Destruction and Deception

“And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever” (1 Samuel 27:7-12).

Introduction

There are two issue that that need to be studied in this passage of Scripture; the first being the destruction which David brought upon the people mentioned, and secondly, the deception of David in that he lied to Achish.

The destruction

David convinced Achish that it would be best that he and his people lived away from the main population of Gath. David was not concerned for the welfare of the Gathites, but instead had an ulterior motive for this. Achish fell for this and gave David Ziglag to settle in. Ziglag was of no value to the Philistines, because it was just a little town they had captured and was inhabited by Jews, the descendants of the Tribe of Simeon (Joshua 19:5).  We must note, as we saw in our last study, that David is not moving in the will of God, so everything he does and says while he is living with the Philistines needs to be judged with this in mind.

Once far from the gaze of Achish, David begins to invade the people of other lands. He killed everyone, man, woman and child in these places so that no news could find its way back to Achish. It is true that the people mentioned were the enemies of God, and were meant to be dealt with by Joshua and Saul, but David has not yet been commissioned by the Lord to carry out such attacks. The destruction of the pagan people that had lived in the land before Israel arrived was indeed ordained of God. “But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee” (Deuteronomy 20:16-17). The reason for their destruction in plainly spelt out in Deuteronomy 20:18, “That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against the LORD your God.” King Saul was also commissioned to destroy the Amalekites, something which he failed to do (see 1 Samuel 15). It is highly unlikely that David had this in mind as he went to slaughter them, since he was not under Divine orders.

Maybe David thought that being engaged in what appeared to be obedience to God’s commands, he was actually using it as a cloak to cover his disobedience in going to Philistia in the first place. “When the consciences of God’s servants tells them that their position is wrong, one of the devices not infrequently used is to give themselves, with fresh energy, to the attainment of some right end” (B. W. Newton). No increase in religious activity can remove sin or condemnation. David’s success in all of this is no indication that he was approved of God. The approval or disapproval of our lives is not based on our success, but upon our obedience to the will and word of God.

The deception

David must have become very comfortable living in Philistia, for he was there for sixteen months. Every day he was there only prolonged the disobedience and would prove to have an unhappy outcome.

David has no choice, humanly speaking, but to deceive Achish into thinking that he hated King Saul and Israel so much that he was attacking Judah and other enemies of the Philistines.

Surely the Philistines knew that someone was responsible for the destruction of their people, and they concluded that Israel must be the aggressor here. Unless God intervenes, David will find himself fighting against his own people. “And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men. And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever” (1 Samuel 28:1-2). Since King Saul and Jonathan died in the battle with the Philistines, maybe David’s disobedience played a part of bringing this about.

Conclusion

David would eventually see the price he had to pay for his disobedience. David, who had prayed for God’s direction in times past, was now found operating according to his own inclinations. Some commentators note that the psalmist composed no songs while he was amongst the Philistines, for his guilt had destroyed his joy, but it is possible that later he penned Psalm 119:28-29 in response to this episode in his life, “My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word. Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.” His supposed safety in Gath was quickly coming to an end.

© 21/9/2009