"...the Ammonite leaders warned Hanun,... "Do you for a minute suppose that David is honoring your father by sending you comforters?"" 2 Sam 10:2
David, hearing of Hanun's Dad's death wanted to send him condolences. But Hanun's Ammonite leaders said, don't believe him. He is just sizing up the city.
So, instead of accepting David's gesture Hanun seized David's men and cut off half of their beards, humiliating them. Then, of course, fearing David's retribution he made things worse by spending 37 1/2 tons of silver to hire 33,000 fighting men to protect himself. And they lost anyway resulting in disastrous consequences for the Ammonite people.
When we take advice from people we really need to know who they are and what makes them tick. Are they reliable or prone to gossip? Are they power hungry? Are they just plain dumb?
Acting on wrong advice can have terrible consequences, maybe not quite as severe as for the Ammonites but nevertheless, consequences that cause pain and suffering often spanning generations.
God, help me to be wise in choosing what advice to accept and what advice to reject.
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