I Samuel 14:39
‘“For as the LORD lives, who delivers Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not one of all the people answered him.’
Saul has a problem. He wants to counter attack the enemy, but wants God’s blessing. However God is silent. This happens when there is sin in the camp. This is uncomfortable for the people. Most understood the problem. It was all in Saul’s house. Saul was their king and they were patient with him.
This problem was a blind spot for Saul. He couldn’t be more unaware. Yet his actions hurt the people, as his oath to fast during the battle greatly limited their success. It also hurt Jonathon, as he wasn’t present during the oath. He ate some honey that he stumbled upon. Thus breaking the oath. Some saw this and made Jonathon aware. His response was about his father’s oath hurting their efforts. Now God was quiet because Jonathon acted contrary to the oath.
This was a great deal of drama. It was almost like actors on stage. The audience saw it all, but the characters were ignorant. That was Saul. It was coming down around him and he was the reason. Here he is making these extreme proclamations, “even if it’s Jonathon, he will die.” The people must have been embarrassed for him.
How do we deal with others and their blindspots? The people didn’t tell Saul. Do we speak up with others? It depends. Most don’t want advise. Proverbs 9:8 says, “Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.” We are to bring it up with some, but not others. Here’s another proverb on the same topic, “Like one who takes a dog by the ears Is he who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him”, (26:17). Grab a random dog by the ear and we’ll get bit. Many issues that we observe aren’t our business. It’s best to stay out of it.
This reminds me of how we interact with our children. Sometimes we bring things up, but most of the time they need to learn things on their own. We usually learn this by experience. We may speak, but it’s dismissed. We’ve just grabbed the dogs ear, we’ve been bit and nothing is changed.
The first proverb speaks of enlightening the wise and they’ll love you. There are times to speak. We often won’t know if it worked. So, it’s a gamble. We usually don’t speak, but on occasion we do. It’s a good idea to pray about this. “Lord, I sense this might be a good time to speak. If so, give me the courage and the words. If not, interrupt my plans.” A wise person will love us, even if it wasn’t perfect. A wise person sees the caring motive.
Lord, help us to be wise and speak when necessary and to keep quiet when not. Thank You that You see our hearts. Help us to grow in wisdom to know when to talk.