I was involved in a vehicle accident once. Before the police report had even been completed, the other person filed a claim with their insurance company saying that I was at fault.
There was only one problem. All the facts weren’t in yet.
When the police report came out, I called their insurance company and read the report to the agent. You could hear their voice drop just a little, and they said, “We’ll get that turned over for you, sir.”
They got their story there first, but getting there first didn’t make it true.
And sometimes our mouths can do the same thing. We can get ahead of the facts. We can get ahead of wisdom. And sometimes, if we aren’t careful, we can get ahead of God.
That’s what caught my attention when I read about a man named Ahimaaz. He was determined to run. In fact, he ran so hard that he outran the man who had been sent. He got to David first, but when David asked the question that really mattered, Ahimaaz couldn’t give him the answer.
He got there first, but he wasn’t the one who had been sent with the message.
We see this story in second Samuel.
2 Samuel 18:19-32 NET 19 Then Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Let me run and give the king the good news that the LORD has vindicated him before his enemies.” 20 But Joab said to him, “You will not be a bearer of good news today. You will bear good news some other day, but not today, for the king’s son is dead.” 21 Then Joab said to the Cushite, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” After bowing to Joab, the Cushite ran off. 22 Ahimaaz the son of Zadok again spoke to Joab, “Whatever happens, let me go after the Cushite.” But Joab said, “Why is it that you want to go, my son? You have no good news that will bring you a reward.” 23 But he said, “Whatever happens, I want to go!” So Joab said to him, “Then go!” So Ahimaaz ran by the way of the Jordan plain, and he passed the Cushite. 24 Now David was sitting between the inner and outer gates, and the watchman went up to the roof over the gate at the wall. When he looked, he saw a man running by himself. 25 So the watchman called out and informed the king. The king said, “If he is by himself, he brings good news.” The runner came ever closer. 26 Then the watchman saw another man running. The watchman called out to the gatekeeper, “There is another man running by himself.” The king said, “This one also is bringing good news.” 27 The watchman said, “It appears to me that the first runner is Ahimaaz son of Zadok.” The king said, “He is a good man, and he comes with good news.” 28 Then Ahimaaz called out and said to the king, “Greetings!” He bowed down before the king with his face toward the ground and said, “May the LORD your God be praised because he has defeated the men who opposed my lord the king!” 29 The king replied, “How is the young man Absalom?” Ahimaaz replied, “I saw a great deal of confusion when Joab was sending the king’s servant and me, your servant, but I don’t know what it was all about.” 30 The king said, “Turn aside and take your place here.” So he turned aside and waited. 31 Then the Cushite arrived and said, “May my lord the king now receive the good news! The LORD has vindicated you today and delivered you from the hand of all who have rebelled against you!” 32 The king asked the Cushite, “How is the young man Absalom?” The Cushite replied, “May the enemies of my lord the king and all who have plotted against you be like that young man!”
There is a lot that can be learned from these passages of scripture. I like this version as it says good news, a parallel to the Good News of the gospel.
Ahimaaz knew the truth that Absalom was dead, because in verse 20 Joab told him that. For whatever reason he didn’t deliver that truth. The Cushite though delivers the truth immediately.
Ahimaaz wanted to run. He wanted to be the one who got there. And he did get there. He even got recognition for it. Thousands of years later we’re still reading about how he outran the Cushite.
But it probably isn’t the recognition he was looking for.
He is remembered in this story as the man who ran faster than the messenger, arrived before the messenger, and then couldn’t deliver the message. Ahimaaz won the race, but the Cushite fulfilled the assignment.
You see we may have zeal, we may have passion, we may have a desire to do something. But we must make sure of some things before we speak. We must make sure that we are the one that is supposed to speak.
Sometimes we just aren’t supposed to be the one speaking. I know that’s hard to do sometimes. As a talkative person and one that teaches, I have to pray that God set a watch… before my mouth; keep the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3). Because I often feel like I can input into a conversation, but sometimes I don’t need to be the one talking. I have walked into a meeting of open discussion of the Word of God and God tell me not to speak before I walked in. We have to be sensitive to the Spirit.
Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 14:26 that when the church comes together, “each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation,” but he quickly adds that everything must be done for building up.
It doesn’t mean that what we are going to say is wrong. It just may be someone else’s turn to speak. Just because we have the energy or the platform to speak doesn’t mean it is our assignment. As Joab told Ahimaaz “You will bear good news some other day, but not today.” We shouldn’t let our zeal push to the point that we dismiss it if the Spirit tells us not to speak and speak anyway.
Also we must make very sure that our zeal doesn’t outrun the truth. Our passion doesn’t outrun the truth. Our desire to do something doesn’t outrun the truth. We are to present the Good News, but we must present it truthfully.
Don’t be so concerned about getting your word in first or being the loudest. Be concerned that when the truth catches up, your words are still standing.
In our desire to give an answer, if we do not know then we should simply say that. We should try to wade our way through and come up with an answer. I once was telling someone a story out of the Bible and I mentioned a word that I instantly said, “I don’t know what that means.” He said, “I do,” then he explained it. Had I tried to push through and explain what I thought it meant, then I could have lost credibility and tarnished the truth.
This can also mean if we are speaking that our passion should not get so high that it outruns the truth. We have all most likely heard someone speaking and make a mistake. Now this is going to happen, but it shouldn’t happen because we are talking faster than we can think just because our emotions are high. Yes, our emotions can get wrapped up in our speaking and it not be the Spirit, but our own personal emotions. If we veer from truth because of our emotions, then we must reign in our emotions.
When someone allows their personal emotions to override accuracy, or when they push their way into a conversation they weren’t assigned to, the content of what they say might be Biblically true, but the manner in which they say it damages their witness. The “good” is then evil spoken of because it was delivered via the flesh rather than the Spirit. The speed of our feet (or our tongues) must never outpace the boundaries of God’s timing and truth.
We must always be attentive and pray that God guards our mouth, so that we don’t cause the good that we would do to be evil spoken of (Romans 14:16 KJV). So that we do not harm the truth in our speech.
Sometimes wisdom isn’t demonstrated by what we say. Sometimes wisdom is demonstrated by what we choose not to say.
Proverbs 17:27–28 (KJV)
He that hath knowledge spareth his words… Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding” .
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