May 9

Written by Bill Grandi on May 9th, 2019

My title today is Speak Against or Speak For.

Have you noticed how easy it is to speak against someone? You’ve been done wrong. You’ve been attacked. You’ve been misrepresented. You’ve taken it on the chin. What to do? What to say?

I found an interesting tidbit today as I read in I Samuel 21.  First, the backdrop (I read it yesterday). Saul had threatened to kill David. Jonathan warned him by shooting arrows. David and Jonathan had made a covenant with each other and that covenant came into play here. David fled. Saul found out what Jonathan had done and 20:30-34 records the exchange. Saul called Jonathan a “son of perverse, rebellious woman” (wonder what that translates to in 2019?). He ends up throwing a spear at Jonathan. So much for fatherly love!!

Now to Chapter 21. David and his men are hungry so they go to Ahimelech, the priest, and ask for something to eat. The only thing there is the bread from the Table of Shewbread. But what interested me was David’s conversation with Ahimelech. Twice David would not speak against Saul.

First, David tells Ahimelech “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.'” [21:2] Second, David needed a weapon. No man of war leaves without his weapon but when asked where his was David said, “…because the king’s business required haste.” [21:8]

Twice David had the opportunity to speak against Saul but he didn’t. The backstory tells us why David fled. But instead of railing against Saul and seeking Abimelech’s sympathy and support, David covered over the real reason. He refused to speak against the king.

This is not a devotion on “Touch not the Lord’s anointed” and how we ought not say anything against the pastor. That is a bunch of nonsense. I have yet to meet one who is infallible. This is a devotion on how it is sometimes better to keep our mouth shut than to say anything against someone-friend or foe. Very often the best defense is that which is not said. Let me round it off with this verse from Psalm 49:20: “Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.” I’m inclined to believe we need to come down off our high-and-mighty judge’s chair and just keep quiet.  Let’s choose our words we say about others or for others wisely.

“Father, put a guard on my lips. Put a door over my mouth. In other words, help me to put a lid on it.If I don’t have something good to say, help me not to say it.”

 

10 Comments so far ↓

  1. Pam says:

    I need to have Psalm 141:3 written on the inside of my glasses.

    • Bill Grandi says:

      I need it too Pam. Maybe we can start an LLC with that in mind! J/k of course because it is no laughing matter. And that was the verse I was referencing in my prayer.

  2. Oh, man, is this convicting. Thanks, Bill. And I agree with Pam. I must now go before The LORD….

    • Bill Grandi says:

      i agree with Pam’s Scripture as well Diane. It is not a good thing to have to be reminded of.

  3. Ryan S. says:

    I recently had to provide a peer review on two co-workers. One was easy, the other not so much. I started by listing the positive traits and then provided a couple ares where there could be opportunities for improvement. David went above and beyond in protecting his King. By human standards and in 2019, it would have been on every social media outlet, in the newspapers and news channels, it would have in the tabloids and the radio broadcast.
    I think your prayer from Psalm is a better reaction. Thanks for reminding us of what is expected vs what society expects.

    • Bill Grandi says:

      Yeah, it is a good thing David did not have the social media debacle we have today. How much better to read it and learn in a “controlled” environment. 🙂

  4. Although I’d read this story many times, I never caught this, Bill. Thanks for enlightening us here, and reminding us that loose lips can, indeed, sink ships.
    Blessings!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      You’re welcome Martha. Never ceases to amaze me how God continues to teach old lessons and makes them new.

  5. floyd says:

    Excellent advice and lesson. So many of us demand to be heard in our pride. It’s humility that keeps us silent. May we attain more of it.

    • Bill Grandi says:

      Thanks Floyd. I agree about our pride getting in the way. My prayer, all of us, should be praying for more humility.