Speak Well of Others

# 267 - Today's Du-votional comes from: 1Sa 19:4-6 “Thus Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, "Let not the king sin against his servant, against David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his works have been very good toward you. 5 "For he took his life in his hands and killed the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great deliverance for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, to kill David without a cause?" 6 So Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan, and Saul swore, "As the LORD lives, he shall not be killed." Saul has ordered his servants and Jonathan to kill David on sight. Jonathan rightly defies the king's order because it is against the Law of God. “Thou shalt not kill.” It is as Peter stated in Ac 5:29, "We ought to obey God rather than men.” As I read this, I cannot help but turn to the Lutheran catechism and Martin Luther's explanation of the commandments. He says concerning the commandment “Thou shalt not kill. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do our neighbor no bodily harm nor cause him any suffering, but help and befriend him in every need. Then later he addresses the commandment “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not deceitfully lie about, betray, backbite, nor slander our neighbor but defend him, speak well of him, and put the most charitable construction on all that he does. This is exactly what Jonathon did for David. And in so doing he softened Saul's heart of hatred against David. Maybe you can do the same today. Maybe you can stand in the gap today when you run into incidents of gossip or verbal bullying. Defend your neighbor! Speak well of him, and look for positive loving things you can say about him. This is pleasing to God. Father, give us the courage of Jonathan and help us to build others up, rather than to tear them down.