Who is your helper?

[Leonardo Von]

Who is your helper?

•    Pro 16:25 -> “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”. 

In the reign of Ahaz, two enemies raided Judah. And the Creator was ready to protect them:

•    Isa 7:1-4 -> “And it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Syria, and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up toward Jerusalem to war against it, but could not prevail against it. And it was told the house of David, saying, Syria is confederate with Ephraim. And his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shearjashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field; and say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted for the two tails of these smoking firebrands, for the fierce anger of Rezin with Syria, and of the son of Remaliah. 

And even He promised to impart them a sign of His supernatural protection:

•    Isa 7:10-13 -> “Moreover the LORD spake again unto Ahaz, saying, ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?”.

Nevertheless, instead of trusting in the Creator, he preferred to trust in the king of Assyria and in the other gods?

•    2Ch 28:16 -> “At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him.”.

For the sake of this, the enemies, who wasn’t being able to prevail against Judah, ended up doing a great havoc:

•    2Ch 28:6-8 -> “For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king's son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king. And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.”.

Something similar came about Saul. For two times he made a mistake of trusting in his own ken (disobeying Proverbs 3:5-8) and the aftermath is that he lost the assistance of the Holy Spirit, pass to be tormented by a dirty spirit and his kingdom was transferred to David: 

•    1Sa 13:11-14 -> “And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; therefore said I, the Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering. And Samuel said to Saul, thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.”.

•    1Sa 15:20-23 -> “And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.”

If you analyze the two cases, apparently Saul had good reasons to disobey the Creator:

•    In the first case, he was pressed by the Philistines and his people was drawing back from him. He was despaired and, for this, he tried to force the Creator to act as it was fit for Him (exactly as the pagans do with their false gods). He couldn’t imagine that the Creator, probably, desire that stayed only those who are faithful to Him, humble, but, at the same time, bold in Him and His Word. 
•    In the second case, Israelites considered a wasting to kill good animals. They considered more reasonable to sacrifice to the Creator (and, thus, can taste that scrumptious food). Nevertheless, although something like burned offerings seems to be prodigality, we need to abide by what the Creator instruct us. Although many times His orders can seem crazy (1Cor 2:14-16), certainly it has a good purport through what He instruct us.

Therefore, have a good day giving up your own understanding so that there is space within us to His will and direction.