Living with Certainty
1 Samuel 27:1-12
Turn to 1 Samuel 27. In the past few weeks of studying the life of David. We have found him to be on some spiritual highs and other times on a spiritual low. Well, where do we find him this week?
“Then David said in his heart, ‘Now I will be swept away one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should utterly 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.’ 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. 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 wife. And it was told to Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he no longer searched for him. 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?’ So Achish gave him Ziklag that day; therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. And the number of days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.”
“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. And David struck 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. And 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.’ And David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, ‘Lest they tell about us, saying, “So has David done and so has been his custom all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.”’ So Achish believed David, saying, ‘He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.’”
1 Samuel 27:1-12 (LSB)
It is hard to understand all that is going on here and difficult to know what was in the mind of David, especially when we remember that it is the Philistines who were the archenemies of Israel. So, why would he link himself with the Philistines? Another thing which is hard to understand is the up and down confidence of David. We have talked about Goliath, as well as the two times when he could have taken Saul’s life and he acted so graciously. And he seemed to have no concern for his own life at the time. Not that we always ride in a straight line, because we do not, or that we enjoy the same confidence all the time. Yet it is strange that we go from this assertive David from last week and in some chapters to (vs 1) this week where he says, “Now I will be swept away from the hand of Saul.”
Now, it would be helpful if the narrator here let us in on some of David’s thoughts such as, here are three reasons why David felt so differently this week from last week. But obviously, the Holy Spirit did not think this was important for us to know. We do know that Saul’s apology last week could not be trusted. Not that David would have really believed him by now anyway, though, he likely wished that he could, as I do believe there is in the heart of David—the wish that Saul truly loved him. Yet the hardest part to realize are these words by David, “Now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul.” We may understand better if David was lamenting that he was still running around waiting to be king, in other words, waiting for God to fulfill the promise given to him. But his statement reveals that David is questioning God’s promise entirely.
Now, from our perspective we want to say, David, you will be king: Samuel has told you (1 Sam 16) as Samuel anoints David as king; the Philistines have acknowledged this David (1 Sam 21) they said, is this not David, the king of the land?; Jonathan told you, David (1 Sam 22) you will be king over Israel; even Saul himself told you (1 Sam 24) now I know that you surely will be king; and Abigail told you, David (1 Sam 25) that God will appoint you ruler over Israel. And of course, we know from the narrator (1 Sam 23:14) that God would not give David into Saul’s hand. So, why is David struggling so much? Well, it is not really unlike the children of Israel in the wilderness, that yes, they had the promise of God that they were heading to the Promised Land, as David had the promise of God that he would be king. But the children of Israel and David did not know when God would fulfill His promise.
And how would David really know? For he could be wondering around in the wilderness for years waiting for the kingship and it is only human at some point to become discouraged and then even doubtful about things we know to be true. Remember we said last week that David seemed to connect the blessing of being the next king with a connection with Saul, as he feared being cast away from Israel to a pagan land. For notice the word he uses here, I will be swept away, the NASB translates it perish, as I believe it is in the heart of David that he fears he will be taken away from his own people Israel because of his rejection by Saul. For imagine the thoughts that could be circulating in David’s mind, it does not seem that I will ever be king, in other words, the circumstances do not appear that this will ever happen. And even if he did think that he would someday be king, he may be thinking that this may not happen for twenty-thirty years and in the meantime, I will be outside of my people.
Now the last direction from the Lord we have for David is (1 Sam 22:5) where the prophet Gad told him to enter into the land of Judah, and yet, David decides to go to the land of the Philistines. And remember the last time David went in this direction, when he ran into this same Achish, the king. And it was when he faked being insane so that he was able to live. And notice what else he says here (vs 1) there is nothing “better for me.” Some of your Bibles say, there is nothing good for me. Makes us think back of what Abigail said about David, about all the good that the Lord had spoken about David.
It is not uncommon for someone of faith to have setbacks. Remember Elijah at one time thought that he was alone in ministry. Or when the prophet Jonah somewhat felt sorry for himself. Or men like Charles Spurgeon after great ministry “success” went through a time of emotional struggles. In fact, Spurgeon often wrestled with struggles during his ministry, not to mention the many struggles he likely faced from others and outside the ministry. But the greatest challenges that Spurgeon faced at times were inward, emotional battles. Listen to some of the recorded words of Spurgeon in one of his sermons.
