Wednesday – History

Reading – 1 Samuel 21-22

Highlight Verses:

“David heard these comments and was very afraid of what King Achish of Gath might do to him. So he pretended to be insane, scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.”
‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭21‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

They say the truth is stranger than fiction.

Quite frankly, I can’t imagine someone making this up. But I’ve written about the unflattering stories of the Bible being evidence of its veracity before.

The question that rises for for today is, is it okay to lie?

Some would point to this passage and say that if David lied, it must be okay to lie when it is expedient to.

Before we jump to that conclusion, I should point out that David was not God. His actions should not be used to define what is or isn’t sin.

Don’t forget there is a commandment against lying.

You could argue that the commandment speaks of “bearing witness” implying a legal context.

But then, there’s Proverbs 12:22 stating that lying lips are an “abomination” to God. That’s pretty strong language.

That begs the question, what would I have done in David’s place?

Hopefully, I would have the foresight to stay away from Achish.

But if David messed up like that, I probably would too.

In which case I would probably lie, knowing that to be a necessary compromise to ensure that I would be around to continue what God had called me to do.

Would it be sin? Maybe. If so, Jesus already paid the price for it.

Yes, we should not go willingly into sin, but I don’t think that qualifies as willful sin.

What do you think? Is lying always sin? Why or why not?