For the leader. By David:
In YHVH I find refuge. So how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains! See how the wicked are drawing their bows and setting their arrows on the string, to shoot from the shadows at honest men. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”
YHVH is in his holy temple. YHVH, his throne is in heaven. His eyes see and test humankind. YHVH tests the righteous; but he hates the wicked and the lover of violence. He will rain hot coals down on the wicked, fire, sulfur and scorching wind will be what they get to drink. For YHVH is righteous; he loves righteousness; the upright will see his face.
Have you ever gotten some really bad advice from someone you trusted?
Friends can do that. But that doesn’t make them untrustworthy. They are fallible in much the same way you are. Usually people speak advice from their own experience and perception of reality. Which means what they are saying isn’t necessarily wrong, even if it is terribly wrong.
The dividing point on what is right and what is right is stated here at the very beginning:
In YHVH I find refuge.
This is what separates the realities people walk in. Every single day we are presented with sage wisdom based on how things work in the earth. And that advice isn’t wrong -- if you subscribe to the ways of the world.
This doesn’t make people evil, it just means that their understanding is rooted in what they can see.
And a fair number of well-meaning people are merely blind. So, in a world filled with uncertainty, fear, and opposition, what do you see?
When life surrounds you with what looks like certain defeat, what reality do you live by -- the seen, or the unseen?
One of my favorite stories of Elisha is found in 2 Kings 6. Elisha sees things no one else can and it appears as though his stoic and calm disposition is chock full of contempt. He carries a confidence that runs second only to Yeshua’s and it seems as though nothing can rattle him -- because it doesn’t.
Elisha continually gives us an incredible picture of divine power, hidden from natural sight but revealed to the eyes of faith. Despite this chapter being full of prophetic miracles, invisible armies, and spiritual insight, it’s mostly a story of blindness: not just physical, but spiritual.
Chapter 6 begins with a seemingly irrelevant story. There was a group of guys called the guild prophets who decided they needed a bigger facility to house their growing community. Who were they?
It was a group of prophets who were part of a kind of prophetic community or school (sometimes called the “sons of the prophets” in other translations). These were disciples or apprentices of major prophets, such as Elisha and before him, Elijah.
They often lived together in communal settings, forming schools of prophecy, especially during times of national apostasy or spiritual compromise. They weren’t just random individuals but a structured group, much like a modern-day seminary or ministry training center (but without a denominational slant). Their role included studying the Torah, receiving prophetic training, and potentially delivering messages from God, especially in local contexts.
This backstory of the guild is what makes the story fascinating.
The prophets are expanding their meeting place by the Jordan River. While cutting wood, one prophet’s axe head falls into the river. But the axe was borrowed and now this guy had to keep the command that says to replace the lost axehead. But where would he get one? Afterall, this one was borrowed so I doubt he had the resources to replace it. Also keep in mind there were no Home Depot’s back then.
Here’s this guy, being trained in the Torah and powerful prophetic ministry, that lost faith over something as small as an axehead. Imagine that. Something that isn’t a big deal is an incredibly big deal.
So does Elisha go on and on about how this young man needs to have faith? Does he teach him the value of responsibility or the humble lesson of seeking forgiveness?
Uh, no.
He throws a stick in the water -- and the iron floats. The lesson: God cares even about the small things. A good lesson for these young prophets to learn. Simple, right?
But how did Elisha know that would work? He’s the resident pro in the eyes of this outfit and everyone was looking at him as he tossed that stick into the water. Imagine the awkward silence that came as everyone waited to see if anything would happen. You know the feeling, right? Thinking God can do something but at the same time not really sure. Yeah, it sounds like our lives almost everyday.
But Elisha could see something no one else there could. And the next story proves it.
The king of Aram waged war against Israel, but each of his strategies failed. Why? Because God revealed his plans to Elisha the prophet, who warned Israel’s king time and again. The Arameans learn it’s Elisha who’s revealing their plans, so they send an army to capture him in Dothan.
The situation was grim. Outnumbered, they are surely going to be defeated by what they see with their eyes. And so Elisha’s servant woke up to a terrifying sight -- horses, chariots, and soldiers surrounding the city. Panicked, he cried out, “Oh no! My master! What are we to do?”
But Elisha saw something different:
2 Kings 6:16 “Don’t be afraid,” Elisha answered, “those who are with us outnumber those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed: “YHVH, I ask you, open his eyes, so that he can see.” Then YHVH opened the young man’s eyes; and he saw. The mountain was covered with horses and fiery chariots surrounding Elisha.
