As one reads through the scriptures while David is in the picture, one cannot help but notice two things: 1) David is not perfect. Not even close! 2) David confesses his sins. And David loves God and His word. In fact, David is continually talking with the Lord and asking for guidance. And especially when we get to the Psalms, we see how much he enjoys singing His praises!
Now David found himself seeking refuge outside of Israel in enemy territory because he didn't trust Saul's apology and promise...
(1 Samuel 27:1-7) Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.” 2 So David arose and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. 4 Now it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him.
5 Then David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7 The number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
While David did what was right for Israel in the long run, David pretended to serve king Achish...
(1 Samuel 27:8-12) Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to Shur even as far as the land of Egypt. 9 David attacked the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. 10 Now Achish said, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David said, “Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites.” 11 David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, “Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, ‘So has David done and so has been his practice all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’” 12 So Achish believed David, saying, “He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.”
It was during this time, when the Philistines were gearing up to battle Israel, that Saul had consulted with the medium and Samuel's actual spirit appeared to tell him that he and his sons were going to die the very next day.
Meanwhile, when King Achish asked David and his men to wage war against Israel, David kept his response very ambiguous. Because of that, Achish thought David was his servant forever...
I'm thinking - David must have been very confident that God would work things out so that, not only would his good relationship with King Achish be preserved, but David would not have to go to battle against his own people. If he did pray specifically about this matter - here was his answer to prayer! The military leaders of King Achish did not trust David as Achish did...
(1 Samuel 29:1-5) Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. 2 And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish. 3 Then the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?” 4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man go back, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men? 5 Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
And David his ten thousands’?”
(1 Samuel 29:6-11) Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords. 7 Now therefore return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” 8 David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” 9 But Achish replied to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’ 10 Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart.” 11 So David arose early, he and his men, to depart in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Now we do see God working everything out for good - which (also) answered David's prayer found in a few chapters before this regarding Saul, who was constantly seeking to kill him...
(1 Samuel 24:12) “May the Lord judge between you and me, and may the Lord avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you..."
David and his men had been sent away, and now the Philistines waged war against Saul and his men...
(1 Samuel 31:1-16) Now the Philistines were fighting against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua the sons of Saul. 3 The battle went heavily against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was badly wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and pierce me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised will come and pierce me through and make sport of me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died with him. 6 Thus Saul died with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men on that day together.
MEANWHILE, as God was answering one of David's prayers, David and his men returned to where they had been living. Here they came face to face with the consequences of Saul's previous sin (of NOT destroying the Amalekites as he should have).
Not only had their city been raided and everything taken, including their wives and children, but now David's own men were ready to kill him because of this disturbing turn of events, even though this was not David's fault at all...
(1 Samuel 30:1-6) Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the [a]Negev and on Ziklag, and had [b]overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire; 2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, [c]without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way.3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the [d]widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were [e]embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.
David was NOT angry or bitter against God. Not at all. Quite the opposite! In this dire situation, David still pursued and trusted in God for his strength and guidance!...
(1 Samuel 30:7-8) Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 8 David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.”
God was faithful and answered this prayer as well...
(1 Samuel 30:9-10) So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained. 10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.
Along the way, David found an Egyptian servant who led him and his army to the enemy camp...
(1 Samuel 30:16-20) When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah. 17 David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled. 18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives. 19 But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back. 20 So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s spoil.”
(Let's not get distracted by David's sin of having more than one wife! Women were definitely one of his weak points!)
When David and his men returned to camp, an argument broke out, and David's godly, generous and gracious character was more than evident...
(1 Samuel 30:21-31) When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them. 22 Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.” 23 Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us. 24 And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.” 25 So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
26 Now when David came to Ziklag, he sent some of the spoil to the elders of Judah, to his friends, saying, “Behold, a gift for you from the spoil of the enemies of the Lord: 27 to those who were in Bethel, and to those who were in Ramoth of the Negev, and to those who were in Jattir, 28 and to those who were in Aroer, and to those who were in Siphmoth, and to those who were in Eshtemoa, 29 and to those who were in Racal, and to those who were in the cities of the Jerahmeelites, and to those who were in the cities of the Kenites, 30 and to those who were in Hormah, and to those who were in Bor-ashan, and to those who were in Athach, 31 and to those who were in Hebron, and to all the places where David himself and his men were accustomed to go.”
From this we see:
- angels only have a "good" reputation
- angels are pleasing to people, even to unbelievers
Personal experience: in college, when I would meet girls for the first time, and they would tell me about other girls who were on the same floor, they'd be gushing, "Oh, you'll just love (this girl) - she's so sweet..." Same thing in church. "Oh, I just love (this woman). She's so sweet..."
One thing I can safely say is - I've rarely been called "sweet." Given my childhood and everything that I had dealt with on the mission field and Philadelphia, it's no surprise that I became an "edgy" person. But can you imagine what I would be like without God in my life!?
Anyone who knows me well, will be able to see the evidence that God has worked on my heart and my character. And obviously, there's still more work to be done. Good news! My journey with God will never end!
So, I was really taken aback one day, when a woman smiled and said, "I can really see the light just shining right out of you!" Um, okay. Thank you??? I tried to be as gracious as possible and accept the compliment, even though it felt really weird.
All I had done (while waiting for a bus) was ask God for any opportunity to share the gospel. And for me to find the courage to follow through on that.
There was an older woman standing right next to me, so I just started chatting with her. THIS just very naturally led into a conversation about God. It was when I was getting ready to jump off the bus when she gave me the compliment.
Why was I so skeptical? Why did that feel so awkward, yet encouraging? Probably because although I try, I know I'm not perfect! I can be so socially awkward and - etc. I need tons of help from God! So I know I cannot become prideful, because - it was God that this woman was seeing - and not so much me!
Today's takeaway: let us be praying that God's light is able to shine through us, no matter what the circumstances are...
(John 8:12) Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
(Matthew 5:14-16) “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; 15 nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
(Acts 13:47) For so the Lord has commanded us,
‘I have placed You as a light for the Gentiles, That You may bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”
(1 Peter 2:9-10) ...you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
(Philippians 2:14-16) Do all things without grumbling or disputing; 15 so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16 holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain.
(Psalm 119:105-112) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
106 I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep Your righteous ordinances.
107 I am exceedingly afflicted; revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me Your ordinances.
109 My life is continually [ax]in my hand, yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.
111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, even to the end.
106 I have sworn and I will confirm it, that I will keep Your righteous ordinances.
107 I am exceedingly afflicted; revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord, and teach me Your ordinances.
109 My life is continually [ax]in my hand, yet I do not forget Your law.
110 The wicked have laid a snare for me, yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.
111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, even to the end.
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