Listening to the counsel of Ahithophel was like consulting God as to what to do. But Absalom and the leaders of Israel do not agree, and he seeks the advice of one who would seem to maybe know something, a friend of the enemy.

The book of Psalms opens with a line saying that you are blessed if you don’t follow the counsel of the wicked. Hushai, David’s friend, wasn’t an evil man, but he was acting deceptively. He was lying to Absalom. He was a spy. To David, he was a friend that stayed closer than a brother.

David, however, does have more family turn on him as Amasa, his nephew, joins Absalom as head of his army. David, however, will later take Amasa as the commander of his army. Amasa is also the cousin of Joab, David’s commander. Maybe Amasa had felt slighted in Joab becoming head of David’s army.

Absalom probably felt really great having all these people, who should have been loyal to his father, on his side. He appoints his cousin to lead the army and his father’s friend to guide his steps. And there he fails.

Only one opinion matters. He should have kept to the voice of God. When we start sharing our problems and getting advice, we are getting further and further from the solution.

Why don’t we seek wisdom and counsel from the source? We don’t really believe. We aren’t trusting that He will come through. We wait, sort of, and then try to solve our own problems.

What if we believed we could get counsel from God Himself, the only one who actually knows the outcome of our choices? Would that change our lives?

What do we need to do to get God’s counsel?

Seek it. Wait for it. Trust it.

I know how hard it is to wait on the Lord. I know how impossible it feels to be silent and still before Him. But what if you were really expecting Him to speak? What if you were really expecting Him to intervene? What would the waiting feel like then?