Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, but those who act faithfully are his delight. Proverbs 12:22 ESV
The Bible makes it very clear that God does not tolerate lying. Proverbs 19:9 says, “A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will perish.” Psalm 101:7 says, “No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes.” Proverbs 12:19 says, “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”
And of course, it’s one of the commandments. Exodus 20:16 says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
The Bible makes it clear that we are not to lie. There are people, however, who will try to tell you that lying is justified in certain situations. They will cite examples from the Bible. They will talk about it in Exodus 1:19 when the midwives lied about the Hebrew women giving birth before they could get there. There is nowhere in that passage that tells us they were lying. It is possible that through God’s sovereignty, these babies were born quickly before the midwives could get to the mothers. In verse 20, we are told that God blessed the midwives, not for lying, but for their faithfulness.
In Joshua 2:4, Rahab lied to the king’s men after she had hidden the spies Joshua sent to Jericho. Her life was spared when Jericho was destroyed. She was blessed for her faithfulness and went on to marry a leader in the tribe of Judah, becoming an ancestor to Jesus Christ.
The problem with lying is that one lie leads to another, and before you know it, you are caught up in your own web. In 1808, Sir Walter Scott published a poem called Marmion. A line in the poem is one we are all familiar with; it says, “Oh what a tangled web we weave, when at first we practice to deceive.”
A lie can also lead to another sin to cover that lie. We saw this with David and Bathsheba. Once David committed adultery with Bathsheba and found she was pregnant, he needed to get her husband to sleep with her so they could lie and have everyone believe this was her husband’s child. When her husband was too honorable to do this while his men were at war, David felt his only recourse was to murder the husband and take Bathsheba as his wife.
When we lie to others, it implies that they are too stupid to know the truth. This is usually not the case. I don’t care to be around liars for this reason. However, there are people I know who seem to prefer lying to the truth. I often just let them lie, thinking it must give them some feeling of superiority. I know the truth, and I can assure you God knows the truth. I would just hate to be them when they have to stand before God and give an account of all these lies.
If you think you can use Scripture to justify your lying, you are lying to yourself. God does not condone lying. He considers it to be an abomination. This means he hates it. It means it disgusts Him.
Hebrews 11:6 says we can’t please God unless we have faith. Lying shows a lack of faith. We shouldn’t need to lie even when we mess up; if we trust God to take care of the situation. There were several instances where Abraham lied and said his wife was his sister. This did not please God because it clearly showed that Abraham, this man of great faith, wasn’t trusting God to take care of them in these foreign lands.
To answer our question today, it is never okay to lie. Stick with the truth, it will set you free (John 8:32).
Have a great day!