"Wise in Our Ways"

In 1 Samuel 18:14 we are told that “David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.” The word translated as wisely is sakal and it means “to be prudent, to act circumspectly, to have insight, or to give attention to.” When we look at all the definitions of sakal it gives us a better feel for what David did to “act wisely in all his ways.”

Too often we move through our days like water flowing down a stream bed--without really thinking about what we are doing or where we are going. We just go where the stream bed takes us. But if we want to be like David when he was favored of the Lord, we need to “behave ourselves wisely” which means we need to pay attention to what we are doing. We need to consciously choose to Live in Truth and to avoid falling prey to Illusion.

This means we have to learn what Truth is all about and then when faced with decisions or circumstances that habit or tradition or the natural man have previously determined for us, we instead act prudently and with insight and give attention to consciously choosing to Live in Truth. In other words, we decide how fast to go, when to turn, when to stop, and which stream bed to follow instead of simply going with the current of the stream.

It takes effort, but it is worth it because when we Live in Truth “the Lord is with us.”