Leaders must surround themselves with followers who will speak the truth.   #daybydaylw   Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org!   ~~~   Here in 2 Samuel 14, David is duped by a well-dramatized woman. We are told that Joab employed a “wise” woman from Tekoa. This word “wise” is the same word used in chapter 13 to describe Jonadab as “crafty.” And it is not hard to see that Joab is employing the same cunning as did Nathan when Nathan confronted David’s sin against Bathsheba, Uriah, and Israel, which invites us to compare these two confrontations. When Nathan confronts David, Nathan is sent by God, and the goal is repentance and forgiveness. But when this actress weaves her tale in front of David, she is sent by Joab, who has put words in her mouth in order to change the course of things. What is left unsaid are the intentions and motivations of Joab. Nathan tells a story that so enrages David that he thinks it is real. The woman pretends to tell a true story that David eventually sniffs out as the ploy of Joab. Nathan’s story paralleled David’s offense. But the woman’s story did not parallel David’s current situation. It is obvious she is trying to make a comparison, but in her story, it is not murder but rather manslaughter that is the offense. And probably most telling, in Nathan’s confrontation, David’s conscience is pricked and set against his feelings. But in the woman’s story, it is the appeal to David’s feelings as a father that are set against his conscience being captive to God’s word. In Nathan’s story, Nathan uses bold truth to confront David saying, “You have despised the word of the LORD,”, but in the scene before us today, the woman uses flattery, saying two different times, “You are like an angel of God to discern good and evil, and you have the wisdom to know all things that are on the earth.” Proverbs 29:5 “A man who flatters his neighbor sets a net for his feet.” No one is speaking truth to David in these days, and David is not inquiring of the Lord. Nine times we read of David inquiring of the Lord in 1-2 Samuel. But he hasn’t done so anywhere in these episodes that we are aware of, and he won’t do it again until chapter 21. No one is around David at this point, at least from our vantage point, who is willing to confront David’s passiveness and adherence to the worldly craftiness and flattery that is around him. No one is near him to point out his missteps. As a leader, you must surround yourself with people who will speak truth to you, and do so, not only for your sake, but for the sake of those whom you are leading. Men, husbands, fathers, with whom are you surrounding yourselves? Are they speaking biblical truth to you? Are you speaking biblical truth to them? Or are the words you are bouncing back and forth to one another simply the latest jargon of the day—“It is what it is.” Ladies, wives, moms, do you lead with the sword of the Spirit readily accessible on your tongue, or is your counsel filled with, “In my experience,” or “What I think is..” Im not sure anyone needs to care about what you think or what your experience is. What they need is God’s guidance and wisdom, and how that has played out in your life, what happens when you wander from it, and what happens when you adhere to it.