example in this case and make these kinds of decisions in the things that we face in this life.

One commentary summed it up this way. I like this summary. It says, Mephibosheth was a devoted friend, but David,

David here makes a very quick judgment, a quick decision that hurts, that causes loss for Mephibosheth. And so he makes this decision on the basis of what he has at the moment and what he's going through at the moment, but it ends up, you know, being not a great decision. And I know for all of us, we know what it's like to make those kinds of decisions, but

And I think we probably would hope to make less and less of those kinds of decisions, right? And so those hasty decisions, those rash judgments, Pastor Damien Kyle has a message on this passage. It's one of my all-time favorites. It's one I listen to, you know, usually like once a year or so. I have a listen to his message on rash judgments. I purposely did not listen to it today in preparation for the message tonight because I didn't want to just try to repeat Damien Kyle. But

I'll probably send it out later so you can listen to it because he goes through these things in a way that is unique to Damian Kyle. And he really shares some great encouragement about that. But for us this evening, questions to ask before making decisions. And there's four questions that I'll walk you through to look at and to kind of consider as you're making decisions about things that are happening within your life. The first question we'll talk about is...

Is this a good time to decide? Here's something that David could have stopped and considered as he was about to make this decision. Is this a good time to make this decision? Think about where David is at right at this moment, right when this encounter takes place. He is right, it says, on top of the mountain.

Now, we saw at the end of chapter 15, he was crossing over the Kidron Valley and he was heading up to the top of the Mount of Olives. And now he's at the top of the mountain. Think about where David is at in verse 1. It says, when David was a little past the top of the mountain. We'll find out as we continue on in the account in the coming weeks that David ends up in this place across the Jordan called Mahanaim.

And that's out in the wilderness. And that's where David kind of sets up camp and runs, you know, his headquarters from. So he leaves Jerusalem. He crosses over the Jordan. And he's out there in Mahanim for a little bit of time while the battle between him and Absalom unfolds. But before he gets there, before he crosses the Jordan...

When he encounters Ziba, you know where David is? Just to kind of give you some sense of scale, he's on the Mount of Olives. You see, it's like the points are like right next to Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, because it's just right across the valley. And I don't mean like a big monstrous valley. It's like a mile, maybe less, from Jerusalem to the top of the Mount of Olives. It's a very short distance, right?

And so picture where David is at, what's going on with him right now. His son has just proclaimed himself to be king. He has just gotten word that his son is leading a band of men to come and take over Jerusalem.

And David here has had to scramble to get his family together, to get his servants together, to pack up and leave Jerusalem. Maybe similar to, you know, what some people are experiencing with the evacuations. You know, it's like, hey, we got to get whatever we can as soon, as quick as we can. And we have to get out of here. And so here's David scrambling to get out. He's under threat that his, you know, his life is threatened. He is inundated.

in the midst of a lot of chaos. And here he has this discussion with Ziba about what happened with Mephibosheth and what is going on. Now, you can look at this and understand, I think, pretty clearly, this was not the best time to make a decision about this completely unrelated subject. Well, what's the decision that David makes? Well, in verse four, David says, "'Here is all that belongs to Mephibosheth, it's yours.'"

And Ziba says, I humbly bow before you. Thank you. You're amazing. Ziba here, he gets what he wants. He gains favor with David. David here makes this decision about Mephibosheth's land. Now, Mephibosheth's land, David gave to him back in 2 Samuel 9, says,

It's not a crucial decision that needs to be made in the middle of running for your life out of Jerusalem into the wilderness. It's completely unrelated. It is completely separate. It is not at all having to do with the things that David really needs to focus on and the things that are pressing before him right then. Is it a good time to decide?

When there are decisions that are needing to be made, when there are opportunities to make decisions, it is a good idea to stop and ask God,

Is this the appropriate time to decide these kinds of things? You know, there are some decisions that, well, we can't help it. We have to make them in a certain amount of time. You know, there are certain things that, hey, you're driving down the road and, you know, a situation unfolds and you have to make decisions right in that time frame. And there are situations that decisions have to be made. But there's also a lot of times where that decision doesn't have to be made right now.

