When the Gibeonites came to the princes of Israel they came with flattery and deceit, and their fair speeches smoothed over their deception. And what, provided it be done well, is so pleasing to self as flattery? Sadly this wretched art gets many a flatterer a place in the church as a devout person. The make-believe pilgrim gains the confidence of the princes, and they give him a place. Do you know, Christian reader, where this lack of wisdom lies? Do you know the reason why the princes were taken in? Surely, in the very thing accredited persons are the most likely to err—self-confidence. “They sought not counsel of the Lord.”