"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
The Bible is able to teach us how to make the right decisions every time we are faced with decision-making opportunities.
One of the ways it does this is by showing us how people make the wrong decisions, even when they have the opportunity to make right choices.
The Bible presents to us various figures who made wrong decisions in their lives. Some of the negative consequences of these decisions could be put right again, but many of them had irreversible effects that, unless God intervened, would affect more than just the one who made the wrong choice.
In this article we'll take a look at a few people in the Bible who made wrong decisions.
1) David
David, the "man after God's own heart" (see 1 Samuel13:14; Acts 13:22), wasn't perfect. While we know that he loved God and pursued Him, he also had his share of faulty decision-making, some of which are seen in 2 Samuel 11-12.
First we read David staying home when he should be out with his army (see 2 Samuel 11:1).
Next we read him giving in to lust (v.2-3) and sexual drive, committing adultery with a woman married to one of his loyal warriors (v. 4).
After that, he tried to escape accountability by plotting to have the woman lay with her husband, but failed (v. 6-13). Eventually he plotted to have the woman's husband killed in battle (v. 14-17).
David thought he could get away with murder and adultery, but he was wrong. God confronted him through a prophet (see 2 Samuel 12:1-15). And though he was unrepentant at first (v. 5-6), he eventually yielded (v. 13).
David, despite his intimacy with God, still made terrible choices. We ought to learn from him.
2) Solomon
Solomon, David's son and the wisest king who ever lived on earth, also made wrong decisions.
Despite his supernatural wisdom (see 1 Kings 4:29-34), Solomon married wrong women. In fact, he didn't marry one wrong woman -- he married so many ungodly women that they turned him away from God! 1 Kings 11:1-3 tells us,
"But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites - from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, "You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods." Solomon clung to these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart."
Solomon was blessed with riches and supernatural wisdom alright, but he did not exercise even the slightest hint of Godly wisdom in choosing who to marry.
Apparently, Solomon realized this grave mistake and also realized what he lacked, that he did all this:
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)
3) Rehoboam
Rehoboam might be the son of Solomon, but he never had his father's wisdom.
1 Kings 13:1-17 tells us just how Rehoboam made the mistake of listening to his childhood friends instead of the nation's elders. These young friends of his gave him wicked counsel, yet he listened to them anyway.
This should at least teach us to surround ourselves with the right friends and influences.
