Spiritual Discernment
I was reading in the book of 1st Kings about the prayer of Solomon for wisdom. He asked for "an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil." That is actually a remarkable prayer. Solomon was in the position of authority over God's people but he wanted discernment. So what is it? A clue is in the passage before us. It has something to do with telling the difference between Good and Evil.
1 Kings 3:9 (NASB)
[9] “So give Your servant *an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this *great people of Yours?”
Maybe we have the case of being able to have the right judgement at the right time. The judgement that always is in line with the Lord's wishes. Jesus worked this way. He delighted in the Fear of the Lord and judged by what God the Father wanted. He was able to get down to the real heart of the issue, the ability to separate out Good and Evil in every instance. Since He is God this is not a problem but He is our example in all things, even learning Discernment.
Isaiah 11:3 (NASB)
[3] And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear
Our natural tendency (the natural man) is to not do the things of God, so we have a natural problem listening to the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God that will guide us into all things. We have to walk by the Spirit in order to do things that are pleasing to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NASB)
[14] But *a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually *appraised.
Discernment requires practice and a deep grasp of the scriptures. The deep grasp of the scriptures gives us the foundation to work from. The practice (events on our life that come our way to teach us things) is necessary to refine our understanding of how to apply the principles.
Hebrews 5:14 (NASB)
[14] But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
We must also learn to cry out and to seek understanding of a matter, to find discernment on a given situation. So we need to first seek the Lord in His Word to know evil and good. We need to allow the pains of life to teach us application of scriptural principle of good and evil. We must further cry out for resolution of those problems that are just beyond our grasp. Notice that all through this process we are completely dependent on the Lord for the right answers.
Proverbs 2:3 (NASB)
[3] For if you cry for discernment,
*Lift your voice for understanding;
We are going through this process being taught by God as it were.
Psalms 119:66 (NASB)
[66] Teach me good *discernment and knowledge,
For I believe in Your commandments.
Discernment is even prayed for in the scriptures. Notice what Paul says in Philippians about abounding love - in real knowledge and discernment.
Philippians 1:9 (NASB)
[9] And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment
Notice that in the receipt of discernment we will really understand the fear of the Lord, that we will humble ourselves before Him who is the one who has all knowledge. And in the process we will discern knowledge of Him. That is the drive that we have.
Proverbs 2:5 (NASB)
[5] Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.
In addition, when we learn discernment we will understand righteousness, justice, and equity. These are three of the traits of God. Notice that part of our discernment is to know every good course. In other words, we have the direction for our lives. It all starts with our desire to know Him and to work through His word to discern between good and evil. Remember the passage that says "Seek ye first the kingdom?" That is what is going on here.
Proverbs 2:9 (NASB)
[9] Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.
So I look at discernment as a course to follow to learn more of the Lord and to seek out His direction for our lives.
1 Kings 3:9 (NASB)
[9] “So give Your servant *an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this *great people of Yours?”
Maybe we have the case of being able to have the right judgement at the right time. The judgement that always is in line with the Lord's wishes. Jesus worked this way. He delighted in the Fear of the Lord and judged by what God the Father wanted. He was able to get down to the real heart of the issue, the ability to separate out Good and Evil in every instance. Since He is God this is not a problem but He is our example in all things, even learning Discernment.
Isaiah 11:3 (NASB)
[3] And He will delight in the fear of the LORD,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make a decision by what His ears hear
Our natural tendency (the natural man) is to not do the things of God, so we have a natural problem listening to the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God that will guide us into all things. We have to walk by the Spirit in order to do things that are pleasing to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (NASB)
[14] But *a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually *appraised.
Discernment requires practice and a deep grasp of the scriptures. The deep grasp of the scriptures gives us the foundation to work from. The practice (events on our life that come our way to teach us things) is necessary to refine our understanding of how to apply the principles.
Hebrews 5:14 (NASB)
[14] But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.
We must also learn to cry out and to seek understanding of a matter, to find discernment on a given situation. So we need to first seek the Lord in His Word to know evil and good. We need to allow the pains of life to teach us application of scriptural principle of good and evil. We must further cry out for resolution of those problems that are just beyond our grasp. Notice that all through this process we are completely dependent on the Lord for the right answers.
Proverbs 2:3 (NASB)
[3] For if you cry for discernment,
*Lift your voice for understanding;
We are going through this process being taught by God as it were.
Psalms 119:66 (NASB)
[66] Teach me good *discernment and knowledge,
For I believe in Your commandments.
Discernment is even prayed for in the scriptures. Notice what Paul says in Philippians about abounding love - in real knowledge and discernment.
Philippians 1:9 (NASB)
[9] And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment
Notice that in the receipt of discernment we will really understand the fear of the Lord, that we will humble ourselves before Him who is the one who has all knowledge. And in the process we will discern knowledge of Him. That is the drive that we have.
Proverbs 2:5 (NASB)
[5] Then you will discern the fear of the LORD
And discover the knowledge of God.
In addition, when we learn discernment we will understand righteousness, justice, and equity. These are three of the traits of God. Notice that part of our discernment is to know every good course. In other words, we have the direction for our lives. It all starts with our desire to know Him and to work through His word to discern between good and evil. Remember the passage that says "Seek ye first the kingdom?" That is what is going on here.
Proverbs 2:9 (NASB)
[9] Then you will discern righteousness and justice
And equity and every good course.
So I look at discernment as a course to follow to learn more of the Lord and to seek out His direction for our lives.