Have You Been Making Decisions Without Counsel?
Key Takeaways
- Many Christians fall into the trap of making decisions independently and only seeking advice from people who will blindly cheer them on.
- The Hebrew word translated as counsel in Proverbs 11:14 is tachbulot, a steering term derived from the rope of a ship's rudder, implying that true advice requires someone willing to turn the wheel.
- In 1 Kings 12, King Rehoboam's disastrous choice to reject the wise elders and listen to his peers resulted in ten of the twelve tribes walking out.
- True biblical counsel acts as a rescue rather than just a good idea, providing the safety and rescue found in the Hebrew root teshu'ah.
- To avoid making decisions without counsel, believers should actively seek out two mature believers and explicitly grant them permission to push back on their plans.
You prayed, you asked a friend, and you decided. Learn the Hebrew word behind "counsel," and what Solomon's own son did with the advice standing in front of him.
A lot of Christians make the big calls on their own. The job change. The way to handle a conflict in the family. You pray about it, which is the right instinct, and then you decide, which is usually early. And some of us do ask. We just ask in a way that can't tell us anything we don't already believe, because we go to the people who will cheer us on.
Proverbs 11:14 says, "Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers." You may know it in the older wording. Where there is no counsel, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety. Both are working on the same Hebrew.
Start with the word under counsel. It's tachbulot, a steering word that people trace back to chevel, the rope, so the picture behind it is the lines that work a ship's rudder. Without steering, a people goes down. That changes what the proverb is asking for. A voice that only agrees with you never touches the wheel, and steering requires somebody willing to turn it.
Then look at how big Solomon makes the stakes. He uses that same steering word in Proverbs 20, where plans succeed through good counsel and you don't go to war without wise advice. He uses it again in Proverbs 24, where victory depends on having many advisers. Nations and armies both times.
Solomon's own son gave us the case study. In 1 Kings 12, Rehoboam asks the elders who had served his father what to do, and they tell him to lighten the load on the people. He doesn't like that answer. So he calls in the young men he grew up with, and they tell him to tighten the screws. He went with his friends, and ten of the twelve tribes walked out. Rehoboam had the counsel standing in the building.
Now count the advisers. The word is many, and it's plural in both renderings. One friend who tells you yes is a sample of one, and you picked the sample. Then look at the word we read as safety. The Hebrew is teshu'ah, from the root behind the words for saving and rescue. The same word gets translated victory over in Proverbs 24.
Bart shares his own version of it, the board members who stop him with the mild question he skipped, along with what that has saved him from.
BY THE TIME YOU FINISH LISTENING, YOU'LL DISCOVER:
The Hebrew word behind "counsel," and why a voice that agrees with you never touches the wheel What Solomon's own son did with the counsel standing in front of him The one question to ask two people this week before your next big decision
Here's the practical step. Pick the decision you've been turning over. Then pick two mature believers who know you well and who have never been afraid to tell you something you didn't want to hear. Go to them this week and tell them what you're leaning toward. Then ask them straight out what they'd push back on. Give them the permission, because most people won't take it unless you hand it to them. And listen all the way to the end of what they say, because you'll want to start defending the plan around sentence two.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does Proverbs 11:14 mean by safety in a multitude of counselors?
The verse teaches that having multiple wise advisers provides critical steering and rescue in major decisions, preventing people from going down the wrong path.
What is the Hebrew word for counsel in Proverbs?
The Hebrew word is tachbulot, which traces back to a word meaning a ship's steering rope or rudder lines, emphasizing direction and correction.
How can I avoid making decisions without counsel?
Pick a decision you are facing, find two mature believers who will tell you the truth, and explicitly ask them what they would push back on regarding your plan.
What example does the Bible give about bad counsel?
In 1 Kings 12, King Rehoboam rejected the advice of experienced elders and instead listened to his young friends, causing ten of the twelve tribes of Israel to rebel.
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You're careful about big decisions. You pray about
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them, think them through, and talk to somebody before you
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commit. So you do the right things. You floated the idea to
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a friend or sibling, and you felt better when they said go
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for it. But are you really asking for advice? We already
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know who will agree with us. We'll come back to that. But
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first,
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welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Léger. I
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thank God for my board. I'll bring an idea to them that I'm
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already sold I've prayed about it, and I've thought it through.