And if there is the potential for harm, if there is a potential for, you know, some type of misunderstanding, if there is, you know, things like that to consider, well, maybe we should pause that decision and wait until a better time, until it is the appropriate time to walk through, to talk through, to think through, and to pray through those things. And so in the midst of chaos, in the midst of

in the midst of emotional upheaval, in the midst of those types of things, there are decisions that have to be made, but there's also a lot of decisions that can wait. There's a lot of decisions that it's not a good time to decide, to conclude, to come to a judgment or a conclusion about that particular thing. Pastor Adam Clark puts it this way, David was in heavy afflictions and

And these sometimes make even a wise man mad, not angry, but just crazy. Nothing should be done rashly. He who is in the habit of obeying the first impulse of his passions or feelings will seldom do a right action and will never keep a clear conscience. And that's something interesting to consider. If you're in the habit of obeying that first impulse. Now you can understand as David hears this account from Ziba, hey,

Mephibosheth has turned against you and he thinks he's going to take the throne. And you could understand the impulse to just take all his property and give it away. We can understand, we can totally sympathize and relate to that, but that doesn't make it right and it doesn't make it okay and it doesn't make it a good decision. David's first impulse here is not accurate to the truth. And if we follow that pattern, we're

Well, Adam Clark says, we'll seldom do a right action and we'll never have a clear conscience. The times of affliction, the times of great mourning, there are times, you know, of sorrow in our lives. There are times where there's a lot going on. There are times where things, well, they're in such a position, in such a case that we maybe should save some of those decisions for later. Is this a good time to

to decide. Now, some decisions you can't delay. Some decisions you have to make right then, you know, and there are situations where you can't get around it. You have to make a decision. And as we'll go on and look at the other questions, you'll see there's a lot that we can put into these decisions, but

What do you do when you don't have time? And there's not much help that can be provided in that sense of you need to make a decision right now and you don't know what to do. And there's not a lot of help that can be provided, generally speaking, you know, from the pulpit right now. But here's what I would say. All of the other decisions that you're making in life, use those as training for those times where you don't have the opportunity to

To sit down, to pray through, to evaluate, to consider, to think through and decide appropriately about a situation. That you're making decisions all the time. And those decisions that you make that are not under pressure, that aren't under the threat of demise, that aren't under the threat of great pain and difficulty, those are your training decisions. Those are your training wheels. You get the opportunity to

to learn how to ask, hey, is this the right time for this kind of decision? You get the opportunity to learn how to hear from the Lord, to recognize his voice, to seek out the will of God, to pursue God's heart in the midst of that decision-making process. And it's a good idea when you don't have the crisis at hand to recognize those decisions that you make, that those are training you, those are the preparations that

for other decisions that you will have later on where you won't have the luxury of time, where you won't have the opportunity to be able to pause and to, you know, take a few days and to pray through and to think through the decision that needs to be made. There are many times in my life where I am looking back and trying to understand why God sent in this direction or allowed this or directed that and

You know, a lot of times we look at the why questions about God and we say, we can't really answer those. But you know, looking back a lot of times, we can learn a lot about God and how he works, his heart, his, you know, what motivates him and what's important to him. We can look back at our lives and see those things that God has done. And those are part of our education, informing us that

so that in future decisions, we are better equipped with the heart of God, with the mind of God. And it's one of the reasons why we spend time in God's word as well. Learning about

God's character, God's nature, what God values and what he doesn't value. And so we allow these things to train us and prepare us for those decisions that we have to make. But as we make those decisions, here's the first question to ask. Is this a good time to decide? Now moving on to the second question, as we continue to consider this example here in 2 Samuel 16,

The second question is, am I swayed by my emotions? And the answer to that is, of course you are. We all are. But to stop and evaluate, where am I at emotionally in regards to this decision? And it is very hard to be objective many times in the decisions that we make, but we can stop and recognize what emotions are involved as we're making decisions. Think about David's emotions.