God had already provided protection and Elisha knew it. The servant’s fear came from spiritual blindness -- an inability to perceive the unseen reality of God’s presence and power. But Elisha saw it before they even arrived. As he sat there sipping his tea and reading the paper, he had absolutely no reason to be bothered by an impending army moving in on his position.
As he opened up the spiritual sight of the servant, he followed immediately with shutting down the physical sight of those pursuing him. Needing to see opened up the servant’s eyes, and refusing to see closed those of the enemy army.
With the enemy blinded, it would be easy to go out and slaughter them all. I mean, that’s what we would want right? Defeating them and eliminating them seems like the best way to not be bothered again. But again, Elisha walks a completely different path. He then leads them into Samaria and, once there, opens their eyes. And instead of killing them, Elisha tells the king to feed them and let them go -- turning enemies into guests.
Isn’t this the sweetest justice? Not having your enemies perish, but live. And I mean truly live. There is no chance these warriors will forget the God of Abrahm, Isaac, and Jacob. It’s that moment of revelation the drug dealers get in Crocodile Dundee 2:
Amen!
You would think this news would have spread like wildfire, and I would guess it did. But hubris says that you are immune to what affects everyone else.
Later, Ben-Hadad (king of Aram) besieges Samaria, causing a terrible famine. Food becomes outrageously expensive and things get so bad that two women agree to eat their own children -- a horrifying reflection of the city’s desperation.
The king of Israel is devastated and angry -- and he blames Elisha! As any good victim would do, the king vows to kill him.
Elisha, calm and steady, prophesies that by the next day, food will be abundantly available — setting the stage for the miracle in chapter 7.
2 Kings 6:33 (the king said) “Here, this evil is from YHVH. Why should I wait for YHVH any longer?”
7:1 Elisha answered, “Listen to the word of YHVH. Here is what YHVH says: ‘Tomorrow, by this time, six quarts of fine flour will sell for only a shekel, and half a bushel of barley for a shekel [in the market] at the gate to Shomron.” 2 The servant on whose arm the king was leaning answered the man of God: “Why, this couldn’t happen even if YHVH made windows in heaven!” Elisha answered, “All right, you yourself will see it with your own eyes; but you won’t eat any of it!”
Huh. “You yourself will see it with your own eyes; but you won’t eat any of it!”
Profound.
So, a lumberjack prophet that could see in the physical but not in the spiritual. A servant that could see in the physical but not in the spiritual. An army that could see in the physical but not in the spiritual (but had the physical removed also). A king that could see something in the physical that the spiritual would keep at bay.
At the end of it all is a prophet of God that sees in the spiritual and is not affected at all by what is seen in the physical.
This same theme echoes here in Psalm 11. David is advised by his friends to flee like a bird because “the wicked are bending their bows” . The advice comes from what seems practical, wise, and safe in the natural sense.
But David sees something they don’t:
Psalm 11:1 In YHVH I find refuge. So how can you say to me, “Flee like a bird to the mountains?”
David’s confidence doesn’t rest in visible circumstances or the threat of the enemy—it rests in the unseen security of God’s rule:
Psalm 11:4 YHVH is in his holy temple. YHVH, his throne is in heaven. His eyes see and test humankind.
He refuses to follow advice rooted in fear, because faith sees differently. Like Elisha, David walks in the reality of God’s sovereignty, not man’s panic.
Our problems aren’t always a lack of intelligence—it’s a lack of spiritual insight. Elisha’s servant and David’s friends saw only what the world could interpret. Their advice was reasonable, but it wasn’t faithful.
God’s people must be careful not to confuse worldly wisdom with spiritual truth. What seems wise in man’s eyes may actually reveal a lack of trust in God.
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way of death.
Elisha didn’t just see differently—he prayed that his servant would see too. We need that kind of prayer today:
“YHVH, open our eyes.”
Open our eyes to the protection we can’t see. Open our eyes to the kingdom that cannot be shaken. Open our eyes to the truth that fear tries to silence.
God is always at work -- even when we can’t see it. The question is: What eyes are you using to look at your situation?
The next time fear tries to speak through a well-meaning friend or your own inner voice, remember Elisha. Remember David. The voices around you may be urging retreat, but the presence of God surrounding you is urging faith.
You are not alone. You are not unprotected. You are not defeated.
You just need your eyes opened.