1 Samuel 27

1 Samuel 27

MacArthur - Judah... Jerahmeelites... Kenites. The regions S of the hill country centering around Beersheba. This region was far enough away from Gath so that Achish would be ignorant of David's movements. David implied to Achish that the hostility of Judah toward David was increasing, while in fact he was gaining the appreciation and loyalty of Judah toward himself by raiding their wilderness neighbors. Achish thought David was more securely his servant as his own people turned against him (vv. 2-4), but just the opposite was true. (Borrow the MacArthur Study Bible) TSK Note - David here meant the Geshurites, and Gezrites, and Amalekites, which people occupied that part of the country which lies to the south of Judah. But Achish, as was intended, understood him in a different sense, and believed that he had attacked his own countrymen. David's answer, therefore, though not an absolute falsehood, was certainly an equivocation intended to deceive, and therefore incompatible with that sense of truth and honour which became him as a prince, and a professor of true religion. From these, and similar passages, we may observe the strict impartiality of the Sacred Scriptures. They present us with the most faithful delineation of human nature; they exhibit the frailties of kings, priests, and prophets, with equal truth; and examples of vice and frailty, as well as of piety and virtue, are held up, that we may guard against the errors to which the best men are exposed. Deffinbaugh - About this time, David must be mentally patting himself on the back: “It can’t get any better than this.” David does not have to hide out in the desolate “God forsaken” wilderness areas of Israel; he can freely go anywhere he wants, with respect. He can even drop in on the king. He does not have to “beg” for a handout for his men, but rather can live high on the spoils of his raids. He does not have to fear that the Israelites will betray him; he frequents Israelite villages and towns, bringing their leaders presents from the spoils of war. And if Saul will not deal with the enemies of Israel who surround this nation, David will. David seems to have the best of both (Israelite and Philistine) worlds. And so it appears, but not for long. The chickens, as we say, are about to come home to roost. (One Step Forward and Two Backward 1 Samuel 27:1-28:2) Alan Redpath (in his online book The Making of a Man of God Life of David) writes "David, that is a lie! You haven’t been doing anything of the kind! But Achish became thoroughly convinced, he “believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever” (I Samuel 27:12). No wonder the music of this man’s life was in the minor key. It is like listening one moment to the magnificence of the “Messiah,” and the next moment going to a joint where they play juke-box jazz. A blight descended on his soul and the song in his heart was silenced when he descended to expediency and gave in to depression. It is a tragedy in the life of a child of God when he yields to the pressure of Satan, and God leaves him on his own. He is reduced to scheming and planning, and when he is driven into a tight corner he can only escape by deceit. Suddenly the man who has given in to depression realizes that he has purchased his deliverance from the pressure of the devil at too great a price. He has obtained release from tension for a moment, but he has exchanged the smile of God for the grin of the enemy. He has exchanged the protection of Jesus Christ for flimsy walls of defeat, as David exchanged trust in the promises of God for the walls of Ziklag, which soon were going to be burned by fire and over which David would weep scalding, bitter tears of repentance. Oh, the harm that is done by a man who gives in to the enemy! There is, however, a remedy for this. It need not happen to any of us, by the grace of God, if we just listen and pray. What is the answer for such a situation? Go back a moment to the Scripture for the discovery of what, I believe, lies at the root of David’s future. “David said in his heart” (I Samuel 27:1). There you have it. As we have seen, in other times of emergency he inquired of the Lord. And we will find that when he learned his bitter lesson in these desperate circumstances, once again David inquired of the Lord and the Lord met him immediately (I Samuel 30:8). David had failed to seek God in the matter of Nabal, being overcome by passion and temper. At Ziklag he was overcome by panic, and he “said in his heart”, with no reference at all to the Lord. Never act in a panic. Never act when your emotions are aroused and your blood is at the boiling point. Wait until your pulse begins to beat steadily again. If at any moment of tremendous pressure you feel that you must do something, that moment is the time when you will be apt to make the most tragic mistake in judgment. At that moment – and may I use the word! – force yourself into the presence of God, and I mean “force yourself.” When you feel like flying off the handle, when you are a victim of depression, when you are in a mood of despair, when you are on the point of giving in, the last thing you want to do is to seek the Lord. You are too ashamed, and you feel that the only thing you can do is to act. Whatever you do, stand still! Wait until you have a word from the Lord; cast yourself on your knees and cry out to Jesus for mercy and for help. Wait upon God until He makes His way plain. As long as that way is hidden, if He keeps it closed, quite clearly there is no need to do anything. If only you and I applied that principle always in our walk with God, think what damage might be avoided! While you wait upon the Lord, I would ask you to remember three simple but basic truths which David remembered at another time in his life. First, remember that God’s promises are