What's David feeling at this time? What's David experiencing? He's experiencing great betrayal, right? And there is some great emotion, some intense emotion that goes along with that. His own son has turned against him. What we saw at the end of chapter 15, the reference to Ahithophel, David's counselor, the guy that he relied upon for great wisdom,

He talks about in the Psalms, you know, hey, we sought counsel together. We took sweet counsel. We spent time with God together. There was this great relationship that David had with Ahithophel, seeking the Lord and seeking the right way. And there was this history that they had. And he has been betrayed by Ahithophel. Ahithophel has joined up with Absalom and has turned against David. And so what is David feeling? His son has turned against him.

His beloved friend and counselor has turned against him. The heart of Israel as a whole, collectively, have turned against David. He is betrayed. He is lonely. He is outcast. And on top of that, he's, in a sense, losing his home, right? He's running out. He's evacuating. He is rushing out to the wilderness. He's fleeing for his life. There is...

There is sorrow. There is betrayal. There is, you know, the feelings of failure. There is the reminders of his sin with Bathsheba, which is, you know, kind of at the roots of all of these things that have followed. David is feeling so much right now. And then on top of all of that, those things that are kind of like, you know, getting him down, those things that are attacking his emotions in that way, here comes this incredible act of

of kindness. Look again at verse 1. When David was a little past the top of the mountain, there was Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, who met him, notice, with a couple of saddled donkeys and on them 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 summer fruits, and a skin of wine.

Ziba comes and he meets David with an impressive amount of resources, 200 loaves of bread. I mean, if you were just to go to the store today and try to buy 200 loaves of bread, you would empty out the shelves, right? I mean, that is a lot of bread. There is an abundance of the substance that he is providing here.

And all of this fruit and donkeys for David and his children to ride upon. He has provided this incredible kindness to David here while David is feeling oppressed and dejected and lonely. And all of these negative emotions that David is experiencing. But here is this incredible act of kindness.

And you can see with the combination of these things, David is very likely to decide in favor of Ziba. As he hears from Ziba, Mephibosheth has turned against you. It would have been another hit on David emotionally. Not just my son Absalom, not just Ahithophel, not just the hearts of the people, but Mephibosheth.

He's turned against me too. It's like, you know, that final straw, that, that,

Oh my goodness. I mean, again, you can go back to 2 Samuel 9 and see the exchange that David has with Mephibosheth and the amazing, incredible kindness that David shows to him. And he makes him a part of his family. And he eats at David's table every day. I mean, there was this like closeness, this amazing kindness that David shows to Mephibosheth. And now this guy has turned against me. And David here is just heartbroken.

over the events that have unfolded, over the people that have turned against him. And as that is happening, here is this amazing, brilliant, you know, shiny act of kindness. Look at all of this provision to help you. You understand, David, he's fleeing. He, you know, he grabbed his, whatever he could and ran. He didn't pack for his men and their families to be able to eat out in the wilderness. They weren't prepared for that. But oh, what a relief.

You know what it's like when, you know, you have the mad scramble and there's all this stuff. And then all of a sudden here is the provision, you know, for some part, some aspect of, you know, the events that are going on in your life. And you're like, oh, what a relief. I don't have to worry about that piece. You know, what a relief it is to not have to be concerned about that. And here is David all relieved. Such an act of kindness against the backdrop of all these who have turned against him.

David is swayed by his emotion. He's biased by his emotion. He is definitely emotional. And I think it was last Wednesday I was talking about emotions. That is part of who we are. And we're not to try to pretend like we don't have emotions. But to stop and recognize, am I being swayed?

