December 4, 2008

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters,

I spent some time with tech support this morning.  The email address that this is being sent by is the new base address for the new site.  I am generating a few others for different purposes.  Please delete the old address and update your system.

1 Samuel 29 (NASB95)
¹ 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’?” ⁶ 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.^[1]

David was put in a hard place here.  His life of lies has caught up with him and he is forced to go to war against Israel.  The way God protected him from his foolishness is rather interesting. The Philistines had not forgotten David's past even though Achish claimed to have won David over to his service. 

Take special note of the way that the Jews were recognized.  They looked like Jews.  David and his men made no attempt to mix with or dress as Philistines.  They kept their national dress to the point that it was obvious that they were Hebrews.  The leaders of the Philistines were wise in refusing to allow David to fight on their side. The Commentary on the Old Testament noted that David's response in verse 8 could be taken either to support Achish or Saul.  That's a good point.

In short, David got away with his ruse to this point.  I can't help but wonder if it saddened David that the enormous army he witnessed was going to fight against his people.  David was anointed king of Israel playing the part of a deserter.  He and his men knew of the intricate working of the enemy and kept silent.  The commentaries seem to think that David was relieved that he did not have to fight, and that he praised God for deliverance.  I disagree completely because David knew he was living a life that was outside the calling that God gave for his life.  How would you feel?  David lived a life that disregarded his responsibility and calling to be king of Israel.  Not only that, he acted as if he did not care if Saul was faced with an enormous enemy.  Where do you think that David was at spiritually in this time of his life?  I am looking forward to your thoughts.

Father, as we consider Your word, allow us to learn from David about the hazards of walking from Your will.

In Him,

Joe Turner.