1 Samuel 29: Marching with the Enemy

Introduction

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

The words of Psalm 118 are how we began our worship this morning. This is a psalm traditionally attributed to David- a song of thanksgiving after overcoming enemies.

He may, or may not, have had the events of Chapter 29 in mind as he wrote Psalm 118. But in this true story from God’s Word, we see more evidence of God’s goodness and steadfast love in David’s life.

Chapter 29 is a reasonably straightforward story. As they gather to fight Israel, the Philistine commanders express their distrust of David, fearing he will betray them to Saul during the battle at Jezreel. So they force King Achish to send him back. Despite David’s protests and Achish’s confidence in him, David is sent away. In this unexpected way, God uses those who would be David’s enemies to save him from going into battle against God’s People.

So, in Chapter 29 we see:

A self-inflicted dilemma

An unexpected deliverance

An ‘unwanted’ dismissal

In Chapter 29 we see the depths of God’s mercy and the mystery of His providence. And while David had been saved many times before, from various foes, here we are confronted with the truth that really David needed to be saved from himself- and so do we.

Let us see that now as we turn, firstly, and learn about… A self-inflicted dilemma

Chapter 29 takes us back to David and the cliffhanger moment of Chapter 28 verse 2. There David was faced with a dilemma: fight with the Philistines against God’s People or face the consequences of refusing to fight.

Now we may feel for David in that moment, but we must be aware that David only had himself to blame for his current circumstances. David’s dilemma in Chapter 29 is a self-inflicted dilemma.

When we last spent some proper time with David, back in Chapter 27, you will remember verse 1 said:

But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul…”

Here we pondered the truth unbelieving thoughts often lead to unbelieving actions. Rather than meditating on God’s Word, David allowed pressing doubts to undermine his confidence in God’s Will.

In his unbelief David went over to the Philistine King Achish and sought security in the land of Israel’s archenemies. For sixteen months David lived in a way that seemed right to him. David cunningly navigated his precarious situation, making the Philistines think that he was helping them against Israel while making sure that he did no actual harm to God’s People.

But David’s cunning could only keep him safe for so long. Taking matters into his own hands instead of waiting for the Lord would not work out so well for David in the end.

 

The beginning Chapter 28 describes David’s dilemma- the dilemma of his own making. With the Philistine army, including David, mobilising against God’s Covenant People, David must either chose to fight with the Philistines and turn his back completely on God’s People, or he would have to face the consequences of refusing to fight

What would David do?

Growing up I loved to watch Laurel and Hardy. Their slapstick humour still makes me laugh out loud today. Some of you will know the classic phrase that Hardy said to Laurel after one of their comical mishaps: ‘And that’s another fine mess you’ve got me into!’.

But you see, David had no one to say that to except himself. In Chapter 28 and now in Chapter 29, David is between a rock and a hard place, and he only has himself to blame.

You remember when we studied Chapter 27, we saw that David had established a practice of deception and destruction- he would destroy whole settlements so no one could report what David was really up to. Then, in verse 11, we are told: ‘… such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory.’. In other words, it became the way he lived- his ‘go-to’ tactic for getting through life in those days.

So, carefully reading David’s story in the previous chapters, we see that David’s biggest problem wasn’t Saul’s pursuit or his Philistine hosts. No, David’s biggest problem was David.

David stopped listening to God’s Word. This inevitably led to David no longer following God’s Way. Now David was facing the consequences of turning his back on God.

 

And this shouldn’t really surprise us. David is an exceptional man in many ways- a fearsome warrior, gifted poet, handsome. But David was still a man, a sinner in need of God’s grace. David was just a man- a man like you and me.

Sinclair Ferguson, in his book Devoted to God makes a point worthy of note here:

It is always a shock to our pride when we discover that we are sinners—and not merely people who occasionally sin.

These words, if we hear them correctly, will cut us to the heart. There is profound truth in these words that we would do well to ponder.

If we truly desire to follow Christ and find fullness in Him then we must wrestle with the reality of our sin problem. Sin is something we must battle against daily- we must go to war on every single speck of sin in our lives.