Is this an emotional decision that I'm making? Is it causing me to make a decision that maybe should not be made? Because many times our emotions, what we feel is what we feel, but it doesn't necessarily lead us to the truth or to the right conclusion. And so there are a lot of times where I have to acknowledge, I feel this way.

But I know that's not the truth, right? And that's how David felt. He felt this way. He had all of this against him. But that wasn't necessarily a revelation of the truth and what was really going on.

G. Kemble Morgan says this about David. He says, well, first of all, Ziba was utterly despicable. And the more so because at the moment, I'm sorry, at the moment, the sorrow he brought to the heart of David was his feeling that his kindness toward Mephibosheth was ill-requited or not returned. Thinking about all of the kindness I've shown to Mephibosheth.

Ziba here says, Mephibosheth doesn't care about you. He's just trying to get the kingdom himself. He's trying to get the throne himself. And he's thinking, you know, today he's going to become king and he's turned against you, David. And it's this extra sorrow on David, this extra pierce against David in the midst of this. Now, for you and I reading this, we can look at this passage and think,

Wait a minute. Ziba's claim doesn't make any sense. Israel just announced. It tells us Absalom stole the heart of Israel. And Israel just accepted Absalom as king. And Mephibosheth is saying, all right, today I get to become king. Like, what kind of sense does that make? That's not rational. That's not reasonable. That's

Someone would think that they could become king when the whole nation has just taken the king from the, you know, the throne from the rightful king and given it to his son. Like, it's not rational. It's not reasonable. It doesn't make sense. But we have the benefit of not being emotionally bound up in this situation. And here's David, again, in the midst of all of these things that are going on and the great emotions, the intense feelings that he has.

And he believes Ziba's account. He believes Ziba's slander against Mephibosheth. And so he decides in favor of Ziba and against Mephibosheth. So he has emotions towards Ziba who's brought the supplies. Oh my goodness, you're my best friend in the whole world.

And everybody else has turned against me. Am I swayed by my emotions? There's a lot of decisions that you're going to have to make in the midst of emotions. And you need to allow yourself the opportunity to stop and think about what emotions are feeding that decision and that direction that you are making. And it's not that we have to make all decisions without emotion. That's not reasonable or possible, right?

But to recognize, to stop and understand what is influencing me? What is swaying me and bending me in one way or another way? And is it appropriate in the way that it is bending me and swaying me?

in the different directions. And so is this a good time to decide? That's a good question to ask. When you have to make a decision, is this a good time? Now, if you're a procrastinator and you never want to make a decision, well, then you'll just, you know, perpetually ask that question. It's not a good time to decide. And, you know, you can use that as an excuse to just never decide.

but that's not what I'm trying to encourage you to do. Is it a good time? Is it an appropriate time? You know, sometimes there are decisions that you need to make about your family. And in the midst of, you know, this situation at the hospital or this situation at work, you know, maybe there's not the time to make that decision. Maybe, you know, there's a better time, a more appropriate time to stop and think through that. And when you're fleeing for your life,

you don't need to worry about the decision about land, you know, back home for when things get settled. That decision can wait. And if it can wait, then perhaps it should. Am I swayed by my emotions? Are there things influencing me that are not really accurate to what is going on, but it's about how I feel and what I'm experiencing emotionally as I'm going through this process. The third question to ask, it's a good one to ask is,

Do I have enough information? Before you make a decision, stop and ask, do I have enough information to make this decision? Now, I think many of us would love to have all of the information before any decision. And, you know, we'll never get that, you know, that there are those times where we would love to just have the full blueprint, you know, the full advanced schedule of everything. You know, if I go this way, here's all the things that are going to happen. And

You know, we're never going to get all of the information up front. But do I have enough information to make this decision? What information does David have? Well, he has his informant, Ziba. In verse 2, the king said to Ziba, what do you mean to do with these? So Ziba said, the donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine for those who are faint in the wilderness to drink. Verse 3, then the king said, and where is your master's son?

