SOMETIMES WE CAN SEE THROUGH PEOPLE

PROCLAMATION

“Then the king answered and said unto the woman, ‘Hide not from me, I pray thee, the thing that I shall ask of thee.’ … And the king said, ‘Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this?’  And the woman answered and said, ‘… thy servant Joab, he bade me, and he put all these words in the mouth of thine handmaid …’ ”  2 Samuel 14:18-19 (KJV) 

 

EXPLANATION

These words were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God after the death of the prophet Samuel by Nathan the prophet and Gad the seer.  After he had his brother Amnon killed for raping his sister, Absalom fled and went to Geshur, because his mother was the daughter of the king of Geshur, and he stayed there for three years. (2 Samuel 13:37-38)  Then Joab, who was the captain of the army under King David, perceived that David’s heart was soft for Absalom (2 Samuel 14:1) and sent for a wise woman from Tekoah.  Joab told her to pretend that she was in mourning and told her what to say to King David. (2 Samuel 14:2-3)  The woman did as Joab had told her to do.  She faked the whole story in order to make a point to the king.  Near the end of her discourse she told David that she was referring to him and that he had judged and convicted himself by not bringing back his banished son. (2 Samuel 14:13-17)  It was then that David saw through her and knew that Joab was involved in this with her, and he confronted her about his involvement. (2 Samuel 14:18-19)  Then David sent Joab to get Absalom and bring him to Jerusalem, but he was to go and stay in his own house which he did for two years before coming face to face with David. (2 Samuel 14:21-33) 

 

APPLICATION

Some people are very good at lying, and are such good actors, that they can put on an academy award winning performance and really deceive people.  However, if we listen to and observe most people, their spoken words and their behavior will allow themselves to be read like an open book.  The ability to discern the motives of people is a gift from God which all of us have not been blessed to receive. (1 Corinthians 12:10)  There is an old saying, “If you give a person enough rope, they will hang themselves.” (Author Unknown)  We need to learn to listen to people but not necessarily believe everything that they say.  We also need to pray to God for discernment so that we can distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve The Lord God and those who do not, so that we do not fall victim to those who seek to deceive us.