As we look at the text in front of us today, I cannot help but to smile a little bit as I think about how this passage has shaped up in light of what has already happened. Though it may not seem obvious, there is something beautiful happening in the background of our passage as the invisible, sovereign, hand of God works to preserve his chosen king from the disastrous situation he has gotten himself into.

Think about it, think about what has transpired in the recent events leading up to our text today. David has been running from king Saul for years because has tried on multiple occasions to end his life. By God’s grace, David has continually escaped. David has even had two significant chances to take Saul out, but again, by God’s grace, he maintained his integrity, resisted the urge, and confronted Saul for his sin instead of wiping him off the face of the earth.

But now, something has shifted in David back in Chapter 27:1 where he finally caved into his fear and said in his heart “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines”. From that point forward we have observed David falling from this great man of integrity and profound trust in God, into a man who is full of fear, and doubt, and deceit as he has employed lies to earn the trust of one of Israel’s oldest enemies.

Commentators have noted that sin is a slow fade from that initial “minor” misstep of unbelief and fear to full blown entrapment in the spider’s web of deadly deceit and consequences.2 Every believer knows the agony of living long periods of time, faithfully fighting those sinful impulses that well up from deep within us, to suddenly running headlong into sin’s tantalizing arms in response to some outward circumstance that has caused our hearts to fear and doubt in God’s goodness. In those moments we are effectively believing that it is better to be over there in sin rather than in the presence of God – like David has done here.

Now, whether or not David comprehended his dire predicament yet is not necessarily important, and the text is largely silent on this point, but I do think there are some concrete clues in what we are about to study, that illustrates his utter blindness to the gravity of his situation, not to mention his full blown eagerness to continue down this sinful pathway.

The bottom line here is that David does not know what he does not know! We know more than David did at this point in the story, but David seems to be clueless as to the seriousness of his sin, not to mention, clueless to the invisible hand of God still working on his behalf.

Let us remember that at the end of last week’s study in Chapter 28, that Saul received his final death sentence as a consequence for his rejection of God; and David had become enslaved to the Philistine king as his personal bodyguard. David has no clue that God is about to land the deathblow of judgement on Saul through the Philistines.

I honestly do not think – from the way I am tracking the story – that David even understood how far he had fallen from grace. David’s own words from chapter 27 give him away when he said that “there’s nothing better for” him than to be in bed with the enemy whom he used to conquer. He seems to be ever ready to help them annihilate the very people he was anointed to lead and fight for, along with the very king he used to refuse to lay a hand against.

What will stop David from running off this new cliff, from plunging into total disaster? The answer is, the Philistines of course! In a shocking twist, it is not David who comes to his senses, it is not even Abigail – the wife of immense wisdom from earlier, it is not even his own men – who should have held David accountable to remaining steadfast in his trust in the Lord. Nope! It is the Philistine commanders in verses 1 – 5 who protest David’s presence among them on the battlefield! Look at the text with me…

1Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel. 2As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were passing on in the rear with Achish, 3the commanders of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul, king of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years, and since he deserted to me, I have found no fault in him to this day.” 4But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him. And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Send the man back, that he may return to the place to which you have assigned him. He shall not go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become an adversary to us. For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of the men here? 5Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”

6Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. 7So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” 8And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” 9And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ 10Now then rise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.” 11So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

#1: THE PHILISTINE COMMANDERS PROTEST (VV. 1 – 5)

As the Philistine forces are filing into the battlefield, some of the commanders from the neighboring Philistine regions notice David and his band of 600+ fighting men alongside king Achish and they ask, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” (v. 3).

Any logical person in their right mind would ask why a large group of the enemy was mingling among their ranks – especially alongside the king of one of the major regions. Their logical question illustrates the absurdity of what David has gotten himself into – not to mention the absurdity of king Achish, who seems to be gloating over his newfound servant-slave.

Achish’s response further illustrates his idiocy when he basically states that David used to be “the servant of Saul” but has been with him now for many “days and years… since he deserted” all of his countrymen, and Achish has “found no fault in him to this day” (v. 3). Achish seems to be bragging about his new little partner in crime – David – as though his neighboring Philistine brothers in arms should be jealous to have a traitor like this at their sides too.

But his brothers in arms are having none of this – in their minds, once a traitor always a traitor – David cannot be trusted in battle. The author even tells us that “the commanders of the Philistines” became angry once they heard Achish’s response and they told him to send David away because if he wanted to become a double agent and get back on the good side of Israel, then this would be the time to do it, and the king also should not forget the songs they still sing about David’s victories over the Philistine people (vv. 4 – 5).