And Ziba said to the king, indeed, he is staying in Jerusalem. For he said, today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me. The information that David has is limited to what Ziba tells him right here in this moment. He believes Ziba. He receives this information as though it were accurate, but we find out

In just a couple chapters, there is more to the account. And the reality is that David did not have all the information. He had one guy's word about Mephibosheth and where Mephibosheth was at and what he was doing. There's a couple of Proverbs that are appropriate for us to consider in things like this. In Proverbs 18, verse 13 says,

It says, he who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him. David heard this matter, but he didn't really because he only heard one side of it, one piece of it. And verse 17 of Proverbs 18 says, the first one to plead his cause seems right until his neighbor comes and examines him.

I'm sure you've had to have experienced this, right? You have occasions where there are things that you were just completely persuaded by, totally bought into as someone was telling you something, as you heard an account that was being given, and you came to strong conclusions, firm convictions, passionate decisions, right?

And then later on the other side, more information is uncovered that puts the whole thing into a whole new perspective. And you go, oh, that's not at all what I had thought. That's not at all what I had imagined. That is a reality of life. He who answers a matter before he hears it, it's folly and shame. And if you've only heard one side, you need to understand you've only heard one side.

Now this can be really challenging for us when, let's say, it's your best friend comes to you and tells you a story about what Harvey did to him. And this is your best friend. But to stop and reflect and consider, up until now, I only have your version of the story. I only have your version of the account. I only know one piece. I only know a part of what actually happened. I don't have all the information.

Do I have enough information to come to a conclusion, to make a judgment about this situation? I think it's one of the things that really, as Christians, we need a lot more wisdom about as a whole, just speaking for us as Christians and our presence as

In this world, in our communities, our presence online, the way that we respond to things, the way that we react to things, the things that we assert and the proclamations that we make, I think it would be really wise for us to stop and consider, do I have enough information to make this bold declaration?

Do I have enough information to really come to a conclusion about this person's motivations or why they did that or what's really going on there? Do I really have enough information? Because to answer a matter before I hear it, before I hear both sides, to come to a conclusion about something, that's folly and shame. Now, listen, this is not authorization for you to investigate everything so that you can have an answer. No.

Some things you just don't need to have conclusions about. You don't need to search out and judge and, you know, be the one who answers everything. But on the decisions that you do have to make, where you have to make a judgment and you have to come to a conclusion, oh man, it is foolish to do that before you have the information, before you've heard the whole account, before you've heard all that is involved.

Sometimes as arrogant, proudful, self-righteous people, we have all the answers. Someone has a problem, someone has a situation, I could tell you what to do. Listen, if you have all the answers, it's likely because you haven't heard the whole matter, right? It's easy to look upon a situation and go, oh man, they should do this, right? And the people in that situation, you're kind of thinking like, yeah, they're just dumb, you know, they're just... But

Hey, maybe they're actually doing the best that they can and maybe the situation is a little bit more complex than you understand it. And that is the reality so many times. But here we are having the answers because, well, we don't have the information. And so in our foolishness, we think we can resolve it. We know what's really going on. We know the truth. The first one to plead his case seems right. Seems right. Makes sense. Very convincing. Very convincing.

credible source, but there is always much more to the story, much more to the things that are involved than what we get from that first account. Jump over a couple chapters to 2 Samuel chapter 19, and we'll just look for just a moment at Mephibosheth, when he finally gets to give his side of the account. 2 Samuel chapter 19 and verse 24 is where we're going to pick it up.

It says,

So it was when he came to Jerusalem to meet the king that the king said to him, why did you not go with me, Mephibosheth? And he answered, my lord, oh king, my servant deceived me. For your servant said, I will saddle a donkey for myself that I may ride on it and go to the king because your servant is lame. And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. But my lord the king is like the angel of God. Therefore, do what is good in your eyes.

