The Harried Human Heart and the Sovereignty of God
1 Samuel 29:1-11
Turn to 1 Samuel 29. Well, a few weeks ago, remember David had gone over to the Philistine camp and was pretending to fight against his own people Israel; but in reality, he was fighting against Israel’s enemies. And then last week, David was part of the Philistine army that was preparing to attack Israel as he had joined himself to King Achish, the leader of the archenemy of Israel. And we might be asking ourselves, would David actually fight for the Philistines against his own people? Well, what we will find interesting in our story is that David does not have to make the decision as King Achish does not allow him to fight anyway. So, let’s read this short chapter and see what takes place.
“Then the Philistines gathered together all their camps to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel. 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. 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?’ But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, ‘Make the man return, 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? Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying, “Saul has struck his thousands, And David his ten thousands”?’”
“Then Achish called David and said to him, ‘As Yahweh lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the camp 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. So now, return and go in peace, that you may not do evil in the sight of the lords of the Philistines.’ And 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?’ But Achish answered and said 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.” So now, 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, go.’ So David arose early, he and his men, to go in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.”
1 Samuel 29:1-11 (LSB)
You will notice that there are three times where King Achish says that David is innocent and can be trusted: (vs 3) I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me; (vs 6) David, you have been upright … and I have not found evil in you; and then (vs 9) you have been pleasing in my sight. It is hard not to be reminded here of the time when Christ stood before Pilate. The chief priests and the elders of the people had taken counsel together to put Jesus to death and they bound Him and took Him to Pilate. And as Christ stood before Pilate, Pilate reminded Him of the charges against Him. But of course, Jesus did not answer to the charges, And there are three references to the innocence of Christ: (Matt 27:19) Pilate’s wife said, have nothing to do with this righteous man, and Pilate cried out to the crowds when they demanded that he crucify Jesus, he said, why, what evil has He done?; and (Luke 23, John 18) Pilate says, I have found no guilt in this man; and (John 18:38) I find no guilt in this Man. Now Pilate would not have known of the absolute innocence of Christ, or we might call the sinlessness of Christ, that every action, every motive, every thought was without sin. But Pilate was still right that Christ had done nothing deserving of death.
Now this is where some of the similarities end, when Achish claims David’s innocence, as David has come to where he is through deception, hiding the fact that he has been helping Israel all along. Whereas Christ did not hide His motives and beliefs as He taught openly, for when the religious leaders came secretly to Jesus to arrest Him, He said, I was with you daily in the temple teaching before you. I do see as we might compare the situation with David and the trial of Christ. We see one, a perfect human, Jesus Christ, who is sinless, and who advances the purposes of God by fulfilling His mission, that of giving His life for the sins of the world. And then secondly, we see the imperfect human, David, who is sinful, and who advances the purposes of God by fulfilling his mission to some day become king and be the protector of Israel. And we do not really have to make excuses for David as the Lord uses him to begin the kingship over Israel that one day will be forever fulfilled by Christ, realizing that David was human and sinned, whereas Jesus too was human and yet was sinless. Hebrews 4:15:
“For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things like we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 4:15 (LSB)
Now considering again our story this morning, we begin with the tension of what David would do. David has twice now intentionally allowed Saul to get away from him. So, for David to fight against Saul in battle and possibly it be David himself or one of his men to kill Saul would be odd, or to find David having to face Jonathan in the battle would be crazy, wouldn’t it? And it is also ironic that part of the anguish that Saul has been experiencing is because he likely believes that David is on the side of the Philistines. But here we find out that the Philistine commanders had no intention of David fighting along with them. So, I would say that overall, despite some of David’s craftiness and deceit, we certainly must at least give David credit for his loyalty to Israel thus far, as he never once acted against his own people or came against Saul.
So, the Philistines are ready for battle. And we get an idea of the enormity of the army as it says (vs 1) all their camps. Interesting to note here that the two other times when the Philistines gathered in this same location was back in chapter four, where they defeated Israel both times. And it was because of these defeats that eventually led to the appointment of Saul as king. Yet in the case of this battle, we are already aware of the outcome, as it has been told to us by Samuel who said that Saul and his sons would die in battle. So, just prior to the charge of the Philistines against Israel, the statement comes from some of their commanders, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” This is sort of a funny statement in the Bible. I mean, how would the Hebrew boys react? If they had any kind of sarcastic spirit in them, they may want to respond, yes, we are the traitors from Israel, and you had better watch your backs when you go into battle! Reminds me so much of picking road hockey teams, and you turn to some guy that just got chosen and everyone responds, oh, why do we have to have him on our team? I would get this about me if they were picking volleyball teams, oh why is he on our team! You might say that if I was on your two-pitch team, why is he on our team!
