Have you ever felt like God just stopped interfering, leaving you to make your own mistakes? There’s a profound, sobering truth about this experience in Psalm 81.

When the Psalmist says, 'So I gave them up,' it's not about God abandoning His people out of neglect. It's a divine judgment. Because they repeatedly rejected His voice and His guidance, God withdrew His restraining grace.

This Means:

• Leaving them to themselves: God allows them to follow the desires of their own hearts, which have grown stubborn and perverse.
• Unfettered consequence: Without God’s guiding hand and protective presence, their choices lead to disaster. It’s a severe form of discipline, letting sin’s natural consequences play out unchecked.
• Not abandoning, but judging: This isn't a sign of God’s indifference, but of His justice when persistent rebellion makes further intervention futile.

We often trust our own 'wisdom' and 'plans.' But what happens when those plans are rooted in a heart that’s gone astray?

The phrase 'to follow their own counsels' is a stark warning. Our 'counsels' are our own plans, decisions, and wisdom. When God gives us up to them, it means we are left to rely solely on our fallen human understanding.

What 'Own Counsels' Look Like:

• Stubbornness: The 'counsels' are born from a 'stubborn heart' – a heart that twists away from God’s truth and refuses to be corrected.
• Self-Deception: We become convinced our way is right, even when it leads us into sin and away from God's will.
• Inevitable Ruin: Without divine wisdom, our 'best' plans are ultimately foolish and lead to destruction, as they are not aligned with God's perfect will.