“I almost regret this morning that I have ventured to occupy this pulpit, because I feel utterly unable to preach to you for your profit … Oh, Spirit of God, magnify thy strength in thy [speaking of himself] servant’s weakness, and enable him to honour his Lord, even when his soul is cast down within him.”
Charles Spuregon, “The Exaltation of Christ,” Sermon 101
Easy to read the promises that have been given to David yet overlook the long span and harshness of his existence while waiting for these promises to be fulfilled. And we need to also see that this is not simply a battle expedition. For (vs 3) when David went over to live with Achish, David had his two wives with him and his six hundred men came here with their whole households. So again, we can see a little more of the permanence of this situation, as basically, David, his men, and their families are moving to the land of the Philistines. And when we consider women and children, we are likely looking at two to four thousand people. Yet David’s decision to escape here certainly works out, as it tells us (vs 4) that Saul no longer searched for David, and that Achish gave David the city of Ziglag to live in. And it tells us that David lived here for sixteen months.
And so, this decision seems all good and dandy in some ways, but there are so many questions surrounding these events, most of them unanswered. Why does Achish accepts David so well when their last time together was when David acted like a madman and Achish said, get him out of here? And why could a child of God, David, say to Achish, a pagan king, so willingly call himself (vs 5) a servant of Achish? And how was Israel going to respond to all this when David has become chummy-chummy with their archenemies, the Philistines? Remember David is still supposed to lead Israel at some point here. And how could David ever explain that he is living in the place where Goliath was from? And that he has brought all these families to this pagan culture. You would think that the school curriculum would not line up well with Deuteronomy 6, to love the Lord and teach the greatness of Yahweh to their children. No answers are given to us here by the narrator.
Now, we are not certain where Ziglag was located. But it is believed that it was south of where Achish lived and that it was likely close to the border of Israel by the fact that it tells us (vs 6) that it stayed the possession of Israel for years to come, making more sense than if it was somewhere in the middle of the land of the Philistines. Now though we would have to question the actions of David, it is ironic that the Philistine king gives land to the future king of their enemy Israel. Showing us that within the wrong actions and unwise actions of both believers and unbelievers alike, God is at work here.
So, what was David doing during these months? Well, it tells us (vs 8) he was attacking the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; countries that would have been enemies not only to Israel but also to the Philistines. And these people that he attacked were (vs 8) inhabitants of this land from ancient times. So, in some sense David was fulfilling what Israel had been told to back in Deuteronomy to do, to completely destroy the inhabitants of the land. Moses wrote:
“Only in the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall devote them to destruction, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against Yahweh your God.”
Deuteronomy 20:16-18 (LSB)
And so, look what David did (vs 9), “And David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive.” And then the narrator does give us an inside view to the conversation that went on between David and Achish about these attacks and battles.
“And 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.’”
1 Samuel 27:10 (LSB)
Well, we have become used to David’s deception, haven’t we? As he lies here to Achish telling him that he has been fighting against Judah. Or some of these references could be victories that Achish believes to be allies of Judah. Yet all of this is a lie, as he has been fighting against Israel’s enemies. And David simply makes sure (vs 11) that he does not leave anything alive so that Achish would not find out what he is really doing. Now the people that David truly destroyed, as we said, were enemies of Achish as well. So, it may not have been an issue if David was honest here, as he could have said, King Achish, I have been fighting your enemies. But he chose to lie to be on the safe side and suggest he was fighting Israel to gain approval without causing any suspicion. And the final verse by the narrator gives us the result of all this craftiness by David.
“So Achish believed David, saying, ‘He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.’”
1 Samuel 27:12 (LSB)
So, here King Achish has come to completely trust and believe in David. And no matter what you might think of all this, this was quite the way in which David takes Achish for a ride. Or as we might say how he “pulled the wool over Achish’s eyes.” Remember a few weeks ago we had to smile at the words of David’s brother Eliab when he said to David, “I know your arrogance,” and we wondered if there was any truth to that at all. Well, in 1 Samuel 23, Saul said that he had heard that David can be a little “crafty.” Well, that’s seems to be a bit of an understatement! We certainly find out in these Bible stories that we are dealing with human beings. I like what the Apostle James said about Elijah—this great giant of the faith—that he had a nature just like ours.