For all my father's house were but dead men before my lord the king. Yet you set your servant among those who eat at your own table. Therefore, what right have I still to cry out any more to the king? So the king said to him, why do you speak any more of your matters? I have said, you and Ziba divide the land. Then Mephibosheth said to the king, rather let him take it all. And as much as my lord the king has come back in peace to his own house."

Now there's a lot here that we could consider and work through, but just understanding kind of the whole picture here. When David comes back, Mephibosheth has evidently, clearly been in mourning. He was clearly not expecting to become king while David was gone. What Ziba said was false.

And that's evidenced by the heart and the tone of the interaction here between Mephibosheth and David. But it's also evidenced by just what we see in verse 24. It tells us that Mephibosheth has not cared for his feet. Now remember, Mephibosheth was lame. And

We don't know exactly what that means in the sense of, you know, what was, we know that he was injured and that's why he was lame. So what was the extent of his injuries? What kind of care for his feet did there need to be? You know, maybe there was some open sores that were just a perpetual issue that had to be cleaned, that had to be treated, that had to be dealt with. Mephibosheth did not care for his feet. He did not. His ailment was untouched, unkept.

It was obvious. It was clear he'd not dealt with that sore, with those issues the whole time that David was gone. Maybe that meant some pain for Mephibosheth. Maybe that meant some risk of infection or something. We don't know, but it was clear. He hadn't been caring for himself. He was in mourning. His mustache was untrimmed. And you look at me and you say, Jerry, are you in mourning? Well, no, I'm just lazy. I'm not like Mephibosheth. But

For them, it was a huge matter of pride. They went to great lengths to maintain, to groom themselves. And here his hair is all bushy and it's all going crazy and sideways. And it was evidence of mourning. His clothes were unwashed. Mephibosheth hasn't taken a shower for however long it was. He hasn't washed his clothes. I don't know about you, but I get pretty stinky.

On Sunday mornings, I wake up early. I take a shower. I come here to church and I get sweaty when I preach, you know, just the lights are hot and I'm pounding on the pulpit and, you know, yelling at people and stuff. And man, I get hot. And sometimes I go home on Sunday and I've got some website work to do. So I sit down, I work on the computer and I'm just sitting there and just, Kim will start to kind of move away a little bit.

Sometimes if I'm really exhausted, I just fall asleep on Sunday night. I don't even take a shower on Sunday night, even though I'm all sweaty and stinky from the day. And then I wake up on Monday and you know what happens? I'm even more stinky. And then sometimes I think, you know, I got to do yard work. It's silly to take a shower to then go out and do yard work, right? I mean, that's ridiculous. So I'll just go out and do yard work. So I add the stink upon the stink. And then sometimes you have to run to the hardware store.

And you know, well, the other day, Kim and I were in the hardware store. We were at Home Depot. And man, it was like somebody was, it wasn't me this time, but somebody there, man, it was like we had to loop around several aisles to avoid the stink, right? Because it was just like, whoa, we can't walk. It was too intense to walk down that aisle. That was too potent. Here's Mephibosheth. How long has David been gone? It wasn't a matter of two or three days. It was a matter of probably a couple of weeks at least.

And Mephibosheth, his clothes are not washed. His mustache is untrimmed. His illness in his feet is uncared for. He was in mourning. And all of this in Jerusalem where Absalom was, if Absalom became aware, if Absalom was, you know, called to attention, to pay attention to this, it would have been something that would have been dealt with very seriously. So Mephibosheth, you know, did this at risk, right?

It is clear as you look through this, Mephibosheth, the account that Ziba told about him, it was completely untrue. It was completely false. David made the decision, but taking one side of the story, taking Ziba's word for it without having opportunity to hear from Mephibosheth.

And again, you can combine these questions. Is this a good time to decide when I've only got one side of the story? It's not a good time to decide. We can be so easily convinced that we have the whole story even when we've only heard one side because, oh my goodness, she's so sweet. She wouldn't lie to me. So I can believe her side of the story. I don't have to hear the other side. Well, sorry to tell you.

