Devotional: Speaking the Truth

Speaking the Truth

by Marsha Iddings

1 Kings 22:13-14 And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.

Earlier in the chapter we see this. “And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.” ( 1 Kings 22:7-8) The king of Israel hated Micaiah because he spoke the truth.

I like Micaiah. He wasn't one to cave into peer pressure. The king wanted to hear good news from the mouth of Micaiah. Four hundred other prophets had told the king what he wanted to hear and so the pressure was on for Micaiah to conform. But he didn't.

We see in 1 Kings 22:24,27 what speaking the truth got Micaiah. “But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?...And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.”

We don't know what happened to Micaiah after that. Scripture doesn't tell us. But we are commanded in Scripture to speak the truth in love. Ephesians 4:14-15 says, “...That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”

We are fast approaching the day (and may even be there already) when speaking the truth of God's Word could land us in court or even jail. I often wonder to myself, “Will I be like Micaiah and speak the truth even though I know it could result in persecution for my faith? Would I cave in and follow the crowd just to save my skin?

I pray that an army of Micaiah's would be raised up in our nation to make a difference by speaking the truth in love.