Now this is one of those observations that you really won’t pick up apart from reading the NKJV . . . but even that’s interesting . . . we’ll touch on that too. Here’s the observation: four times in 1Samuel 18 I read in my NKJV Bible that David “behaved wisely”.

“So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. (18:5) . . . And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the LORD was with him. (18:14) . . . Therefore, when Saul saw that he behaved very wisely, he was afraid of him. (18:15) . . . Then the princes of the Philistines went out to war. And so it was, whenever they went out, that David behaved more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name became highly esteemed. (18:30).”

Literally the Hebrew word means “to be prudent . . . to be circumspect . . . to have insight . . . to give attention to . . . to consider . . . to ponder” . . . you get the idea. David was thoughtful. He saw more than just the task at hand . . . he saw the big picture. In all his ways, he viewed life’s vista from a God vantage point. The living God through the living Spirit of God was upon David and with David and so, David leveraged a divine perspective in all he undertook. He sifted life’s happenings through a God-informed filter. David was a wise man . . . Solomon was the wisest of men . . . it was in the gene pool.

Now, if you read these verses in almost any other translation, rather than “behaved wisely” you’ll find this Hebrew word translated “more successful” or “more prosperous”. Apparently, that’s a fair translation as well. And, as you think about it, that the two English phrases can come from the same root makes sense. Behaving wisely . . . living life skillfully . . . acting with keen spiritual insight . . . will result in a person’s way being prosperous. Shouldn’t we expect that doing God’s work in God’s way will result in God’s blessing? I’m thinking so. To be clear, we’re not talking about a life-path cleared of trial and trouble . . . that certainly wasn’t David’s experience. While David is behaving wisely and greatly succeeding, he also has the king, his future father-in-law, out trying to skewer him with a spear (18:11-12). His troubles with Saul are only starting . . . soon he will be like an animal on the run being stalked as prey by the most powerful man in Israel. Behaving wisely . . . prospering greatly . . . doesn’t mean “no worries” . . . it isn’t mutually exclusive of “no problems”. But it does mean doing the will of God with the mind of God . . . a thoughtful approach to that which we’ll encounter this day . . . and, as such, going forward in the will of God and being successful in dealing with the events of the day.

I read of David “behaving wisely” and I long to do the same. I want to have a heavenly perspective on these earthly circumstances. I long for a divine perspective that puts the “here and now” in the context of the “there and then.” And really, the prospering part, that’s to be left to the grace and goodness of God . . . I just want to think in a way that pleases Him.

But can I really aspire to that? Is it really possible? I’m thinking so . . . “For who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1Cor. 2:16) . . . it’s in my gene pool.