of Deuteronomy; and the whole course of God’s revelation to man is in accordance with this announced principle of God’s concealment of that which ought to be concealed.  He who is himself the revelation of God says to his chosen disciples, even when he is speaking his latest words to them before his death:  “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now;"[2] and he conceals what, as yet, it is better for them should remain concealed.

[Footnote 1:  Deut. 29:  29.]

[Footnote 2:  John 16:12.]

There is a profound meaning in the suggestion, in the Bible story of man’s “fall,” that, when man had come to the knowledge of good and evil, the first practical duty which he recognized as incumbent upon himself, was the duty of concealment;[1] and from that day to this that duty has been incumbent on him.  Man has a duty to conceal his besetting impurities of thought and inclinations to sin; to conceal such of his doubts and fears as would dishearten others and weaken himself by their expression; to conceal his unkindnesses of spirit and his unjust prejudices of feeling; to conceal, in fact, whatever of his innermost personality is liable to work harm by its disclosure, and to a knowledge of which his fellows have no just claim.  In the world as it is, there is more to be concealed than to be disclosed in every individual life; and concealment rather than disclosure is the rule of personal action.

[Footnote 1:  Gen. 3:6, 7.]

Absolute and unrestricted frankness in social intercourse would be brutal.  The speaking of the whole truth at all times and to everybody could have neither justification nor excuse between man and man.  We have no right to tell our fellows all that we think of them, or fear for them, or suspect them of.  We have no right to betray the confidences of those who trust us, or to disclose to all the fact that we have such confidences to conceal.  We have no right to let it be generally known that there are such peculiar struggles within us as make our lives a ceaseless battle with temptations and fears and doubts.  There is such a thing as an indecent exposure of personal opinions, and as a criminal disclosure of the treasures of the inner life.[1] How to conceal aright that which ought to be concealed, is one of the vital questions of upright living.

[Footnote 1:  See 2 Kings 20:  12-19.]

The duty of right concealment stands over against the sin of lying.  Whatever ought to be concealed, should be concealed, if concealment is a possibility without sinning.  But the strongest desire for concealment can never justify a lie as a means of concealment; and concealment at the cost of a lie becomes a sin through the means employed for its securing.  On the other hand, when disclosure is a duty, concealment is sinful, because it is made to stand in the way of the performance of a duty.  Concealment is not in itself wrong, but it may become wrong through its misuse.  Lying is in itself wrong, and it cannot be made right through any seeming advantage to be gained by it.