Once again, it is the Philistines from the other neighboring Philistine regions that speak wisdom into the situation at hand. David is in over his head in his disbelief and deception, and his wives and his men have not been a source of wisdom or accountability. King Achish has been duped by David’s lies, and he is head over heels in love with the fact that he has a traitor for a bodyguard. But Achish’s people are having none of it; they want David gone from the battlefield!

#2: ACHISH SENDS DAVID AWAY (VV. 6 – 11)

What will king Achish do? He could have defied the Philistine commanders from the other regions, but that would have caused unnecessary conflict on the eve of war. Achish does what he has to do as he sends David away in verses 6 – 11. The thing about this second portion of the story – if you remember from our reading – is that, while Achish does send David away, David does not seem to just jump at the thought of being redeemed from the pickle he had gotten himself into. What is wrong with David? Is he really that far gone, that he wants to do harm to his own people?

When King Achish approaches David, he gives David some glowing accommodations. He uses the name of Israel’s Living God to begin the conversation and then he tells David that he believes that David has been honest, that he finds nothing wrong in David, and that “it seems right that [David] should march out… in the campaign” with him (v. 6). Achish is so head over heels for David that it almost seems like he is trying not to ruffle David’s feathers with all of his sweet talk. What a strange place to be! The enemy trying to sweet talk one of God’s wayward children!

Nevertheless, Achish continues in verses 6 – 7 by letting David know that his commanders do not approve of his presence and that he needs to leave quietly so he does not “displease the lords of the Philistines”. Notice that Achish is not asking David to leave because he recognizes the stupidity of his newfound alliance with David. He is only asking David to leave so he does not ruffle any feathers among his commanders.

You would think that David would be secretly overjoyed to be relieved of his post but as we will see here in a moment, he does not appear to be overjoyed. Commentators are all over the board in their interpretation of David’s response to king Achish’s request that he leave the battlefield. For the most part, the commentators have a difficult time of assigning guilt to David or believing that he could seriously be ready to go to war against his countrymen. They might be right.

Personally, I have no problem believing that David’s response is simply evidence that he has fallen into a very grievous sin because of his fear of king Saul and his sixteen-month bout with doubt. The great David who once slew the giant, and killed his tens of thousands of the Philistines, and evaded king Saul, and even refused to kill king Saul twice when he had the chance, gave into his fear and his doubt and began living a lie among the enemy.

Once you start living a double life, deception is what helps you keep up your appearances; David must lie (if that is what he does here) to keep up his appearance of being a deserter. This could be why David now responds to Achish’s request to leave the battlefield with shock and dismay when he asks in verse 8, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”

No matter how you slice the cheese here, David is in absolute protest. Is he merely playing games to keep up his appearance of his full allegiance with king Achish? Was he planning to turn on Achish as his commanders thought possible? Or did David finally not really care about the call of God on his life? I do not really know. No one does. Even the commentators admit they do not know – though they are slow to paint a negative picture of David here.

On the other hand – as I have already alluded to – I think that David’s protest is simply evidence that he was so far gone in his fear, doubt, and deception that he was willing to cast off his calling and ignore his previous restraint against killing king Saul and that he was ready to go the distance with the enemy to the ruin of his own life. This is the way of sin. You never dabble in it. You always get worse unless you fight it, and David does not appear to be fighting his sin here.

So, how does Achish respond to David’s protest? He does not lose his mind on David with threats or anything like that. Achish heaps on more sweet talk when he tells David in verses 9 – 10 that David is as “blameless” in his eyes “as an angel of God” but since the Philistine commanders have refused to leave him alone, David must leave early in the morning with all his men.

That is, it. The conversation is over. The king has spoken. No use arguing with him anymore. In verse 11, David leaves for his home back in Philistine territory and the Philistines head out to the battlefield. I wonder what was going through David’s head on his way back to Ziklag.

It is true that he had not really laid a hand against any of his Israelite brothers – even though he deceptively led the Philistine king to believe that he had. But at what point do you think it began to set in that he had come this close to doing serious damage against his own family because of his fear, his disbelief and his lies? We probably will not know the answer to this question until we get to heaven with David!