You don't have the information to answer a matter before you hear, oh, that's foolishness. It's very easy to be persuaded by one side, but hear the other side. If that's something you have to make a decision about. Again, that's not licensed for you to investigate everything that you want to investigate to find out the truth. You know that? No, no. Some things you just need to let them go. You don't need to make decisions or judgments about that. But when you do need to make decisions, hear the whole story. Make sure you don't

operate just on one side. Don't make the decision until you've heard the whole matter. And a little bit of a side note, I would say this is especially true when the one side of information that you're hearing is claiming that someone has done something wrong. When there's an accusation, a slander, you know, against someone. The Lord deals with this in Deuteronomy chapter 19, talking about

witnesses that are rising up against someone concerning any wrongdoing. In Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 16, it says, "...if a false witness arises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days, and the judges shall make careful inquiry."

Here's what the Lord says about this. Look, there's going to be situations where someone stands up and accuses someone else of wrongdoing. And God says, don't just accept that bold declaration of wrongdoing. And that can happen within our families. It can happen within the church. It can happen within society. I mean, there is lots of opportunities for these accusations of wrongdoing. Some of them are legitimate. There actually was wrong that was done.

But in that case, God says, don't just listen to one side. In this passage is when God says, by the mouth of two or three witnesses, the matter shall be established. You can't just take the word of one person who is slandering and accusing someone and just accept that as, well, it must be true or it is the truth. No, then both men in the controversy, God says, should go to the priest and they should make a careful inquiry. There should be a real inquiry.

investigation into that wrongdoing before a decision is made. Hey, if someone tells you that someone else has done something amazing and wonderful and loving and good, you could just believe that. Just accept that. Don't be so cynical and always doubt that, right? But someone comes and says, oh, you know what Pastor Poulet did? He ate four tubs of ice cream in one sitting. You know, maybe you should go talk to Colleen and say, I heard this.

Better yet, go talk to Pule. I heard this, Pule. Not just taking one person's word, especially when it has to do with an accusation of some sort of wrong. You don't have all the information if you've just heard one side. It's foolish to make a decision, to make a conclusion or a judgment about that situation. You don't have enough information to make that decision. Finishing it up with the fourth question, and that is, do I have insight from God?

This is an important question to ask. Has the Lord provided me insight about this? Obviously, if you don't have time to decide and your emotions are all over the place and you don't have all the information, you haven't done the investigation, still, if God tells you, here's what to do, well, then you have insight from the Lord. And so you can make that decision on the authority of the Lord who has spoken to you.

A lot of times we need to be pausing to consider what God has to say about a situation that we face and about the decision that we need to make. And as we read through this account here in 2 Samuel chapter 16, this aspect is notably missing. David doesn't stop and inquire of the Lord.

And it wouldn't really be important for him to do that at this point. Again, it goes back to this isn't the time. He doesn't have to make this decision right now. But providing the time, he would be able to go and to ask the Lord, Lord, what do you want to do with this? What do you have to say about this situation? Do I have insight from God? Now, I would say that God will not give you insight for every decision that you ever have to make.

He's not going to give you insight for every decision. He's not going to give you the blueprints. He's not going to give you all the details. He's not going to give you everything for every decision and maybe not anything for some decisions, but he can give you insight for any decision. God will not give you insight for every decision, but he can give you insight for any decision. And so the point is, give God an opportunity to speak to you.

Again, going back to the idea of pursuing God's heart. Give God an opportunity to reveal his heart to you about the decision that you're about to make. And he may choose to give you insight and say, here's what I want you to do or here's the direction to go. He may give you insight. He may give you all kinds of information about what's to come and to plan and prepare for that. He may just kind of give you a little nudge in the direction, you know, that he just kind of stirs something up in your heart. Or he may...

