There is a certain irony in my
reporting all these victories that I
achieved against the interests of my Foe.
I am the Father of All Lies,¹ you know,
and thus you might expect it hard for me
to narrate so much truth so candidly
as what you to this point have heard. Need I
remind you that to publicize the lie
and spread its glory, one must sometimes use
the truth, at least as much as will one’s ruse
accommodate?² One must endeavor to
make every lie seem just the thing to do,
and to this end, it must be shrouded in
some truth, or will be recognized as sin
too easily. Thus, even you, as you
my truthful, tragic narrative review,
may in your heart begin to feel a chord
of sympathetic resonance toward
my plight begin to vibrate – a delight
in my grandiloquence; perhaps a slight
regret for my benightedness; a sadness
at my recalcitrance; a hope my badness
will, in the end, be cured? And is this not
just like you – just like every man – who ought
to hate all forms of evil,³ to instead
find room within your foolish heart and head
to say, “Well, after all, it’s not so bad”?

I relish such a thought; it makes me glad
to know that avenues exist within
men’s souls by which temptation may bring sin
to full fruition.⁴ If all humans were
so easily entrapped, if I could blur
distinctions between lies and truth and lead
all men to turn away from God and heed
their fleshly lusts, by couching lies in truth,
then this would surely be compelling proof
that I sufficient strength possess to rise
up and assault the King of earth and skies
once more, and seize at last His throne for me.

But there are always some who prove to be
an obstacle to my ambitions. I
shall treat of one who stood against my lie,
for truth requires it, and I have no fear,
from what I’ve seen, that many, though they hear
the truth, will take it much to heart. So let
the truth be told! I’m certain lies shall yet
prevail!

This in due course; but first, to show
my prowess at employing truth to sow
the seeds of wickedness, a few examples
of my deceptive skills, so you may sample
the poisoned cuisine of pride, self, lust, and power.

God chose the meekest man, that he should tower
above all others, and a shepherd be
for them across the wilderness.⁵ For he
would speak with God, and lead the people by
his meekness to their promised home. But I
had other plans for him. Let pressures build,
and let God’s people show just how strong-willed
they could be, and his pride would get the best
of him.⁶ Could they not see how God had blessed
them through his leadership? Did they not know
that he was God’s anointed one, to show
their way into the promised land? Must he
bear with these grumblers for eternity!?
And so, the meekest man in all the earth
succumbed to pride and forfeited his worth
to lead God’s people home, by taking to
himself the glory that to God is due
alone, and striking what he should have merely
commanded to give water. Thus he dearly
paid, and let truth be a conduit for sin.

Or see this one who led the people in
their conquest of the land: Truth was, as he
no doubt assessed it, that their victory
at Jericho, so easily attained,
was meant to show how others would be gained
as well. So, off to Ai, without prayer
or seeking God, he sent a force to their
embarrassment and ruin. (The Lord, it seems,
prefers His plans to any stupid schemes
His people might concoct apart from Him.)⁷

And shall I narrate for you here the grim
details of how the people, when no king
ruled o’er them, did whatever stupid thing
they thought was right and true, and all the while
heaped wickedness and sin up, pile on pile,
and to my great delight?⁸ Or shall I tell
of him who brought upon his people hell
on earth, just so that he might know how great
a king he was?⁹ And I will not relate
how righteousness at length gave way to pride
in him whom God adored, when I had plied
my trade upon his soul (I squeal as I
recall how he his fist shook at the sky,
demanding God explain to him his plight!).¹⁰

All these and more I led from day to night,
from righteousness to sin, by lacing truth
with lies, resulting in rebuke, reproof,
remonstrance, or rejection at the hand
of God. What man before my wiles can stand?