The parable of, "The smart fox"

There was once a lion king who loved hearing praises about himself. One day, a duck dentist told him that he had bad breath. Seeking validation, he asked a goat the same question, who honestly confirmed the bad breath. Enraged by the truth, the lion killed the goat.

He then approached a bull and received a false assurance that his breath was fine. In anger at being lied to, the lion killed the bull as well.

Finally, the lion asked a fox the same question. The clever fox, not wanting to be killed, made up a story of not answering his question due to a blocked nose caused by a cold, and spared itself from the lion's wrath.

Moral of the story:

Sometimes in this world, the best choice is to lie. But those sly like the above fox know when & how it should be done.

King David did this in 1 Samuel 21:12, NIV when David "was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane (ie lied about his state of mind) in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard."

As result of his act, King David's enemies left him alone, thinking him a harmless madman and no danger. No need to get too close and unnecessarily risk their lives.

Since David was called a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), I’ll occasionally do the same, thank you very much. :-)

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