9 The king was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted
Sometimes our hasty decisions can get us in a bind. We make a decision on the spur of a moment, or in the middle of an emotional whirlwind, and then when cooler heads prevail, we realize what a big mistake that decision was. In our text King Herod is throwing a big party. In his excitement he has promised the daughter of his second wife whatever she wants if she will dance for him and his guests. She dances. You can tell if you are getting into one of those situations that you will regret when the price is out of proportion to the product. Used car salesmen make their profit on this fact. Emotion clouds your ability to think clearly. Get the emotions heightened and it is easier to persuade people to part with their money. Most States have laws that allow you to return a purchase within a certain time period if you want to. Those laws recognize the fact that emotional decisions are sometimes the wrong decision. Herod gets himself stuck with just such a decision. He does not want to lose face before his guests. He also does not want to kill John the Baptist whom he fears. The correct thing to do would be to back out of the decision, to admit the error in judgment. But that is very difficult for many of us to do. Pride is a large pill to swallow. But I have found the more often it gets swallowed, the easier it is to go down. Herod’s pride prevented him from doing the right thing. He had a reputation to uphold, after all. He was the King. He could not be seen to waver in such a small matter, or his authority might be questioned in many other areas. If we find ourselves in a bind like this, admit our mistake, swallow hard, and do the right thing. There will be a few disgruntled people, but in the long run, you will be much better off when you do the right thing.
The Arnold Journey 