1 Kings 20:34-43: a reflection

34Ben Hadad said to him, “The cities which my father took from your father I will restore. You shall make streets for yourself in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria.” “I”, said Ahab, “will let you go with this covenant.” So he made a covenant with him and let him go. 35A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the LORD’s word, “Please strike me!” The man refused to strike him. 36Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the LORD’s voice, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him. 37Then he found another man, and said, “Please strike me.” The man struck him and wounded him. 38So the prophet departed and waited for the king by the way, and disguised himself with his headband over his eyes. 39As the king passed by, he cried to the king, and he said, “Your servant went out into the middle of the battle; and behold, a man came over and brought a man to me, and said, ‘Guard this man! If by any means he is missing, then your life shall be for his life, or else you shall pay a talent of silver.’ 40As your servant was busy here and there, he was gone.” The king of Israel said to him, “So shall your judgment be. You yourself have decided it.” 41He hurried, and took the headband away from his eyes; and the king of Israel recognized that he was one of the prophets. 42He said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Because you have let go out of your hand the man whom I had devoted to destruction, therefore your life will take the place of his life, and your people take the place of his people.’” 43The king of Israel went to his house sullen and angry, and came to Samaria.

After King Ahab makes a self-serving treaty sparing an enemy God had marked for judgment, a prophet confronts him with a clever parable. Disguised, the prophet tells the king a story of a soldier who let a prisoner escape and now faces the penalty; and Ahab, not realizing the story is about himself, promptly pronounces the judgment: So shall your judgment be. You yourself have decided it. Only then does the prophet reveal that the king has just pronounced sentence on himself. Ahab saw the wrong clearly when it was presented as another's case, and judged it readily, while being blind to the same fault in himself.

Notice how readily Ahab judged the wrong when it seemed to be another's. Presented as a story about someone else, the fault was obvious to him, and he pronounced judgment on it without hesitation. But it was his own fault, disguised; he had done the very thing he condemned, and did not see it until it was revealed. We can see wrong clearly in another's case, and judge it readily, while being blind to the same fault in ourselves. Ahab condemned in the story what he excused in his own conduct; the parable held up a mirror he did not recognize until too late. His readiness to judge another's fault exposed his blindness to his own.

That is worth taking to heart, for we too can see and judge wrong clearly in others while being blind to the same fault in ourselves. We are often quick to judge the faults of others, to see clearly what is wrong in their conduct, while being blind to the very same faults in ourselves, as Ahab judged the story's soldier while excusing his own like conduct. The wrong we condemn in others may be one we are blind to in ourselves. Do not be quick to judge the faults of others while remaining blind to the same faults in yourself; let the wrong you see clearly in others prompt you to examine your own conduct. Examine yourself for the very faults you judge readily in others, lest, like Ahab, you condemn in another's case what you are blind to in your own; for we often see wrong clearly in others while excusing it in ourselves, and the fault we are quickest to judge in another may be one we most need to face in ourselves.

Lord, after King Ahab makes a self-serving treaty sparing an enemy you had marked for judgment, a prophet confronts him with a clever parable. Disguised, the prophet tells the king a story of a soldier who let a prisoner escape and now faces the penalty; and Ahab, not realizing the story is about himself, promptly pronounces the judgment: so shall your judgment be; you yourself have decided it. Only then does the prophet reveal that the king has just pronounced sentence on himself. Ahab saw the wrong clearly when it was presented as another's case, while being blind to the same fault in himself. Show me how readily Ahab judged the wrong when it seemed to be another's. Presented as a story about someone else, the fault was obvious to him, and he pronounced judgment without hesitation. But it was his own fault, disguised; he had done the very thing he condemned, and did not see it until it was revealed. I can see wrong clearly in another's case, and judge it readily, while being blind to the same fault in myself. Take that to my heart, for I too can see and judge wrong clearly in others while being blind to the same fault in myself. I am often quick to judge the faults of others, to see clearly what is wrong in their conduct, while being blind to the very same faults in myself, as Ahab judged the story's soldier while excusing his own conduct. Keep me from being quick to judge the faults of others while remaining blind to the same faults in myself; let the wrong I see clearly in others prompt me to examine my own conduct, Lord, lest, like Ahab, I condemn in another what I am blind to in myself.