Previously in 1 Samuel, we saw the Philistines gather their armies together at Shunem, and Saul gathered Israel together at Gilboa. Saul was able to look down on the hosts of the Philistines, and he trembled with fear. He sought counsel from the Lord, but the Lord would not answer him. As a result, he sought out a medium to call up Samuel from the dead to find out what he should do. Normally, a medium would only talk to an evil spirit that would impersonate the dead person, but it appears in this instance that the Lord allowed Samuel to be called up as a witness against Saul. Whatever the case, visiting a medium is strictly forbidden in the Scriptures. Samuel reminded Saul that the kingdom had been taken from him because he refused to obey the Lord by destroying the Amalekites, and that it was given to his neighbor, David. Samuel told him that all Israel will be delivered into the hand of the Philistines, and that tomorrow Saul and his sons would be with him. In other words, Saul and his sons would die in battle. This pronouncement of judgment was likely a direct response to Saul’s decision to visit a medium rather than repent from his sins, and his choice will unfortunately affect his sons and the rest of the nation as well.
Next, the scene shifts back to the Philistines and to David and his men. If we recall, Achish wanted David and his men to go into battle with him, and David agreed to do so. We do not know what David’s true intentions were here: was he planning on fighting with the Philistines against his own people, or was he planning on turning on the Philistines in battle? Either way, his options did not look good.
The Philistines gathered their armies together at Aphek, and the Israelites gathered together near a fountain in Jezreel. As the Philistines numbered their men, they saw David and his men, and said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish replied that it was David, and that he had found no fault with him since he had defected to him more than a year ago. However, the lords of the Philistines were angry with Achish, and told him to send David back to his appointed place so he would not turn on them in battle. They saw the inherit risk here, and understandably so. David could finally win Saul’s favor with the heads of some Philistines. They remembered several years earlier when David had killed their champion, Goliath, and how the women sang, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.”
Achish called David, and told him that he had to return back to Ziklag. He said that as the Lord lives, he knew that David was upright and he had not found any evil in him, but he did not want to displease the lords of the Philistines. It is interesting that Achish is invoking the name of the Lord here. This could be out of respect for David, or maybe David’s presence there had some positive influence on Achish. David should not have been there, but the Lord can still bring good out of our sinful choices. David objected to this, stating, “But what have I done? And to this day what have you found in your servant as long as I have been with you, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” Again, this could mean David was actually intending on fighting against his own people, or he was lying to Achish as before to further his plan to reconcile himself to Israel and to Saul. Achish replied, “I know that you are as good in my sight as an angel of God; nevertheless the princes of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ Now therefore, rise early in the morning with your master’s servants who have come with you. And as soon as you are up early in the morning and have light, depart.” So, David and his men departed in the morning, and the Philistines headed up to Jezreel.
David was about to make a terrible choice that could have jeopardized his kingdom and possibly his life, but God got him out of the mess. The Lord used rejection to accomplish His will in this situation; He used the ungodly Philistine’s rejection of David to get David back where he was supposed to be. Rejection never feels good in the moment, but especially when it comes from the ungodly, there is usually a good reason for it. I’m so glad the Lord gets us out of our messes at times. I think back on some of the choices I have made, and how God either kept me from going through with it or He spared me from all the consequences of my actions. This is just the kindness and mercy of God at play here in David’s life. The Lord knew David would make these mistakes when He anointed him king, but He also knew David’s heart. He knew that David would respond to His discipline and turn back to Him, and that is what we will see in the following chapter.
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