sure. “The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate (Psalm 34:22). God has provided that we should be acceptable to Him through the blood of Jesus Christ. He has provided for our renewing into the likeness of our Saviour, and for our perseverance in a life of faith because of the perseverance of Jesus, and no one shall ever pluck us out of His Father’s hand. Secondly, remember that His promises are conditional. “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (Psalm 34:15-16). Not one promise in the Bible can be yours until you repent and believe the gospel. Therefore examine the cause of your depression and fears. Are you depressed in case God should forget all about you, denying His word and leaving you to perish notwithstanding the fact that you have trusted Him? Then that is criminal. Or are you doubting that you have ever really come to Jesus at all in His appointed way? Then these circumstances that are flying at you from all sides may not be from the devil, it may be that the Lord is driving you to repent and believe. Have you fled to Jesus for refuge? If not, then to trust God for help is sheer presumption. Thirdly, remember that His promises are corrective. David said, “There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 27:1). In other words, he allowed the pressure to drive him away from God. But to wait upon the Lord is to prove that all things work together for good to them that love God and that nothing in the whole universe can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ. The promise of the Lord is that He will draw us near: “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart” (Psalm 34:18). Never let anything drive you from the wounded side of Jesus Christ. ( The Making of a Man of God Life of David) 1 Samuel 27:11 David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, "Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, 'So has David done and so has been his practice all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.'" Lest: 1Sa 22:22 Pr 12:19 29:25 1 Samuel 27 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries DAVID'S DEMOLITION OF ALL THE INHABITANTS David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, "Otherwise they will tell about us, saying, 'So has David done and so has been his practice all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines - The writer explains why David utterly destroyed all the inhabitants, men, women and surely children (but they are not specifically mentioned). Why? So there would be no survivors to tell Achish that David was raiding non-Israelite cities which would insure David's deception of Achish was successful. As alluded to elsewhere, one might see David's actions as a fulfillment of the LORD'S command to utter destroy all of the pagans in the promised land (this instruction clearly applied to the Amalekites). 1 Samuel 27:12 So Achish believed David, saying, "He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever." made odious 1Sa 13:4 Ge 34:30 1 Samuel 27 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Related Passage: 1 Samuel 13:4 All Israel heard the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines (ACTUALLY IT WAS JONATHAN NOT HIS FATHER! - 1Sa 13:3 - SAUL TOOK THE CREDIT!!!), and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned to Saul at Gilgal. DAVID'S DECEPTION FOOLS ACHISH So - Term of conclusion. So means "for this reason," begging the question "For what reason?" The answer is clear from the immediately preceding context describing David's destruction of any witnesses that might not corroborate his deception of Achish. Achish believed (aman) David - Recall that David had a reputation of being "very cunning." (1Sa 23:22+)! He was living up to his reputation. As we say Achish bought into David's deception "hook, line and sinker!" And not just for a few weeks, for David was able to cover up the truth for 16 months! Did God approve of David's deception? Clearly He did not, but nevertheless He allowed David to carry out his ruse, lest David be discovered and destroyed, which could not happen because God had already told David he would be the next king. Believed (aman) is exact word used of Israel in Ex 14:31+ when "they believed in the LORD and in His servant Moses." Saying, "He has surely made himself odious (baash) among his people Israel - The Septuagint renders odious (baash) with the verb aischunomai (verb is actually repeated in Lxx to emphasize the shame) which means put to shame or become disgraced and in the perfect tense signifies completed past action with enduring or lasting effects. Thus Achich believed that David had permanently made himself odious to his own people! Therefore (Term of conclusion) he will become my servant ('ebed; Lxx = doulos) forever - Achish bought into the lie so completely he came to the conclusion that he had hooked a "big Hebrew fish" whose allegiance and service to him was assured forever! And in the continuing section in chapter 28, Achich is so convinced of David's loyalty that he is willing to make him his bodyguard (Hebrew - "guardian of his head"!!) Odious (0887) baash means to have a bad smell or stench, to stink. To be repulsive. It denotes a bad physical smell (blood in the Nile - Ex 7:21) or odor of spoiled manna (Ex 16:20). In a figurative sense, it speaks of a person who becomes strongly revolting to another, a metaphorical "stench in the nostrils." Baash - 16v - acts disgustingly(1), became foul(3), become foul(2), become odious(2), grow foul(1), made(1), made themselves odious(1), made yourself odious(1), making me odious(1), odious*(1), stink(2), surely made(1), surely made himself odious(1). Gen. 34:30; Exod. 5:21; Exod. 7:18; Exod. 7:21; Exod. 8:14; Exod. 16:20; Exod. 16:24; 1 Sam. 13:4; 1 Sam. 27:12; 2 Sam. 10:6; 2 Sam. 16:21; 1 Chr. 19:6; Ps. 38:5; Prov. 13:5; Eccl. 10:1; Isa. 50:2