Although we have been saved from sin’s penalty (at the Cross), and although one day we will be saved from sin’s presence (in Glory), we are daily in need of being saved from sin’s power. So, we need the grace of God not just a conversion, but every moment of our lives. Following Jesus is about daily repentance- the active, ongoing process of turning from sin and turning to Christ.

In God’s Word, throughout God’s Word, we are confronted with the reality that we must make war on the sin in our lives. In God’s Word, throughout God’s Word, we are comforted by the truth that, in Christ, God supplies all the grace we need to overcome sin. In Christ, we are set free to live for God, by daily seeking His help to do so.

So, we have David’s self-inflicted dilemma- he was leaning on his own understanding. But then we come to… An unexpected deliverance

In verses 1 and 2 the scene is set for the story of David’s unexpected deliverance. The Philistines were a collection of five city-states. When they fought, the forces of these five city-states would come together to form one army. That is what they do as they gather at Aphek.

But then David turns up with Achish’s forces. The other commanders are astonished. In verse, the military men question the wisdom of having a group of Hebrews in the Philistine army that is preparing to overthrow Israel. We can almost imagine them saying, ‘Achish, have you forgotten who it is that we are about to fight?’.

The commanders find the whole situation ridiculous. There they are, preparing to destroy Israel, and one of their leaders shows up with David, the Israelite prince (and six hundred of his men), and expects that it will be ok for them join the fight.

As we read on in verse 3, we can’t help but we amazed by Achish’s reply:

“Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul king of Israel? He has already been with me for over a year, and from the day he left Saul until now, I have found no fault in him.”

Achish defends David as completely dependable. Here was a man who had been completely conned by David.

Achish was more accurate than he realised when he said, ‘Is this not David, who was an officer of Saul, king of Israel?’. He did not mean, of course, that David was still Saul’s servant. Achish believed that David had become his servant. But that was not true. David had deceived Achish and had in fact done nothing to undermine his own claim to be Saul’s faithful servant

Achish has been taken in by David. But the Philistine commanders will have none of it. In verse 4 we learn that Achish’s reply infuriates them and they demand that David be removed.

The commanders argue for David’s removal based upon the wisdom of warfare and good sense. They suspect that David will betray them to get back into Saul’s good books.

The commanders also took David’s reputation seriously. They had heard the ‘David and Saul song’ and knew only too well that the song was talking about ‘thousands’ and ‘ten thousands’ of Philistine casualties!

These Philistine commanders were understandably angry by the ease with which Achish had put his trust in this David. There was no way they were going to fight alongside someone whose main claim to fame was the slaughter of thousands of Philistines.

In verses 6 and 7 Achish delivers the bad news. And you would expect that when the word is given to him in verse 7, ‘Now turn back and go in peace; do nothing to displease the Philistine rulers…’, David would have been overjoyed and ran home as fast as he could.

We could imagine him thinking to himself, ‘This is amazing! I didn’t know how I was going get out of this fine mess! But now I can just leave and put this all behind me. Brilliant!’. But he doesn’t do that!

Instead, in verse 8 he asked:

 “What have you found against your servant from the day I came to you until now? Why can’t I go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

Now we are left wondering: David has been given a way out of his self-inflicted dilemma, why doesn’t he to want take it?

Well, we may want to consider the possibility that David is faking this disappointment to keep up the pretence with Achish. If he hadn’t have made some sort of protest, then Achish may have begun to suspect all was not as it seemed with David.

Or another possibility to consider, is that when David talks about fighting ‘…against the enemies of my lord the king…’ it may be that Saul, not Achish, is the king that he has in mind. Indeed, looking back over earlier chapters, every indication so far in the story is that he remains loyal to Saul and sees him as his king- the Lord’s anointed.

So, it appears the Philistine commanders were right to be suspicious all along. David saw his presence among the Philistine army as an opportunity to mount a surprise counter-offensive and do serious damage to these enemies of Saul and Israel. David was sincerely trying to overturn the order of the Philistine lords, so that he might put into action his audacious plan to redeem himself and rescue Israel by means of a sneak attack from within the Philistine ranks.

This was David’s daring plan. What David did not know, however, was that God had another plan for this battle. We know from Chapter 28 verse 19 that God would use this battle to execute His righteous judgement on Saul.

