1 Samuel 15:1-26, Truthfulness vs. deception (2)

In our last post we were talking about some lies by King Saul.  He lied, saying he did God’s will when he didn’t do all that God said.  He lied blaming the people for his disobedience; Saul was king and could require the people to follow the LORD.  Then in 1 Sam. 15:24 he lied, making a confession of sin that he again blamed on the people and his fear of them.  In v30 he finally comes to the truth: I have sinned, yet honor me now.  Likely most of our lies are an attempt to maintain honor for ourselves when we have done things that bring shame upon us.

b)    1 Sam. 27 and 29 give us opportunity to talking about lies in the life of David.  For example, in 27:8-12, was David sinning when he lies to the King of Gath about his exploits in Southern Judah?  What about the spies Joshua sent into Jericho (Josh. 2)?  The entire nature of a “spy” is that he lies.  My tendency is to say that these are not lies because the people involved have complete integrity in their hearts.  They are serving the LORD.  But having said that, in the case of David we should note: his lies to Achish got him into a tight situation where he was about to go to war with the Philistines against Israel.  This is a worthwhile discussion, to a point, but should not take away from our study.  Part of the sinfulness of lying is that we justify ourselves, saying we are doing this for our own good or the good of others. 

5)    Bible Study.

There are just a couple of areas we want to pursue on this subject: different kinds of lies and the long term benefits of honesty.

a)    What are some common types of lies we tell?

i)      Prov. 26:28: flattery.  We go overboard in our compliments of others.  Why do we do that?  It is for our own benefit.  We want them to overlook our faults too, so we ignore faults that might need to be reproved and just tell lies about people to make them feel good.  Read 1 Thess. 2:1-7 and you will see that this is a problem in the Body of Christ.  Our time spent at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem showed us this.  Various ministries would come stand in front of the empty tomb and make their appeals for money.  Usually I was at least somewhat familiar with these ministries and often had concerns that they were flattering themselves with their backdrop, making themselves look like something great.  There were occasions, it seemed to me, that they were using “flattering words” as a “cloak for covetousness,” something Paul did not do (1 Th. 2:5).

ii)   Prov. 3:11-12: In the home, what about lies we tell in discipline of children (or in society).  We tell them there will be certain consequences for bad behavior, and then do not have the will to follow through when it is appropriate.  In the home and in society that leads to increased rebellion.  In reproof, love tells the truth.