Well, of course, Achish sticks up for them, and says (vs 3) saying that he has found no fault in David. It is so fascinating to wonder what David was thinking here. I mean, he has been crafty—hard to know if part of his plan all along was to attack the Philistines when they least would expect it. Certainly, David’s fighting against Israel’s enemies all the while Achish thought he was fighting Israel likely means that David had no intention of lifting a finger against Israel now. And we might smile at Achish’s defense here of David, saying that David has been with him (vs 3) for years, when it has only been just over a year. Always good to throw in some exaggeration when you are trying to make a point.
And in reading this story we do get the idea that the commanders did not overly respect Achish, in other words, it seems that he can be pushed around a little. Yet from a human perspective the counsel of these men was good, as they were right on every count of David, he had fought against the Philistines before, he was heralded in Israel, and he likely could not be trusted. Yet, Achish never seems to lose his confidence in David, but he does lose the argument against the commanders and therefore he must go to David and tell him that he cannot fight with them. And when David gets turned down, it is an easy way out for him, as he does not have to lose to trust of Achish nor does he have to be unfaithful to his own people. So, that is the story told simply, yet there is much here for us to consider, as again, we are seeing the purposes of God going forward within a story of evil and deceit and sin. So, I would like to organize this story under four headings: The Problem of Human Feelings Without Truth; The Problem of Human Sin and Self; The Deliverance of God; and The Perfect Plan of God.
- The Problem of Human Feelings Without Truth
We certainly see where David finds himself in a bind, but it is a bind that he finds himself because of his own choices, and it began with faulty thinking in David’s mind. Back in 1 Samuel 26:24, David speaks of the Lord’s deliverance, as he is oozing with confidence and so certain of the Lord’s care of him. But then two verses later (27:1), he said that he will be swept away by the hand of Saul, and that nothing good will happen to him. So, he makes this choice to go to the Philistines. Some have described this as a meltdown by David. The one who has been promised the kingship by God says, I will be swept away by the hand of Saul? Is there even any truth to that statement? In trying to figure all this out, maybe David does believe in the promise of God, but he may think that it is contingent on his deception or manipulation. Could that be true?
I suppose where we might find ourselves knowing what is true, yet acting upon false feelings. And the result I we somehow believe that we must manipulate people or events for God’s will to be accomplished. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” Or we could say, when we practice to manipulate. And one of the issues we can have as “harried” humans or overwrought humans is that we also tend to dwell on things and even listen to things that bring discouragement and anxiousness, and much of it is not even true, instead of listening to voices that assure us of God and His strength and His purposes. There is an old saying that goes like this: sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; and sow a character, reap a destiny. So, the way in which David’s feels, determines the way David acts. John Woodhouse suggests here says that David’s biggest problem in these chapters is David, as he is still a man with a nature like ours. Which leads us to point #2:
- The Problem of Human Sin and Self
Sinclair Ferguson, in his book Devoted to God wrote:
“It is always a shock to our pride when we discover that we are sinners and not merely people who occasionally sin.”
Sinclair Ferguson, Devoted to God
He goes on the say that this highlights the profound realization that sin is deeply ingrained in us, rather than just isolated incidents. It emphasizes the humbling truth that overcoming sin requires ongoing effort and reliance on divine grace. And that true spiritual growth hinges on acknowledging the pervasiveness of sin and actively seeking holiness through Christ. Alistair Begg said that:
“Although we have been saved from sin’s penalty and one day we will be saved from sin’s presence, we are daily in need to be saved from sin’s power.”
Alistair Begg
David could have every right to say during much of this that he could blame Saul for his struggles, yet he is also finding out that he could blame himself for his struggles. When I think to my own life and my own struggles, who would I want to blame and who would I want to change. If I am thinking right, the answer is overwhelmingly ME! Not someone else. When I think of laziness, selfishness, weakness, impatience, uncaringness, lack of leadership, it is by far ME that I would want to change! In other words, the lack of a more Christlike ME can be blamed far more on ME than anyone else. Therefore, the problem of human sin and self. Point #3:
- The Deliverance of God
What we find fascinating in this dilemma for David is that it is the Philistine commanders bail him out. Problem, David has joined the Philistine camp. Now they are ready to fight Israel. What will David do? Here the Philistines are going out to destroy the Hebrews, and Achish thinks it is a good idea to have David’s men fight with them. And these commanders that are leaders of various camps of men who have joined together with this one massive army say, no way are we going to have these Hebrews fighting with us. It is very hard to imagine how David could ever change ships when he is known as the greatest Philistine killer ever. And their thinking is, why would David ever change now? It is actually strange that they didn’t decide to string him up right there and then. Sort of that “great day for a hanging” or “death at dawn” event. Fortunately, Achish seems to have a least that much pull to discourage such a thought. True, they do not know about the lies of David regarding the raids, but they do know about his immense popularity in Israel.