So, in the request of the Philistine commanders David is spared from ever being associated in any way with Saul’s demise. In God’s intervening grace and sovereign purposes, David is unexpectedly delivered from his self-inflicted dilemma.

God works an unexpected deliverance for David. God works through these Philistine commanders to unwittingly deliver David from his dilemma. God rescues David from himself by using David’s enemies.

Once again, we are reminded that God ways are not our ways, but God’s ways are always best for His People. In the words of William Cowper:

God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
…
Ye fearful saints fresh courage take,
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
…
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a smiling face.

More often than not, we cannot discern how God is working His perfect purposes for us. We wish that God would do things our way, according to our plans. This was surely how David felt as he was sent away from the battlefield- his daring plan frustrated- but in time he would see God’s grace in His sovereign plans.

And so, we come finally and briefly to… An ‘unwanted’ dismissal

In verses 9 and 10 it is clear Achish thought highly of David. But Achish was a weakling. He could not resist the pressure from his commanders. His own verdict on David had to be put to one side. The will of others would prevail.

Then, in verse 11, the chapter concludes by noting that David headed south while the Philistines moved north to engage Saul for what would prove to be the last time. So it was that in the remarkable providence of God, David was kept well away from the battle that would end Saul’s life- kept from ever being associated with Saul’s demise in any way.

In the same way David’s own desire to save his people from the Philistines was, on this occasion, blocked. David may have wanted to fight and win favour with his people by taking the heads of many Philistines. But God had a better plan for David.

The sovereignty of God and His providential guiding of His People is clear in this chapter. But it is also hidden. Notice how God’s involvement in these events is not explicitly mentioned- the only reference to God in this chapter comes from Achish, the Philistine king, in verse 6. Here we pause and ponder the nature of God’s work in the lives of His People.

Often God’s sovereign will is achieved in ways that are unseen- or at least unnoticed. Even David did not know God’s purpose for the coming battle, or His will that David should be free of blame for Saul’s death. However, in everything that happened God worked it all to bring about His Will: for David to receive the kingdom and His chosen king to blamelessly take the throne.

Indeed, throughout the Grand Story of Scripture we see God at work to bring about His Will: that His Chosen King, King Jesus, would receive the Kingdom through His blameless life, perfect sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection. In the story of David we see aspects of Jesus experience that first Easter.

 

For example, David was vindicated three times by Achish in extravagant terms that were truer than he knew. Similarly, Jesus was vindicated by Pontius Pilate. However, while David’s ‘righteousness and . . . faithfulness’ toward Saul and Israel had been maintained by questionable means, of Jesus it could be truly said, ‘He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth’.

And consider how Achish was weak and gave way to David’s accusers. Pontius Pilate likewise gave in to Jesus’ accusers. The consequences of these weak decisions were very different, at first sight. David was required to return to Ziklag. Jesus was crucified. But for both Jesus and David, these ‘trials’ became an important step on their way to their respective kingdoms.

Finally, the outcome, in each case, was the will of God for His anointed one. As we will see in 1 Samuel 30, David became, in a small but significant way, the saviour of his people. Jesus, too, but in indescribably greater terms, became the Savior of the world.

Our God works in mysterious, often unnoticed ways, His wonders to perform. The wonder of salvation was worked out in the most mysterious of all ways: the death of the Lord Jesus. And yet in this mysterious way there is salvation. Indeed, in all of God’s mysterious ways there is blessing for His People when we trust and obey.

Conclusion

As we finish, we should be clear that as we read Chapter 29 that this is not the story of David’s lucky break but of divine deliverance. And we should marvel at how God chooses to use even those who were opposed to David to bring about his deliverance. Ultimately rescuing David from himself and God rescued David in a gloriously unexpected way.

As we leave this place today, we should do so with a greater appreciation of the amazing grace of God. In the Gospel we are delivered in the most gloriously unexpected way: we who were once enemies of God become His Children through the perfect sacrifice of His Son. As we ponder this truth may it call us to a deeper trust in our Heavenly Father- He is working in His mysterious ways- and cause us to pursue a truer devotion to His Word- that the wonders of His grace may be seen in our lives.