“Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. And the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men passed on in the rereward with Achish. Then said the princes of the Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day? And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying, Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands? Then Achish called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not. Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies of my lord the king? And Achish answered and said to David, I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up with us to the battle. Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up early in the morning, and have light, depart. So David and his men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel” (1 Samuel 29:1-11).
Introduction
David would never have dreamt that he would find himself in this predicament when he aligned himself with Achish, but now he was on the verge of doing battle with King Saul unless the Lord intervened. Though it appears he did not bring the situation to God in prayer, in His mercy the Lord delivered David from a terrible problem. David had worked his way into Achish’s army, but now God was working to get him out of it.
The objection
The Philistine princes objected to David’s presence on the battlefield as the soldiers were paraded before them, even if he was only at the rear of the army. As one Philistine rightly stated, David should not be amongst the Philistines. They would never trust a Hebrew regardless of how much Achish was honouring him, for they saw a possibility that the king had never considered. David could easily change sides if he saw the battle going against Saul. The other leaders were angered at Achish’s stupidity here.
The observation
The Philistine princes knew what David was capable of in battle. They had heard the jingle that the girls sang about his courage and strength. They knew that he could do the same to them if he was allowed to remain in the camp. This song disturbed both the Israelite and Philistine leadership. This song about David’s prowess was mentioned to Achish several years before when he first tried to get into Gath, “And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?” (1 Samuel 21:11).
The order
David was ordered to return to Ziklag and have no part in the battle with Israel. Achish truly believed that David was his friend and would never do anything against him, but he did not know him as much as he thought. He looked on David was a guardian angel sent by God. “The Heathens acknowledged good spirits, which also they worshipped as an inferior sort of deities” (John Wesley). He saw David as righteous and honourable, but he had no spiritual understanding of the fact that he was operating outside of God’s will.
David pretended to be offended at what Achish said, but deep down he must have been relieved. This is just another indication of the continuance of David’s attempts to deceive the king. Achish had come to trust David, even making him his bodyguard, but fortunately the rest of the Philistines had no such regard for him.
Conclusion
This dilemma was a result of leaving God out of
the picture. David had eventually dug a pit so deep that he could find no way of
escape. He had no remedy for predicament he was in. He had involved all those
who had followed him into this mire of deceit and lies. Even in such a
bottomless pit of his own making, he did not turn to God for deliverance. But
God by His grace and for His glory reached out to solve the unsolvable. “He
brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet
upon a rock, and established my goings” (Psalm 40:2). “And the kindness of God to David was the greater, because
it had been most just for God to have left David in those distresses into which
his own sinful counsel had brought him” (John Wesley). Nevertheless, we serve
a faithful God who continues to watch over His own. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but
God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to
bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).
© 28/9/09