Yet Achish believes David is innocent and would never betray the Philistines to Israel. Yet throughout all this, Woodhouse notes that “David had been honest to his obligations to Saul and Israel, even while deceiving Achish.” So, do we applaud David for this? You might say, well, I will have to think about that one. It sort of sounds like one of our kids trying to explain their wrong actions that somehow turned out for good. Well, we must smile at David when he is told that he will not fight this battle. And his reaction isn’t whew! I got out of this one! No, he actually says, “But what have I done?” And yet David is released from this dilemma through the decision of his enemies. This is certainly the epitome of God working out everything for good to those who love Him! And yet he questions this, why? Is he upset that he will be unable to do what the Philistine commanders had suspected all along? As I would say the best choice would be to think that David was hoping all along to somehow turn on the Philistines and rescue Israel and therefore help Saul and Jonathan. Though I suppose his reaction could also be part of the deception, that he wanted Achish to know that he had every intention of fighting with the Philistines. Hard to know with this crafty David!
But the Lord had another plan for this battle, that ultimately it was good that it would be clear that David had nothing to do with the death of Saul. When we take wrong actions or when our thinking is all wrong, we may get ourselves into a heap of trouble. and we become trapped because we make foolish choices, a mess of our own doing. Yet God often still acts to deliver us from even these predicaments? Would we ever say that God will deliver us only when we have done what is right? David did not think so, for he later would write:
“He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
And He has not rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.”
Psalm 103:10-11 (LSB)
Yes, the blessing and deliverance of God. And it is not always dependant upon our constant obedience or faithfulness, though that is what we strive for and desire. Finally, point #4:
- The Perfect Plan of God
This final point comes not directly from the story itself, but from a consideration of this story. One of the greatest discussions in the Bible is the sovereignty of God. And it has been a doctrine which has been a battleground for centuries and has somewhat “polarized” theological camps. The battle of course is to the implications of the sovereignty of God, that He controls all things. For we read verses such as Daniel 4:35 or Ephesians 1:11:
“And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
But He does according to His will in the host of heaven
And among the inhabitants of earth;
And no one can strike against His hand
Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
Daniel 4:35 (LSB)
“In Him, we also have been made an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
Ephesians 1:11 (LSB)
Now some may read those verses and try to pull back a little, while others may try to pull back a lot to the extent that God has some influence. But He is really left to the mercy of the actions of individuals in the world including the work of Satan and evil for His will to be accepted. Others may read those verses and conclude an almost fatalistic view. And their explanation of them would leave you thinking that man’s destiny is fatalistic, and therefore, he is not responsible for his choices. Now my intent this morning in these last few moments is not teach you everything you need to know about the sovereignty of God, but I do want to point out something that does jump at us in this passage, something we do need to consider regarding the perfect plan of God.
I have mentioned before that I grew up under some great teaching by two good biblical teachers. And both had a strong view of the sovereignty of God without lessening the responsibility of man. Now admittedly, since you all know me anyway, when push comes to shove, I will lean more towards the sovereignty of God. But I trust that as I teach you, that I do not encourage you to find some kind of balance in this doctrine. Do not balance them, as this will only lessen them. But I would encourage you to uphold both doctrines—the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. In other words, we certainly do not want to lessen the responsibility of man, that would be so unbiblical. For how God could ever punish someone in hell for eternity if man was not responsible for every sin he commits.
But how could we ever downplay the sovereign plans of God, that He has determined all things from the beginning of the world and they will come about exactly as God said. R C Sproul said that “If God is not sovereign, God is not God.” Sproul often emphasized that God’s sovereignty is not just a theological concept, but the very essence of God’s being. He used to say that if anything was ever outside of His sovereign plan than it would undermine His authority and render Him not truly God. His famous quote was:
“If there is one single molecule in this universe running around loose, totally free of God’s sovereignty, then we have no guarantee that a single promise of God will ever be fulfilled.”
