The People Were Pleased
Monk
and poet John Lydgate once said, “You can please some of the people some of the
time, you can please all of the people some of the
time, but you cannot please all of the people
all of the time.” A very insightful quote about how difficult it is to please
everyone. Trying to please everyone is
actually a characteristic of our fallen human nature. The psychologists say it
is a disease called co-dependence. It's unhealthy and hurts those who try to be
everything to everyone. Examine your Bible and you will see that there
is not a single verse that tells you to try to make everyone happy. It does say, however, that we
should do our best to please God.
David
was relatively new at this king thing. He didn’t really know the proper
political protocols in many situations. He didn’t know how to please the
people. In today’s chapter he was rebuked by Joab for his “blunder” in not imprisoning
his sworn enemy, Abner, when he had the chance to do so. David wasn’t a “polished”
monarch with decades of experience. But David’s heart was set on pleasing the
Lord. And because of this, the Lord made it so that the people were pleased at
his actions. In fact, verse 36 says “Everything the king did pleased the
people.”
Proverbs 16:7 says, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” It is an astonishing thing, but when God
approves of your life, even your enemies will end up shaking your hand. They
will recognize the quality of your character and the soundness of your
decisions. This doesn’t mean that if your ways please the Lord, you will never
have an enemy. Everyone will not agree with all you do but they will be “at
peace” with you.
So why are we so
worried about pleasing other people? If you are worried about pleasing other
people, you need to change your priorities and put all of your focus on
pleasing God. He is the most important Person in your life. When we
please God we may not be pleasing everyone around like David, but we are
staying in tune with the reason we were created. God creates us, He saves
us and He gives us life. Your value comes only from God and will never
come as a result of people pleasing. The only applause we should be seeking is
that of His nail-scarred hands.
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