KEY TAKE AWAYS…

So that is the text for today. As far as some key take aways are concerned, think about what we just studied. The passage we have studied today tells the story of how God preserved David from further sin – namely the destruction of Saul, his sons (Jonathan included), and Israel. By removing David from the equation, through the protest of the Philistine commanders and king Achish’s obedience to their demands, God preserved David as the blameless incoming king of Israel (blameless in that he never sought to bring harm against Israel or her anointed king). Think about this…

#1: SIN IS NO MATCH FOR GOD’S PRESERVING HAND

David’s previous sins of surrendering to his fear, of giving into a sixteen-month bout with doubt, and of practicing deception of various kinds with the enemy king, certainly landed him in a pickle on this day. But even though he had this momentary lapse into the sin of self-preservation by his own crafty and deceitful hand, he was no match for the sovereign, preserving hand of the God who had chosen him according to his own heart.

#2: SIN IS NOT A TOY TO BE PLAYED WITH

Once again, you have to remember that sin is insidious! Sin has one goal in mind for you and I: our spiritual death and separation from God. We are powerless to overcome the temptation to sin – not to mention the downward spiral we get stuck in once we begin to familiarize ourselves with her streets. The only hope you and I have – the only hope David had too – is that the invisible hand of God would reach down and pull us out of the dark pit of sin once she gets her hooks into us.

#3: PAST REDEMPTION PROVES GOD’S PRESERVATION

Looking back in my life, I can see numerous times where God redeemed me and preserved me from totally destroying my life. I do think that David would look back in years to come and recognize how close he came to total destruction here. I think this episode in his life enabled him to write some of the most beautiful Psalms praising God for his salvation and for pulling him out of the pit of his own making (Ps. 40:2; 27; 33:18-22).

David was not a perfect man in any regard – but he was a man that had been chosen by God’s own heart, and because of that, the invisible, sovereign hand of God continually preserved David from complete destruction in sin. Look back over the seasons of your life and ask God to show you the times he redeemed you and preserved your life from the pit of Satan, Sin, and Death. Those times where God preserved you should give you desire and strength to walk in faithfulness once again.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, there is one commentator who seemed bold enough to assert that David had fallen into some great and grievous sin because of his fear and that it is sad “to see the anointed of God dissembling and speaking in such manner of [God’s] people” as David did when he offered to treat them as enemies of his newfound king, Achish.3

That same commentator goes on to recognize that this episode in David’s life is what probably enabled him to say in Psalm 145:20, “The Lord preserves all them that love him”which is later echoed in 2 Thessalonians 3:3 where Paul says “The Lord is faithful, who shall establish you, and keep you from you from evil”.4

Furthermore, this commentator made the point that oftentimes, when we face loss and disappointment – the loss of a child or dearly loved parent, the relationship that fell apart, the financial venture that did not pan out, and many more examples – that these moments are in fact God’s kindness towards us in his invisible, sovereign, gracious, hand of preservation.5 In those moments, it may be that God was preserving us from some sin that may have entrapped us in that future reality.

We may never know all of the times that God’s invisible sovereign gracious hand preserved us from further sin by bringing us out of our sin. But we can rejoice in the truth that this is exactly what God does for those whom he calls his. You have to remember too that all of the good things that Achish said about David (that I am sure he would have taken back if he only knew the depths of David’s deception) are very similar to the way some people talked about Jesus right before his death on that cross of Calvary.6

Jesus too found himself among the enemy. In fact, like David, Jesus intentionally went to live among the enemy. Unlike David, Jesus did not seek shelter among thew enemy, but he sought their redemption. Some said they found nothing wrong in Jesus. Others, like Pontius Pilate and the Centurion who oversaw Jesus’ crucifixion, testified that he was the King of the Jews and the Son of God. Unlike David, Israel’s second king, Jesus, the eternal king, deserved the accolades.

On that day of Christ’s death, everyone thought all was lost and that there was no coming back. But we know that Christ left that tomb empty a few days later and that he returned to his throne in Heaven until he brings us home with him. On those days, it seemed like all hope was lost, similar to the dire circumstances David found himself in today.

But we know that the invisible, preserving, sovereign hand of God was more powerful that Satan, Sin, and Death because in our crucified, risen, and returning Savior, we have an eternal king who always at work in the background. Trust and believe in the hand of God my friends – even as you wrestle with the effects of Satan, Sin, and Death here on this earth. Those enemies – as I have said a million times – are no match for the bloody cross, the empty tomb, and the promise of Heaven from our crucified, risen, and returning Savior! – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Matthew Henry, John Gill, Arthur Pink, An Exposition of I & II Samuel, (Mac Dill AFB, Florida: Mac Donald Publishing, 1980), 265 – 266.

3 Ibid., 268.

4 Ibid., 269 – 270.

5 Ibid., 270.

6 John, Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 528.