But I Can Hear the Sheep

1 Samuel 15:10 - 16 (RSV) ¹⁰The word of the LORD came to Samuel:  ¹¹“I repent that I have made Saul king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry; and he cried to the LORD all night.  ¹²And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.”  ¹³And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD; I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”  ¹⁴And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”  ¹⁵Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”  ¹⁶Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Say on.”

There is a great line in one of the Marx Brother’s movie (Duck Soup)

Mrs. Teasdale: Your Excellency, I thought you'd left!
Chicolini: Oh no, I no leave.
Mrs. Teasdale: But I saw you with my own eyes!
Chicolini: Well, who you gonna believe, me or your own eyes?

Within a family, a congregation, a friendships or marriages deception abounds. Sometimes you wonder if a relationship could survive a full disclosure of the truth. I think it is possible that all relationships, even relatively healthy ones have a measure of dishonesty. This is true especially if we consider any fact that is withheld as a deception. “How much did we pay for the couch?” “Do you really want to know?” “Lie to me.” “$500” “Good price.” Some folks respect the truth so much they really don’t want to wear it out through over use.

In the above story, King Saul is caught in a lie by Samuel, the prophetic priest. When you read this passage did you notice that Samuel is angry when he learned from God that Saul has disqualified himself and God will no longer recognize him as the king? Samuel has a sleepless night. Saul was a liar and an egoist – the two are often twin character flaws. Samuel catches Saul in a lie when the livestock Saul was commanded to destroy were making animal noises even while Saul is insisting they were dead.

If you want to become a man or woman of integrity and desire to be always truthful, I would suggest you begin with God. Tell the whole truth about your life, including exactly what you paid for that couch, or golf clubs, or shotgun, or whatever.

It is an awful hour when the first necessity of hiding anything comes. The whole life is different thenceforth. When there are questions to be feared and eyes to be avoided and subjects that must not be touched, then the bloom of life is gone.

Phillips Brooks (1835–1893)

Faces we see, hearts we know not.

Spanish Proverb

Half the work that is done in the world is to make things appear what they are not.

E. R. Beadle (1812–1879)

O what may a man within him hide,

Though angel on the outward side!

William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

When a rogue kisses you, count your teeth.

Hebrew Proverb

You k’n hide de fier, but what you guine do wid de smoke? [You can hide the fire, but what are you going to do with the smoke?]

Joel Chandler Harris (1848–1908)