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Or, I think I have. Mostly, I'm looking for a green light. And
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every so often, one of them will stop and ask a simple question I
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hadn't considered. Often, it's just for clarification, but
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other times, there's something I hadn't considered in my
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calculation. And I'd be lying if I said that always feels good in
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the moment. I've walked out of a meeting or two a little deflated.
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I've also been kept from decisions I would have probably
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regretted because somebody in that room cared more about the
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outcome than about keeping me comfortable. A lot of Christians
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make the big calls on their own. The job change, the way to
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handle a conflict in the family. You pray about it, which is the
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right instinct and the right thing to do. And then you decide,
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which is usually pretty early. Bye-bye, folks. Some of us do
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ask. We just ask in a way that can't tell us anything we don't
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already believe. Solomon said this in Proverbs 11: 14: wise
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leadership, a nation falls. There is safety in having many
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advisors. You may know it in the older wording where there is no
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counsel, the people perish or the people fall. But in the
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multitude of counselors, there's safety. Both of these are
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working on the same Hebrew. Start with the word, translated,
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counsel.
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People trace it back to the rope connected to a ship's rudder. So,
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the picture behind it is the lines that work a ship's rudder.
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Without steering, a ship can go down in a storm. That changes
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what the proverb is asking for. A voice that only agrees with
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you never touches the wheel. Steering requires somebody
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willing to turn it. Then look at how big Solomon makes the stakes.
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He says that same steering word in Proverbs 20 where he says,
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"Plans succeed through good counsel, and don't go to war
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without wise advice." He uses it again in Proverbs 24 where
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victory depends on having many advisors. "Nations and armies
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both Solomon had every ordinary example available to him and he
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reached for the high-stakes pictures in the world." That
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tells you what he thought was writing on this. And Solomon's
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own son gave us the case study. 1 Kings 12: "Rehoboam takes the
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throne and asks the elders who had served his father what he
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should do." "They tell him to lighten the load on the people,
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and the people will serve him for life." Well, he doesn't like
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that answer. So he calls in the young men he grew up with, and
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they tell him to tighten the screws. He goes with his friends.
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Ten of the twelve tribes walked out, and the kingdom never came
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back together. So read the proverb "with that in mind,
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without wise steering and nationfalls. Rehoboam had the
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council standing in the building, but he went and got a second
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opinion he liked better." Now, count the advisors. The word's
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many, and it's plural in both renderings. One friend who tells
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you "yes" is a sample of one, and you pick the word we read as
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"safety." The Hebrew is from the root that gives us the words for
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saving and rescue. The same word gets translated as victory over
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in Proverbs 24. So what council provides, in Solomon's
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vocabulary, is closer to a rescue than to a good idea. When
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we face a big decision, we tend to go to the people who will
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cheer us on. Call them "yes men," the friends who encourage
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us and tell us what we want to hear. We walk away feeling
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supported, and nothing about our plan ever got tested. True
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counsel, though, is different. It means handing your decision
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to a couple of mature believers and giving them permission to
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push back, to say the part you'd rather not scripture, and then
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going and finding people willing to disagree with you if that's
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necessary. That's the kind of counsel Proverbs call "safety,"
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and it's often how God answers a prayer you thought you'd already
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settled. Here's today's challenge: Take the decision
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you've been turning over in your head, then pick two mature
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believers who you know well and who have never been afraid to
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tell you something you didn't want to hear. Go to them this
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week and let them know what you're are leaning toward and
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then ask them straight out what they'd push back on. And then
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give them the permission because most people won't take it unless
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you hand it to them. And then listen all the way to the end of
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what they say. You'll want to start defending the plan around
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sentence two, probably, but listen to them and take what
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they say to heart. Father, Solomon's set of people without
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steering goes down. He put the word for rescue on the council
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of many. Thank you that you built your church to think
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together so that no one of us has to see the whole thing alone.
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For everybody listening who has already decided and is looking
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for agreement, give them the humility to go and ask somebody
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who loves them and what they'd push back on. Let us hear you
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through the people you put around us. In Jesus' name, amen.
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dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support . Thank you so much, and thanks
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for joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.
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Remember, the word under council is a steering word, and a voice
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that only agrees never turns the wheel. Ask two people what
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they'd push back on. Come back next time for encouragement to
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help you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and
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have a great day.
