Isaiah 11:1-4
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; 4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
You know when you feel that something is just not right in a situation. It appears one way, but feels another. It’s as if something behind is really directing matters. Like in a business deal, or in a conversation or a relationship even.
Jesus was able to cut through the ‘smoke and mirrors’ of outward appearance – things people do and say to cover up – and get to the heart of the matter.
He did not judge or discern by merely looking at something or hearing what was said (Verse 3 of our passage above). Rather, He judged by a standard of righteousness and equity or a straight measure of justice.
It seems as if people today often feel that if they can get away with something, then it must be alright, not realizing that God is able to see through all the nonsense. He has an eternal and higher standard by which He operates.
As believers, we need the help of the Holy Spirit not only to live right, but also not to be bamboozled by people trying to pass things by us. We cannot be naïve to the agendas that people whose goal is to take advantage of us and then move on.
To thrive and judge rightly we need counsel, might, God’s knowledge, the fear of the Lord and His spirit.
The Holy Spirit is all this and He lives on the inside. Explore and invoke His help daily.