| “Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14). |
| “And His name shall be called … Counsellor” (Isaiah 9:6). |
| We all realize how valuable good advice is! As our first verse says, if there is no counsel, the people fall. In most of the governments of this world, those in authority have counselors, or advisors, who are able to look at situations and recommend what should be done. Often they have a number of these counselors, and they listen to all of them. Then, putting all their advice together, they decide what to do. To be a counselor to someone else is a serious job, for it is easy to give bad counsel, and cause a lot of harm. |
| In the Old Testament king David had one special counselor named Ahithophel. He gave good counsel, for the Bible says that his counsel “was as if a man had enquired at the oracle of God” (2 Samuel 16:23). Evidently he had a very special ability to consider a problem and give very good advice. Yet he made a sad mistake in following Absalom, David’s son, who wanted to kill David and take over as king. The Lord allowed Ahithophel’s counsel to be rejected, although it was good counsel, and instead Absalom took the advice of a man named Hushai, who was loyal to David. This resulted in Absalom’s being defeated. (You can read this story in 2 Samuel, chapters 16 and 17). |
| You and I, as Christians, never have to say, “We have no counsel.” No, for our second verse talks about the One whose name is Counsellor, and it is speaking about the Lord Jesus. No matter what kind of problem or question we have, we can go to Him for good counsel. He will never give us bad advice! Of course, sometimes we can go for advice to someone we trust, perhaps our parents, or a godly older Christian, and they can be a real help to us. But no one can replace the Lord Himself. Let us remember that one of His names is Counsellor! |