Let you decide with the information that he's already provided to you up to this point. He's maybe not going to give you anything special revelation at this moment, but giving God the opportunity to speak is the important point to consider here. Do I have insight from God? Have I given God an opportunity to speak? And I would go back to something I shared earlier. All of the other decisions that you make,

that are not under the pressure of time and under the pressure of great emotion and are, you know, not under those circumstances. Those are your practice questions where you can seek insight from God and learn how to do that so that when you are under that pressure and there is that intensity and the swirling of emotions, you're better equipped. You have some experience, right?

You know how to ask God for insight about the questions and the decisions and the situations that you are facing. Practice on those decisions that don't have the pressure because there are decisions coming up that are going to come with a great amount of pressure. And you want to have some experience walking with God and talking with God through the decisions that you make. And so these are some questions to ask before making decisions.

Whether it's a decision about, you know, whether or not to believe a story, whether or not to side with a family member, whether or not to go a certain direction, whether or not to, you know, respond to this job or do that or go this or do that, you know, whatever the decision might be. And even if it's just internal judgment about something and conclusion about something, these are some questions to ask before coming to that conclusion, before making that decision. Is it a good time to

to decide is this an appropriate time is this the time to deal with that subject and maybe it is and maybe it's not some decisions you can't delay there's a lot of decisions you can you don't have to come to a conclusion about that right in this instant you can hold that thought and come back to it later when it is more appropriate am i swayed by my emotions of course you are

But are you being blinded then by those emotions? Are you allowing those emotions to push you in a way that, well, you're ignoring, you're not paying attention, you're not thinking through, you're oblivious, you're not giving God opportunity to speak. You're not caring that you don't have all the information. You're not worried about whether or not it's a good time to decide because all of these feelings and all of these emotions and there's this urgency that often goes along with that.

Am I swayed by my emotions? Of course you have emotions. Of course you feel about those things. But are you allowing those feelings to distort the reality of what's going on? Do I have enough information? It is so easy to be convinced that we have the whole story. We've got it all worked out in our head. We know exactly why they did it, what they said, what their heart was behind it. We know, you know, exactly. We know all the details. We think. We think.

but we've only heard one side many times. We've only heard a piece of the truth. Do I have enough information to make a decision, to come to a conclusion, to make a judgment about this matter? This is one of the reasons why Jesus says for us not to judge one another, because we don't have all the information. We don't get to see what's happening in the heart, and we're so convinced many times, I know why you're doing that. And

Maybe we do. Maybe we have insight from the Lord. Maybe there is enough information there, but many times there's just not enough information. We can't see the heart. We're not equipped to evaluate those things. Do I have enough information? Have I heard the whole story to be able to make this decision? And then finally, do I have insight from God? Have I given God opportunity to speak? He may not give you insight for every decision, but he can give you insight for any decision.

big or small, whether you think it's important or not so important, God can give you insight. So give him opportunity. Let him give you the direction that he wants to give when he wants to give it. And so we want to take a few moments to finish out the service. Jonathan's going to lead us in a worship song, and we have an opportunity now to just present whatever is on our hearts, what's on our minds, the situations that we're facing, the judgments that we're coming to, the decisions that we need to make, and

We can give God an opportunity right now to speak to us. We can think through and ask ourselves about these situations if we are making the right decision, if we are going in the right direction, to not just assume that we have all the information. We feel strongly about it, so it must be true. We can learn from David. Sometimes decisions that we make are made based on completely bad information that

full of wrong emotions at the inappropriate time and without insight from God. That is not the way that we want to make decisions. But instead, let's cast our cares upon the Lord. In all of our ways, acknowledge Him that He

would direct our paths. Let's present those decisions, those judgments, those conclusions, those things that we need to decide about before the Lord as we spend time with him. As always, we want to give you opportunity. And so if you need prayer, you want to pray for somebody, Lord, let's put something on your heart to share with someone around you. Feel free to minister to one another as we worship the Lord together.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.