R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God
And here is how all this relates to our story. What we find fascinating in this dilemma for David is that it is the Philistine commanders bail him out. Problem, David has joined the Philistine camp; now they are ready to fight Israel, what would David do? Walter Brueggmann makes this observation, he writes:
“The resolution of David’s dilemma is wrought in chapter 29 from an unexpected source. One might imagine that Yahweh would intervene, but it is the Philistine lords who intervene and inadvertently rescue David.”
Walter Brueggemann, Narrative Intentionality in 1 Samuel 29 25
Is there an issue with this quote? That Yahweh did not intervene, but it was the Philistine lords who inadvertently rescued David? After reading Brueggemann’s article, I immediately wrote down these words, God always intervenes, as these lords are simply being used by Him. See, we must understand in this event that we already have the words of Samuel regarding this battle. God had told Saul what would happen, he and his boys will die. Now, we do not know this yet in the course of history as it does actually play out until chapter thirty-one, yet it does not have to play out for us to know it will happen.
Consider this, we know from the words of Samuel that the Philistines will win this battle—God’s sovereign decree—but David does not know this and has decisions to make and then gets annoyed. And the same Philistines who are about to take down the present king in Israel, are rescuing David from his own dilemma so that he will become the next king in Israel. And King Achish is trying to maintain some kind of order of his troops, while at the same time misjudging David. And Saul and the men of Israel are in panic mode, but obviously preparing for battle, though Sail’s men have not heard firsthand from Samuel about the defeat as Saul has.
See, if we may have trouble understanding the fact that man acts and make choices and yet God has still determined all things. Here we have a story right before us that has already determined the outcome before the battle even begins, therefore, we cannot get away from the Lord’s sovereign purposes bring fulfilled. And this is only the case because we have heard from Samuel, and the fact that God chose to reveal His perfect plan to Saul. Whereas God has a plan for yesterday, today, and tomorrow which involves every single action that occurs.
We sort of like to think of the “ifs.” What if Achish had his way? What would David had done? Would he have fought against the Philistines and possibly be killed, or would he have fought against his own people and lost his future in Israel? Yet in this story God does not allow for any “ifs” as He has already determined what would happen. Therefore, it helps us understand the sovereign purposes of God. As some would ask, how can God determine all things and at the same time man make meaningful choices and decisions? Well, we see the full gamut of that here in our story, as there is no question that God has determined the specifics of the story or the outcome of the story, and yet there is no question that man is fully strategizing his choices and therefore is fully responsible for them. And I understand that we cannot completely wrap our human minds around this truth. But it is good that God gives us a glimpse to see it see it played out, and therefore, to be able to accept it, though we do not fully comprehend it.
In the trial of Jesus, we have the man in the middle, Pilate. In this story of David, we have the man in the middle, King Achish. In both stories those who are not directly in charge seemingly get their way, don’t they? In the story of Christ, the religious leaders over Pilate. In this story of David, the Philistine commanders over Achish. In both stories we have a conclusion that has already been determined by God, the death of Christ and the death of Saul and his sons. And in both stories the Lord’s will is accomplished. Listen to the words of David’s son Solomon from Proverbs 16:
“The plans of the heart belong to man,
But the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
2 All the ways of a man are pure in his own sight,
But Yahweh weighs the motives.
3 Commit your works to Yahweh
And your plans will be established.
4 Yahweh has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
7 When a man’s ways are pleasing to Yahweh,
He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
9 The heart of man plans his way, But Yahweh directs his steps.
33 The lot is cast into the lap, But its every judgment is from Yahweh.”
Proverbs 16:1-4, 7, 9, 33 (LSB)
Saul is harried, overwrought with fear. Likely his people are fearful too, alongside his leadership. King Achish is duped, as he has completely misjudged David. His commanders or lords are all up in arms against David, but they do not know the whole story. And then David, who has got himself in a bind, and seems to be willing to use every form of deception to get himself out. Dr. Suess might say, all these harried humans making all their harried decisions. And then there is God, who oversees all the decisions and actions by human beings, wondering, how am I ever going to work all this mess out so that David will become king? No, this mess is part of the plan. This mess was determined before the foundation of the world, and this mess will bring about the ultimate purposes of God.
“For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur … this Man [Jesus Christ], delivered over [not by Judas, though He is responsible for his sin, but delivered over] by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God”
Acts 4:27-28; 2:23 (LSB)
Let’s pray. Lord, we praise You for the freedom of Your sovereign will. May we be a people who are so certain and confident of all Your purposes and plans, for every single molecule, every little ant, every little person, every little king, every little star in all of Your universe, forever is in Your plan. Help us to know and be confident of that kind of victory, because we know You greater. And all God’s people said, amen.