Truth should be accompanied with wisdom

If it was up for a debate on whether to always say the truth or not, I believe that the fiercest proposal of the motion would come from a religious standpoint. For that reason, I want to give this post some form of religious leaning.

Source
In the Bible, the first of King of Israel; Saul, got power drunk. It was evidence in his frequent refusal to adhere to the precept of God, who instructed Prophet Samuel to ordain him a king over God's people; Israel.

It is recorded that the children of Israel were to be led by God himself through his holy Prophets, but they didn't want that, they envied other nations of the earth and thereby wanted to have a king for themselves, just as other nations.

God warned them against it, but eventually granted their request by asking Prophet Samuel to ordain Saul as a king over them.

Saul did well at first, but soon became ruthless in his dealings. He didn't regard the instructions and the ordinances of the Lord his God.

To say the least, he fell out of favour with the Lord. God found another man; David the son of Jesse, who according to the Bible was to fulfil God's purpose. He therefore sent the same Prophet; Samuel, to go to the house of Jesse and ordain David as a new king over Israel.

Prophet Samuel being aware of the ruthlessness of King Saul, knew that Saul will waste no time smiting him with the edge of the sword, if he ever learned of his quest to anoint a new king in his stead. The prophet told God that Saul will kill him if he ever finds out that he wants to go and anoint another king. He asked God of what to tell Saul if the king confronts him.

Many would expect the holy God to tell Prophet Samuel to tell Saul the truth and damn the consequences. Such an instruction would not only have been uncharitable to the faithful prophet; Samuel, it would also have thwarted God's quest of bringing on board a man who will fulfil his purpose. Infact the lives of the children of Jesse would have also been endangered.

God in his wisdom, rather told Samuel to tell Saul that he's going to Jesse's house to offer sacrifices.

Did God just ask Samuel to lie?

I wouldn't say that, but Samuel didn't disclose his plan to Saul. He adhered to God's instructions because his life and that of others would have been destroyed if he had done otherwise.

I believe that the biggest evil is damaging people's lives. And the greatest good is protecting the lives of people.

Similar scenarios abound in the Bible. Worthy of mention is the honourable mention of a harlot among the patriarch and matriarch of faith by the writer of the book of Hebrews. The harlot; Rahab is commended for hiding the spies who had come to spy on the country she lived in. She denied seeing the spies when she was confronted by soldiers who sought after the spies to kill.

She is commended for holding back a truth that would have led to the death of those messengers.

Whatever has the potential of causing mayhem to people can not be good. If disclosing the right information would lead to destruction of lives, discretion should be employed.

Discretion is not evil. Evil has more to do with intents.

Discretion is holding back some information.

There are times you have to hold back truthful information just so that people are not hurt. Truth will become evil if it leads to the destruction of innocent lives.

I have a seen a mother who died on the spot, when she learned of the death of her only daughter.

Can you see how truth led to someone's death?

Truth shouldn't exist alone. Other underlying factors must come to play.

It is not enough to say the truth; how it is said, when it is said and for what reason it is being said is also as important as the truth itself.

A truth that is lacking in wisdom might cause more evil than a lie.

Wisdom needs to be applied in everything.

Many times evil do dress itself up as good. It can come in guise of a truth, but the intent is only to cause destruction.

That is why we should not be one sided in our judgement.

Before concluding a matter as either good or bad, a wholesome appraisal from all perspective has to be done.

I spoke earlier of a mother who died from hearing the truth. Was I instigating that she should have been lied to?

I don't have a yes or no answer for you. The scenario below would be helpful.

I know of another lady who also lost her only daughter. Those of us that were privy to the news went to the lady and use her faith to strengthen her for weeks, while denying every news that hinted on the decease of her daughter. We kept at it until we sensed that she could live with the truth, we then disclosed it to her, and she was able to take the news in good faith. If the news was disclosed to her brashly, what would have become her can only be imagined.

Can you see how the truth was eventually told, but with much wisdom?

I promised @merit.ahama to make a post along a line of discussion she raised.

She described a scenario where couples had a lot of hassles in their marriage,and decided to settle for a divorce, but one of them opined that they put on good show and act as though all is well for the sake of their lovely kid.

The deliberation was on whether they should disclose the affairs of things to their little child or keep acting as though all is well.

Issues of this nature is easy for me; if truth must be said, it should be said with much wisdom, if not it might be more damaging than a lie.