Proverbs 20:18 Commentary and Bible Study

The willingness to seek advice comes from a sense of our own limited understanding. We know that wisdom is difficult to find, and that we have great need of it, and that there are others who possess wisdom that we do not have, and so we are ready to go to them for help. Even a king needs counsellors and in the big decisions of his kingdom he wants the help of others. He must make the final decision but he knows that other perspectives are valuable, and that some may have thought of factors that he has failed to consider. There are decisions that have enormous consequences not only for us but for many others, and the decision to go to war is an example of such. There are times when it is right to go to war but no one who is wise will make that decision lightly. But some cannot bring themselves to depend on others for advice. That seems to them too great a humbling of themselves. They are not willing to be so dependent on advice, or at least they will only seek the advice of those they are sure will tell them what they want to hear, what they have already decided to do. But in matters of the soul, not to seek advice is fatal. We have no wisdom of our own when it comes to salvation of the soul. The gospel comes to us as a message which we could never have imagined. We cannot understand it until God opens our eyes, and even when we do understand it we want no part in it until God makes us willing. Our souls need to receive wisdom from heaven, but we want only the wisdom that comes from earth where we are surrounded by those who join us in rebellion against God. They will surely tell us what the flesh wants to hear. The problem is that we are self-willed, and do not like any other advice to interfere with what we wish to do.