Ever feel like your voice is not heard? Do you feel that other voices crowd yours out, interrupting and speaking over yours? It’s not a nice feeling.

That is the experience of the voice of wisdom; God’s voice personified for us here. He calls out, raising his voice wherever people are, in the public squares and where their paths meet.

After Jesus’ arrest he was brought before Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. As Pilate tried to determine the nature of the charges against Jesus, he asked him about the accusation that he was a king. Jesus answered, “My kingdom doesn’t belong to this world. If it did, my followers would have fought to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. No, my kingdom doesn’t belong to this world.” (John 18:36)

From the evidence provided by our reading, we learn that Herod tended to react impulsively. Firstly, there was his reaction to John the Baptist, a righteous man who dared to publicly disapprove of Herod’s adulterous relationship with his brother’s wife. Herod impetuously had John arrested to silence his voice.

Secondly, there was his reaction to a dancing girl.

Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins so when news of John’s death reached him, Jesus sought some time alone to deal with his grief. To put some distance between himself and the crowds, he got into a boat and headed out on the lake. Not to be put off, the crowds guessed where he would land, ran along the shore on foot, and were waiting for him when he arrived.

In this passage, Jesus finally gets some time alone to pray after the beheading of his cousin, John. After dismissing the crowd and his disciples, he spent a few hours on a nearby mountainside. By the time he descended, it was past midnight and the disciples were well out into the lake and working hard because the wind was against them. As the hours passed, the waves became higher, tossing the fishing boat every which way.

Have you ever been torn between doing what is right and doing the right thing? Did you even know that there was a difference between the two? Allow me to explain:

Doing what is right or Doing the right thing

The top of this psalm is an attention grabber. “Everyone on this earth, now listen to what I say!” (v1). In our upside-down culture which applauds and envies celebrities, the rich and famous, the psalmist delivers words of wisdom.

He had lived through enough to know that God has designed life to be a potent and convincing teacher.