Well, the challenge for me this week was where to go with this passage. For it is one of those chapters we might read in our Old Testament read-through and be left thinking, what could we ever learn from these somewhat strange events? I mean, it is much easier to read chapter 17, where David slays Goliath, and we walk away thinking, wow Lord, let me be like David. Or even later in the story of David and Bathsheba, where we walk away thinking, Lord, may we not fall to such temptation. But what about this story? Are we to walk away thinking, maybe I need to be a little craftier like David? Well, I am sure that is not the lesson of the chapter. But there is value in studying all these Old Testament stories as they were written for our benefit, as Paul wrote to the Romans.
“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through the perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Romans 15:4 (LSB)
So, let me leave you with some thoughts this morning. The first one is not part of my list on the notes as it does not deserve to be there. But I did think of poor old Achish as he got duped here by David. That we could say to Achish, you snooze, you lose, when all the poor guy does is trust David, the supposedly Christian in the story! But it does lead me to point number one.
- It is not good when a believer is not honest with an unbeliever, therefore the value in a good reputation and witness.
In this story we have read how David was dishonest with Achish. Simply, Achish thought one thing, while the opposite was true, and this was directly due to the dishonesty of David. I would suggest that of all the virtues of the Christian faith that have lost value in the eyes of the world—and what I mean by this is moral values that are taught in the Bible that are no longer valued in the world as they once were. But I would suggest that the quality of honesty, though it may be less practiced in the world today, is still something that most would applaud, though they may not practice it themselves. I mean, an unbelieving boss, though he may cut some corners himself, would still greatly value the Christian employee who he can trust and who is honest. And the term honesty extends to so much about an individual. And here we can see the value of this kind of good character before the unbeliever. It is interesting that the New Testament when addressing the qualifications of elders speaks directly to this as Paul writes to Timothy regarding an elder.
“And he [the elder] must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
1 Timothy 3:7 (LSB)
It would almost seem strange that part of the qualifications of a church elder is actually dependent upon the reaction to him by outsiders. William D. Mounce wrote that the “leadership of the church should bring no unnecessary disrepute upon the church through improper and immoral actions.” Yet certainly someone like Paul had his fair share of enemies outside of the church, as he found himself in and out of prison constantly. However, this means that the elder would not bring this upon himself, and that hardship may happen to him only for unjust treatment, not for something he deserved. And the danger here, according to the 1 Timothy 3 verse about elders is that this possible disgrace is the trap of Satan. In other words, the one who is struggling with honesty in the world will also likely succumb to the temptations of the world which will bring reproach upon himself, his church, and to the name of Christ.
We are all responsible for this good reputation, that if you name the name of Christ, you have a high reputation to uphold. I guess we could also categorize this challenge of honesty with the opposite of being hypocritical. The act of pretending to be something or someone we are not. And this does not begin in the workplace as it usually starts when we are young, trying to make Mom and Dad believe we are something we are not. But of course, the damage to the cause of Christ when this “bad” reputation gets out in the world. Imagine the conversation that would be going around in David’s day, when it became known that Achish considered David his friend, only to find out later that he had been deceived by David.
Yet the Christian is instructed to walk worthy of their calling, and not to walk as the world walks, in fact, here we get a higher view of Achish than we do of David. Sad when the world shows a higher integrity than the Christian. Hard to argue with the old adage, that honesty is the best policy, yet it fights against our tendency to waffle on the truth for our own advantage. What a great witness of the church before the world, when God’s people are known as a people of integrity. That we live what we preach, for it is not good when a believer is not honest with an unbeliever, therefore the value in a good reputation and witness.
- It is not good when a believer learns to manipulate to achieve success, therefore the value of trusting in God.
This is not the guy who lies to save face, but it is the guy who lies to gain an advantage. As some may even rejoice over deception. Sort of that, boy, did we fool them! I got my money back! I got a lot more for that item than it was worth! Man, did I get them to come down on their price! We fooled them didn’t we! I didn’t even get caught! This is a hard one to fight against because we are not programmed to think this way. Have you ever purchased a house or a car and someone asked you about the price and your response was, well, I paid such and such as I wanted to make sure that I paid a good honest price. I realize we cannot be foolish with money, but fairness can be viewed as a weakness.
When we came to Peoples Church and moved to Wyoming, we had heard that Laverne and Ruth Eastman were thinking of selling their home. So, I called Laverne, and he politely said they were not ready yet. So, we rented in Sarnia for over the first winter and then I got a call from Laverne saying they had secured a place at the Royal Leigh in Wyoming and were ready to sell. Well, the price was good, so, Anne and I went over to sign the paperwork. And as we sat at their kitchen table signing the paperwork, just a private deal. That as we went to sign, Ruth said, “You know Laverne this young couple will likely have to replace the furnace and air conditioner soon. Why don’t we reduce the price by five thousand dollars?” I thought poor Laverne. I mean, this is good kind of bargaining on my part as I was just sitting there. I also liked the fact that she called us a “young couple.”
