1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,640
Day 88 or March 29. Majorities can be wrong. Our thoughts today are rooted in 2 Samuel

2
00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:17,800
chapter 19 verse 43. Then the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, We have ten shares

3
00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:24,080
in the king, so we have a greater claim on David than you have.

4
00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:30,400
And now the big picture surrounding this verse. When David lost his favourite son, Absalom,

5
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:36,480
he was in danger of slipping into a desperate state from which he might never recover. With

6
00:00:36,480 --> 00:00:43,240
the help of his army general, Joab, David gets his priorities back in balance. It's

7
00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:50,120
ironic that the man who killed Absalom was the man who helped David get over his bereavement.

8
00:00:50,120 --> 00:00:56,560
David now turns his attention to reconciling the north and south of his kingdom. The north-south

9
00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:05,000
divide was to prove a problem for many centuries and was even a big issue in the days of Jesus.

10
00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:12,360
And now our action step for today. Many think, incorrectly, that majorities are always right.

11
00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:17,680
The bigger your vote or support, the more correct you are. Living in a democratic society

12
00:01:17,680 --> 00:01:23,680
can lead you to believe this. In reality, a democracy is a place where whatever the

13
00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:30,760
majority wants is declared legal. Groups of Christians or even individual believers should

14
00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:38,840
not think democratically but theocratically. Speaking personally as a Baptist or free churchman,

15
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,100
we have church meetings to decide the road ahead. But I never cease to be surprised that

16
00:01:44,100 --> 00:01:51,240
folk think if a motion has a majority, then it's okay. I'd been involved in too many

17
00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:57,400
church meeting decisions to know that this is far from true. The tribes of Israel thought

18
00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:04,480
they were right 10 to 2, which was ironically the same statistic as when the spies explored

19
00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:11,520
the promised land, and they got it wrong big time. When you have a decision to make, don't

20
00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:17,600
think in terms of how much support you have. It's only God's opinion that counts. Voting

21
00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:23,760
is meant to show how you think God would vote. It's not meant to give us a chance to get

22
00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:44,160
our own way, if only we can get enough finance or enthusiastic supporters.