The wise man said in Proverbs 11:14, “Where there is no counsel the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.<\/em>” In an age in which people want to do their own thing and go their own way, society is crumbling before us. People, especially the young, are no longer willing to listen to the voices of wise men and women who preceded them. They want to follow their hearts and do what is right in their own eyes. But what does such foolishness cost? Rehoboam received the counsel of those men who had advised his father. These men were blessed with wisdom that helped secure peace during Solomon’s reign. However, since Rehoboam rejected the counsel of the wise and followed that of fools, his kingdom was rent apart (see I Kings 12).<\/p>\n The necessary inference from Proverbs 11:14 is that wise counsel must be sought and that such counsel must be in keeping with God’s will. Ahab had a multitude of counselors, but they were pagans (I Kings 22). He rejected wise counsel and followed fools’ advice, and as a result, he was destroyed.<\/p>\n Godly wisdom will act as a safeguard of any nation. History shows that when leaders seek wise counsel that reflects the will of God, they will preserve that nation. Nineveh exemplifies God’s staying hand when people accept His counsel (read Jonah). As long as the people of Nineveh accepted and heeded God’s counsel, they were preserved. But notice the prophet’s words in Nahum 1:11, “From you comes forth one who plots evil against the\u00a0<\/em>Lord, a wicked counselor.<\/em>” Nineveh fell into a state of darkness once again; for that, God said he would expose Nineveh’s shame (Nahum 3:5).<\/p>\n Nineveh’s failure to abide by God’s counsel made her susceptible to doom as a nation. This nation, once known for its ability to defend itself and for its great military might, has been reduced to a bunch of sissies (Nah. 3:13). The nation produced weak leaders and commanders. Consequently, they became internally weak and were eventually devoured by the Babylonians.<\/p>\n Today, we have a president who has rejected the counsel of the wise and surrounded himself with foolish advisors. Much of the counsel he is given violates the will of God. The fruits of such counsel are the progression and the promotion of unrestrained wickedness. The president’s previous appointee for the Surgeon General has attacked religious people and made them the enemy of the government. Naturally, such would be the case when religious folk oppose their wicked counsel. When Nahum says that the wicked counselors plot evil against the Lord (Nahum 1:11), he is referring to the time when the Assyrians went after God’s people and afflicted them. Jesus implied that to afflict His people is to afflict Him (Acts 9:4-5). When our nation’s leaders enact policies that afflict God’s people, you better be sure that God is taking notice, although all religious people are not Christians, one thing is for certain, when religion and morality are attacked and construed as evil in this country Christians are under assault.<\/p>\n For these and other reasons, Christians must be more mindful of Paul’s admonition to pray for our nation’s leaders if they are ever going to maintain and promote the quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity that God wants so much for them to have (I Timothy 2:1-2). Despite the circumstances we face, we must continue in God’s good counsel if we, as God’s people, will be safe and preserved.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Charles N. Spence, Jr. Sentry Magazine, September 1999 The wise man said in Proverbs 11:14, “Where there is no counsel the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” In an age in which people want to do their own thing and go their own way, society is crumbling before us.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1338,1339],"class_list":["post-35246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-advice","tag-counsel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":88782,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-good-to-get-advice-about-a-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":35246,"position":0},"title":"Is it good to get advice about a problem?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi Mr. Hamilton, Thank you again for your time and thoughtful answers. I've read through everything you shared, and I'm doing my best to trust the truth over my feelings, even though it is tough for me. I have another question- if that's alright? Do you believe I've obeyed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29142,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jamaica-patois-wisdom-awareness\/","url_meta":{"origin":35246,"position":1},"title":"Jamaica Patois Wisdom – Awareness","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 29, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant The Jamaican Patois dialect is colorful, unique, and humorous. It is my desire to share some of the philosophy shown in this mix of colorful phrases that are witty as well as thought-provoking. I hope the readers both profit and enjoy. In my quarter-century plus of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69633,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-to-get-advice-from-non-christians\/","url_meta":{"origin":35246,"position":2},"title":"Is it wrong to get advice from non-Christians?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning, Brother Hamilton, I hope this message finds you well. I wanted to express my gratitude for the valuable resources on your website, which have been a blessing to me over the years. I have a question regarding scriptural authority for seeking counseling outside the church. Specifically, is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9635,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-everything-happen-as-god-designed-it-or-is-it-all-by-coincidence\/","url_meta":{"origin":35246,"position":3},"title":"Does everything happen as God designed it or is it all by coincidence?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 1, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you think everything in life happens for a reason and is the way God designed things to happen? Or is it all by coincidence? Answer: Neither. God has a design and purpose which He carries out in the world. \"In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-is-wise-and-understanding\/","url_meta":{"origin":35246,"position":4},"title":"Who Is Wise and Understanding?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: James 3:13-18 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Bible speaks of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Knowledge are the many facts about life and the world we live in. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Understanding is the ability to take several facts and combine them to arrive at new information. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0C.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Wisdom is knowing when information\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69020,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-whole-counsel-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":35246,"position":5},"title":"The Whole Counsel of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton Paul said he had preached \"the whole counsel of God\" (Acts 20:27) but never the Quran or the Book of Mormon. Therefore, neither of those is part of God's counsel, and we need not pretend or believe they are. Jesus promised that His eye-witnessing apostles would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35246"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35246\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}