ESOCS Devotional 13 November 2025 -The Tragedy of Deception
MEMORY VERSE: “And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed.” 2nd Samuel 1:16 KJV
TEXT: : 2 SAMUEL 1:1-27
Now it came to pass after the death of Saul, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites, and David had abode two days in Ziklag;
2 It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from Saul with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to David, that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance.
3 And David said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped.
4 And David said unto him, How went the matter? I pray thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and dead; and Saul and Jonathan his son are dead also.
5 And David said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son be dead?
6 And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon mount Gilboa, behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him.
7 And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I.
8 And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an Amalekite.
9 He said unto me again, Stand, I pray thee, upon me, and slay me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me.
10 So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the crown that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my lord.
11 Then David took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him:
12 And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword.
13 And David said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a stranger, an Amalekite.
14 And David said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?
15 And David called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he died.
16 And David said unto him, Thy blood be upon thy head; for thy mouth hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain the Lord’s anointed.
17 And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son:
18 (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, it is written in the book of Jasher.)
19 The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy high places: how are the mighty fallen!
20 Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
21 Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain, upon you, nor fields of offerings: for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil.
22 From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
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We live in a highly deceptive society, parents deceiving children, children deceiving parents, husbands deceiving their wives and wives taking their own shot. Leaders deceiving the citizens and the citizens reciprocating same. Ironically, the church is not exempted, Pastors deceiving their members, and members showing their deceptive colours to the church leadership.
Unfortunately, no matter how strategic and professional our deception skills has become, we cannot deceive God. Yes! No one can deceive God; and “Be not deceived; God is not mocked:…” (Gal. 6:7). Many times, the way we carry ourselves even in the church, we blindly assume that we can deceive God but it is not Possible.
An Amalekite who knew nothing about the death of King Saul, probably he was told the story or something, decided to be the first news broadcaster and wonderfully painted the story with boldness before king David. Surely the intention was to be favoured and handsomely rewarded by the king. But the reverse became the case for him. Instead of blessing, he was greeted with curse and destruction. The ground that was supposed to favour him, rejected and swallowed him in death.
Beloved, stop the deception in order to buy favour from leaders and authorities. Those who steal people’s idea and vision and run ahead to present it as though it was their original concept; all those who collect peoples hard earned project and forward it secretly in their name without giving credit to the owner; and what about those who speak against their fellow brother before authorities because they want favour above others: all of such people are guilty.
Be careful and stop your deception because the tragedy will be devastating, I am sure the Amalekite never bargained for what he saw. That is what you get when you live in deception.
- God does not bless a lie, stop deceiving people
- What you don’t know, don’t talk about, so you don’t put yourself in trouble
- Always promote the truth before leadership
- Father, thank you for the exposition, forgive my days of deceptive lifestyle and grant me the grace to henceforth live in truth in Jesus Name. Amen
Further Reading: Proverbs 16:16-32; 1 Corinthians 15:50-end
ESOCS Devotional 13 November 2025