But seriously, there is a great quality here isn’t there? As there was absolutely no kind of manipulation to gain an advantage by them, but a trust that God would honour their kindness and fairness. This kind of trust in God raises the view of the Christian above material things or human advantage. This is the person who allows God to sovereignly work. Another small thing, but I had mentioned that I was with my brother and sister on July 1st. And we were talking about the old cottage Mom and Dad used to rent. And Lynne said, did you know Dad always paid them more rent than they asked for. Trust, fairness, honesty—over things like money and possessions. And this manipulation versus trusting could be applied to much of our lives. And I will never forget that trust shown by Laverne and Ruth, likely at a time when people normally would be concerned about their old age and finances.
Think of David here in 1 Samuel 27, where he tries to manipulate the evidence so that Achish believes that David is his friend. Yet remember in the chapter before David said (vs 23) “Now Yahweh will repay each man for his righteousness and his faithfulness.” Yet here in today’s story David is not living by his own theology. And unfortunately, we can avoid learning this good lesson of trust as well, as we consistently try to manipulate and take things into our own hands. And therefore, we can come to the end of life and never learn this lesson well, as we train ourselves to believe that success must mean that I need to bend the rules a little or try to manipulate. John Woodhouse said that the Christian without God becomes like Saul, In other words, the one who is actually unfaithful and unrighteous. It is not good when a believer learns to manipulate to achieve success, therefore the value of trusting in God.
- It is not good when a believer’s bad theology leads to bad thinking and choices, therefore the value in an ever-present and unshakable understanding of God.
We sort of have in our modern-day Christianity a battle between intimacy with God and knowledge of God, when they should not battle because intimacy is dependant upon knowledge. The reason that we love and serve Jesus Christ is because of who Christ is. In other words, our knowledge of Christ magnifies our love for Christ. And the importance of a deep knowledge of God is that it guides us and raises us up especially during times of uncertainty or disappointment. In other words, if our knowledge of God is shallow, then during times of decision or struggle or even during times of prosperity, our decision-making can be so shaky and can become so unbiblical. This is the core of Paul’s thinking when he wrote the words, “For I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded or convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” Without knowledge that persuasion or that convincing in our hearts is absent—without assurance of God’s leading. And we see the confidence in the Apostle Paul as he was certain until that day, the day he stood before Christ. And this is the kind of confidence we must live with, that is based upon truth and knowledge, that will carry us right to that day.
I think back to our friend Charles Spurgeon. The difference with Spurgeon even through times of deep struggle—as opposed to others who may have wondered away in their faith—was that he did not lose his theology and therefore, he had an unshakable trust in God. And that biblical truth helped him through his struggles, it did not abandon him. In fact, his struggles likely drove him closer to the Scriptures. I have said many times, especially of late that as I consider my teaching here that one of my greatest desires is that Elim Bible Chapel would know God. Know what God does. Know how God acts. Know His sovereignty over all of life. Know of His right to do as He pleases. And if a church family knows God deeply and loves Him intimately, a people can get through much. I have said to married coupes that if a husband and wife can know each other deeply and love each other intimately, they can get through a lot of heartache: finances, disappointments sickness, and death—whatever the Lord may choose to bring into their lives. Good gauge of our faith is how we react towards your relationship with God during struggles. Do your struggles draw you closer or further away from Christ?
Well, poor David, as we learn from his good chapters, but also his bad chapters. I guess we could describe David’s actions this week as “living without certainty.” Folks, let’s know the value of a good reputation even amongst unbelievers—that we would never be tempted to be dishonest or conceal truth. Let’s know the value in trusting God—that we are not tempted to manipulate. And may we know the value in having an unshakable knowledge of God—that we are not tempted to act poorly or make bad decisions. In other words, we learn to live with certainty and confidence, for we know whom we have believed. Therefore, our actions and thinking are based upon the truth of this whole book. Young people, what your classmates need, what your friends need is to see a Christian who lives with confidence. Not confidence in self, but confidence in God. And all of us here at Elim, believers who live with such a certainty in God. (pray) Father, we praise you this morning for the Word of God. May its truth grant to us great certainty and confidence. That we of all people would be known as honest, trusting, and confident in our great God. And all God’s people said, amen.