I Samuel 20:22
“But if I say to the youth, ‘Behold, the arrows are beyond you,’ go, because the LORD has sent you away.”
Jonathon explains a secretive plan of how he will communicate to David if he is in danger. Some may have a problem with this as they aren't being open and honest with Saul. I have a couple of thoughts about this.
Jesus says we are to be "innocent as doves, but wise serpents", (Matthew 10:16b). Proverbs 26:5 says, "Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves, So that he will not be wise in his own eyes." Saul is in disobedience and is acting sinfully in trying to kill David. He isn't to be trusted.
Jesus wasn't open with some of the pharisees. Here's a dialogue from Luke 20:4-8, Jesus asked the pharisees' "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?” They discussed among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Why did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘From men,’ all the people will stone us to death, since they are convinced that John was a prophet.” And so they answered that they did not know where it came from. And Jesus said to them, “Neither am I telling you by what authority I do these things.” They were not open with Jesus, so He wasn't with them. They also weren't to be trusted.
Corrie ten Boom was a European young lady whose family hid Jews from the Nazis. She was comfortable in lying to them as they enterigated. They were evil seeking to do evil. They weren't to be trusted.
Some communications we are involved in can get complicated. If the one has evil intentions we may need to be guarded or limited in our speech. Jonathon used this plan in today's verse to communicate secretly to David. It was meant to see if Saul was to be trusted.
The devil tried to use scripture to trick Jesus. He saw that he used it in the wrong way, so He responded with scripture. In Luke 4:9-13, 'And he brought Him into Jerusalem and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here; for it is written: ‘HE WILL GIVE HIS ANGELS ORDERS CONCERNING YOU, TO PROTECTYOU,’ and, ‘ON THEIR HANDS THEY WILL LIFT YOU UP,
SO THAT YOU DO NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.’” And Jesus answered and said to him, “It has been stated, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’”
And so when the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.’ Satan wasn’t to be trusted. Everything from him is a lie. Even when he uses scripture, it’s done in a sneaky way meant to mislead.
There are those who aren’t to be trusted. The bible calls them enemies. If they are human, we are still to love them, but to be suspicious of them.
Lord, help us to be wise in our speech. Give us wisdom as we come in contact with fools or those that seek to harm us.