“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.”
2 Samuel 1:19-20 (ESV)
Tell It Not!
In the digital world of social media, there exists a salacious desire to expose the failures and sins of those who once walked with God.
David, who had suffered tremendous persecution at the hands of Saul, nevertheless lamented his fall with great sorrow and brokenness of heart.
Moved by the Spirit of grace, he cried out:
“Tell it not!”
“Publish it not!”
WHY?
“…lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult.”
2 Samuel 1:20
It is a sad day when His people feel the “need” to publish the fall of God’s children for all to see. Whether they are overcome by greed, pride, or the lusts of this world, it is a tragedy that brings dishonor to the name of God.
“He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets,
But he who is faithful in spirit conceals a matter.”
Proverbs 11:13 (LSB)
May we, in the fear of the Lord, consider the judgment of God upon Ham, the son of Noah:
“And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.”
Genesis 9:22–23
God’s Judgment upon Slander
“And he said, Cursed be Canaan. He shall be a slave of slaves to his brothers. And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; and may Canaan be his slave. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall live in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be their slave.”
Genesis 9:25-27
The sanctified heart is disciplined in its seeing and its speaking. There is a constraint to walk carefully and circumspectly before God, who weighs all the works of men. The circumcised heart is freed from the lust of seeking and spreading the scandalous things of others.
The issue presented here was not the nakedness of Noah, but the response of his son Ham. There is something deep and wretched within the core of the unsanctified heart that delights in uncovering the sins of another.
“Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem”
“Is the scrupulous attention I am paying to the government of my tongue at all proportioned to that tremendous truth revealed through St. James, that if I do not bridle my tongue, all my religion is vain?”
— F. W. Faber.
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue
but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.”
James 1:26 (ESV)
Related Post: (please read) Letters to the Church – Words
Brian Troxel
Satan’s Trophy Case
I had a dream and subsequent vision where I was shown trophies in Satan’s trophy case. One being Solomon’s crown. Then I was shown what looked like a dimly lit bar with both men and women sitting at tables all drinking the same drink. I was told that these individuals were church leaders who had sinned and had subsequently lost their ministries. The drink that they all seemed to be drinking from had a name….hopelessness and despair. No doubt that Satan and his demons were gladly keeping the glasses of those seated at the tables filled with the lies that they would never again be used by the Lord hence the drink was aptly named hopelessness and despair. Though these individuals were rejected by their respective churches/ organizations, the Lord has not rejected them because He is a God of restoration and longs to see them strap on sword and engage the enemy in battle.
I got the word to plunder Satan’s trophy case and take back for the Lord what was stolen.
I hope that this dream/vision speaks to someone who reads this and that it would be known that the Lord Jesus Christ is merciful and compassionate and ready to restore those who humbly come to Him asking His forgiveness
https://tpuccio.wordpress.com/2022/12/16/satans-trophy-case/
Such a timely Word. I have a post coming out in the next few weeks that I will include this in (Redemption’s Power).
Blessings, my good brother!
BT