FRIDAY August 16, 2019
Craftiness
And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.”
1 Samuel 23:21-22
Saul blessed the traitorous Ziphites for being compassionate towards him and for their willingness to help catch David. He told them David was a crafty person. That was such a lie! Saul was the one who was crafty––not David!
Craftiness is such a bad characteristic to have in a person’s life. In fact, Satan, through the serpent in Genesis 3:1 NIV, is described as being crafty. He was crafty in his dealings with Eve in the garden of Eden. By questioning the Word of God, he tempted her to sin against God:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
God’s people are protected by Him. They are His precious ones. Psalm 83:1-3 TLB, is a prayer to frustrate the crafty conspiracy against Israel:
O God, don’t sit idly by, silent and inactive when we pray. Answer us! Deliver us! Don’t you hear the tumult and commotion of your enemies? Don’t you see what they are doing, these proud men who hate the Lord? They are full of craftiness and plot against your people, laying plans to slay your precious ones.
Jacob used craftiness when he took his brother’s birthright, and Esau hated his brother because of it (Genesis 27:35, 41). It might be tempting to be crafty, but remember who you are imitating––Satan!
A person who has a quick temper does foolish things, and a person with crafty schemes is hated.
~Proverbs 14:17~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!