The Enormous Value of Discernment
‘Now’s your opportunity!’ David’s men whispered to him. Today the Lord is telling you, ‘I will certainly put your enemy into your power, to do with as you wish’. So, David crept forward and cut off a piece of the hem of Saul’s robe. 1 Samuel 24:4
Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” Matthew 16.22-23
Here in these verses, we have Jesus and his Old Testament archetype David in parallel situations. Both receive direction from close friends. To David, that advice comes with the admonition ‘…the Lord is telling you’. And yet He is not.
To Jesus, it comes with a rebuke: ‘…this shall never happen’. And yet this rebuke is entirely misplaced because, it will.
David creeps forward, sword in hand. But in that moment, urged on by his friends and a word from the Lord to Kill Saul and take the throne, David realises that the word cannot be God’s voice. It contradicts everything he knows to be true about how God operates. Amazingly, he changes the outcome everyone expects at the last moment. A small piece of robe taken; a BIG mistake narrowly avoided.
To the surprise of the watching disciples, Jesus halts Peter in his tracks. Knowing the voice of Peter is really the enemy urging him to reject the core of his mission, He speaks to the deceiver behind the word: ‘Get behind me Satan’. Peter-the rock on which the church is built, the evangelist of the day of Pentecost and the disciple who walked on water, had been an unwitting foreign voice to the mission.
In both stories the central characters must discern what to do with a message from team-mates that appears Godly but is actually a misdirection tactic from a sly enemy.
What can we learn from these stories?
- Prophecy, no matter how good it sounds, or how much sense it makes, if directive, should be measured against the whole counsel of God. Discernment takes in all the facts before it moves.
- It is humbling and terrifying to think we could all be ‘the friends’ that the enemy uses, but it is a fact. Offer advice with humility and pray for wisdom. Try to spot the enemy in your words. Discernment includes your own voice, not only the voice of others.
- We can’t avoid the voice of the enemy in life, but we can choose which order his voice takes when we spot it – Jesus put it to the back of the queue. Discernment is a gift that takes in all the data and orders it by spiritual revelation to gain the outcome God desires.
Pray for discernment in 2025. May God direct your steps toward greater blessings.
Ps Mike Williams
