In my recent read through 1 Kings 21, in preparation to preach this coming Lord’s Day, I decided to get a better understanding on (evil) King Ahab’s condition.
- The last verse of chapter 20 says he “went to his house sullen and vexed.”
- In 1 Kings 21:4 he went “into his house sullen and vexed” again, for a second time.
- in 1 Kings 21:5 he was “so sullen” that he was not eating.
- Then in 1 Kings 21:27 he was described as being “despondent”.
Those are very descriptive words. They represent a condition of ones countenance. What brings on this kind of condition that one is described as being sullen, vexed and despondent?
I spent a few moments in the dictionary (one of my favorite books). American Dictionary of the English Language, Noah Webster 1828.
Sullen – 1) Gloomily, angry and silent; cross; sour; affected with ill humor. 2) Mischievous; malignant. 3) Obstinate; intractable. 4) Gloomy; dark; dismal. 5) Heavy; dull, sorrowful.
Vexed – Teased, provoked; irritated; troubled; agitated; disquieted; afflicted
Despondent – Loosing courage at the loss of hope; sinking into dejection; depressed and inactive in despair.
These words can describe many conditions of the heart. But one of the most obvious is that these words are describing a covetous condition. Think of it… is there a better way to examine your disposition of being sullen, vexed, and despondent than to consider what’s causing it?
Have you ever wanted something so much and unable to get it that it influenced you toward being sullen, vexed or despondent?
How about when you get that thing you wanted the wrong way? The result on the soul is sullen, vexed and despondent.
There is a good news waiting for the conscience that is sullen, vexed and despondent.
Repent of provoking God to anger. Your covetous ways are a sin against God by not trusting him to provide in a timely way that gives glory to him or by not trusting him to withhold a certain thing because that which you want is a sin.
Repent of causing others to sin in your sinful pursuit of that thing you have no legal right to have in an immoral or illegal way.
Ask that God would accept you as a candidate for His grace. You will find, as he draws you to himself, he is able to heal your covetous ways and the sullen, vexed and despondent condition you are in as a result of your pursuit of that which God forbids.
Hear this reader. Covetousness cannot be cured with an antidepressant. Examine your condition. If covetousness is found in your search, take heart; there is hope for your sinful condition. Repent of the sin of coveting that which is not yours and trust the God of the Bible to remove that sullen, vexed, despondent condition and trust him to show you his glory and provide what is best for you. Go, go now, with the lamp of Scripture, searching with truth to liberate you from covetous lies.
Covetous can certainly lead one to those conditions, but so can other sins.
I have not studied this text, Paul, but your conclusion that it is likely, “. . . these words are describing a covetous condition” seems a pretty tall leap of logic. I agree they could be, based on the English translation, but even there, there could well be other explanations. It almost sounds to me like clinical depression. Or it could be that Ahab was wrestling with God, knowing that he was mired deeply in sin, and was so “vexed” because he knew his choices and God’s will were so far apart. What is the Hebrew word used, and how… Read more »
John,
I don’t discount that there may have been something clinical going on with Ahab. Is it out of bounds, or biblically illogical, to start with a sin issue rather than a psychological or chemical?
Ahab clearly wrestles with his sin as the conclusion of that chapter shows. Can someone avoid repentance to the point of clinical depression? I can see that. When an antidepressant is the sought out cure for sin I think we don’t help anyone.
You ask, “Is it out of bounds, or biblically illogical, to start with a sin issue rather than a psychological or chemical?” Seems to me the place to begin is with a search for, or at least openness to the truth, and not with a presupposition of what caused it. That is why I suggest you had made a leap of logic: your conclusion is a possibility, but why is it either more likely than other possibilities, or the only possibility? And while Ahab had plenty of sin to go around, why covetousness instead of something else? That is why… Read more »