Living A Lie

1 Samuel 27:10-12 “Then Achish would say, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David would say, “Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of the Kenites.” David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, “Lest they should inform on us, saying, ‘Thus David did.’” And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

A motto to live by: "You don't have to remember what you've said if you've told the truth."

Everybody has told a lie at one time or another in their lifetime. Lying starts at around age 4 to 5 when children gain an awareness of the use and power of language.  This first lying is not malicious, but rather to find out, or test, what can manipulated in a child’s environment. Eventually children begin to use lying to get out of trouble or get something they want. White lies, those concocted to protect someone’s feelings, are not a big deal at all to them or to many adults for that matter. 

Liars usually are lumped into two categories. A pathological liar is a person who seems to feel compelled to lie about both the small and large stuff. They lie to protect themselves, look good, gain financially or socially and to avoid punishment.  Quite often the person who has been deceived knows that this type of liar has to a certain extent deluded him or herself and is therefore to be somewhat pitied. A sociopath is a part of a much more troubling group who knowingly lie a lot for personal gain. These people may have a diagnosis called antisocial personality disorder and often get into scrapes with the law. Lying often gets worse with the passage of time. When you get away with a lie it often impels you to continue your deceptions. Also, liars often find themselves perpetrating more untruths to cover themselves. 

Why do we dislike liars, especially sociopaths, so much? It’s a matter of trust.  When a person lies, they have broken a bond, an unspoken agreement to treat others as we would like to be treated.  Serious deception often makes it impossible for us to trust another person again. Because the issue of trust is on the line, coming clean about the lie as soon as possible is the best way to mend fences.  If the truth only comes out once it is forced, repair of trust is far less likely.

You wouldn’t think that David could go any lower or get any farther from God, but he does. He begins to use lying as the means to cover his tracks and justify his behavior.

(1) He lied to gain the enemy’s favor.

When Achish would ask of David the territory he had raided on that particular day David would answer, “Against the southern area of Judah.” David didn’t lie to Achish because he was ashamed of what he did. He lied to gain favor with Achish. He knew that this Philistine leader would be pleased to hear that David raided his own people of Israel.

 

(2) He covered his lie by taking no prisoners.

David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath and tell the truth to Achish about his raids. In his raids, David killed all the men and the women, so his lie to Achish would not be exposed.

 

Much later in his life, David has a far more notorious season of sin with Bathsheba, and ends up killing Bathsheba’s husband Uriah to cover his sin. Though that later event is far more famous, the root of sin that nourished it began way back in 1 Samuel 27. Here, many years before David killed Uriah to cover his sin, he kills these men and women in his raids to cover his sin. The roots of sin must be dealt with or they come back with greater strength.

 

(3) His lies accomplished what he desired at the time-a place of escape.

The Bible says, “So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.” Achish felt he was in a good place. David was trapped in a web, and Achish was the spider. Achish believed that David had burned all his bridges with the people of God. On the other hand, David felt that he had found a place of escape from reality by living in this fantasy world that he had created. As long as Achish felt David was no threat to him, David could hide away from the reality that was life. However, no matter how fall he had fallen David had not - and could not - burn his bridge with God.

 

(4) However, a lie will come home to roost.

1 Samuel 28:1, 2 “Now it happened in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for war, to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.” And David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.” And Achish said to David, “Therefore I will make you one of my chief guardians forever.”

 

Achish said to David, “You assuredly know that you will go out with me to battle, you and your men.” David had lied to Achish, telling him that he raided the people of Israel. But now, David is forced to live the lie he gave to Achish. David said to Achish, “Surely you know what your servant can do.” Here, David seems completely surrendered to the ungodly Achish. He will fight for the Philistines, against Israel! We might wish that David was really operating as a “double agent,” and he planned to turn on the Philistines in the midst of battle. But the text gives us no reason for such an optimistic perspective. David has come to a very low place.

 

(5) We all have to face the truth about our spiritual condition.

I want to remind you again to remember the roots of David’s condition. It was when he experienced a genuine crisis of faith that he turned away from God and back to himself. When David started trusting more in what he said in his heart than in what God said to him is when he turned to the dark side. David really believed that living a lie made him safer with the world than he was with God.

 

To some degree, most every Christian at some point has almost been where David is at in this back sliding state. We can understand what David is doing and even attempt to justify it; but it is still wrong and very dangerous.

 

Could this really be the man after God’s own heart? 

Being a man or a woman after God’s own heart doesn’t mean that you will never sin, do wrong, or make a mistake. It does mean that when you do sin, you come to see it, deal with it and then move on. The Bible is honest enough to show is that even its heroes did not go just from one level of glory to the next. But this account of David was given for our instruction, so that we might avoid some of the traps he fell into.

 

God did not bless David where he was at this time in his life. However, because of His mercy, God didn’t take away David’s calling or destiny to be the next king of Israel. God gave to David some of the same mercy that David showed to Saul.

 

If you lie all the time, even about unimportant things, you are likely to have a problem that will eventually, if it hasn’t already, cause you real relationship, financial or legal troubles. Figuring out what is driving you to lie in the first place will help heal this self-destructive behavior. You can’t live a lie and be happy, but the Truth (Jesus) can and will set you free.