August 22,
2007
Rise up,
LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee
before thee. (Numbers 10: 35 KJV
1 Samuel Chapter 29 Author: Unknown KJV
Achish
Sends David Back to Ziklag
(1
Samuel 29:1-3 KJV) "Now the
Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek: and the Israelites
pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel. {2} And the lords of
the Philistines passed on by hundreds, and by thousands: but David and his men
passed on in the rereward with Achish. {3} Then said the princes of the
Philistines, What do these Hebrews here? And Achish said unto the
princes of the Philistines, Is not this David, the servant of Saul the
king of Israel, which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have
found no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?"
There was so much to yesterday’s lesson I failed to point
out that the Philistines had already taken ground in Israel. (1 Samuel
28:4 KJV) "And the Philistines
gathered themselves together, and came and pitched in Shunem: and Saul gathered
all Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa." Shunem was about
twenty miles inside the Israeli southern most border. So the battle lines were
set.
All of the
Philistine leaders came to do battle bring thousands of men. When the Philistine leaders saw David
and his men they knew something was not right. Why were David and his Hebrew followers
in place to do battle against the Hebrew nation?
(1
Samuel 29:4-5 KJV) "And the princes
of the Philistines were wroth with him; and the princes of the Philistines said
unto him, Make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou
hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the
battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile himself unto
his master? should it not be with the heads of these men? {5}
Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying,
Saul
slew his thousands,
and
David his ten thousands?"
The
Philistine commanders did not trust David and his men. David has killed a lot of Philistines in
his time and who was to say David would not turn on the Philistines during the
battle and with the help of the Lord destroy all of them.
David could not see
he was in the wrong place, his sin has blinded him but the Philistine commanders
knew David should not be there with them in battle. The commanders tell Achish to send David
back.
(1
Samuel 29:6-7 KJV) "Then Achish
called David, and said unto him, Surely, as the LORD liveth, thou hast
been upright, and thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is
good in my sight: for I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy
coming unto me unto this day: nevertheless the lords favour thee not. {7}
Wherefore now return, and go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of
the Philistines."
Achish makes an unusual comment “As sure as the LORD lives” for a pagan Philistine.
“As
the Lord lives is unexpected in a Philistine oath; can it be that Achish has
committed himself to David’s Lord, or is he being courteous to David in not
swearing by Philistine gods? The latter is perhaps more likely.”
(Baldwin)
David
came to the Philistines because in
1 Samuel 27: 1 David decides it would be better to go to the Philistines than be
killed my Saul. Now the Philistines
don’t want him. He is like a man
without a country.
David
now has to much world to be at peace with the Lord and to much of the Lord to be
at peace with the world. It’s like
being between a rock and a hard place.
(1
Samuel 29:8 KJV) "And David said
unto Achish, But what have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so
long as I have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the
enemies of my lord the king?"
No
doubt, David didn’t like being rejected by the Philistine rulers. Not
many people like rejection. But God would use the rejection of ungodly
people in David’s life. Many people are hesitant to live out-and-out for Jesus
Christ because they are afraid of the rejection of the ungodly. How much better
it is to be all out for Jesus, and to trust that if the ungodly reject us, God
will use it for good - for our good and for theirs. (David Guzik)
(1 Samuel 29:9-10 KJV) "And Achish answered and said to David,
I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God:
notwithstanding the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up
with us to the battle. {10} Wherefore now rise up early in the morning
with thy master's servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up
early in the morning, and have light, depart."
David really
wanted to go into battle with the Philistines against Israel, but the Lord will
not let him. David has lost sight
of the Lord’s promises for him, but the Lord has not lost sight of
David.
(1
Samuel 29:11 KJV) "So David and his
men rose up early to depart in the morning, to return into the land of the
Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel."
The
Holy Spirit makes it clear. All of this that happened in this chapter should
have waked David up. He should have heard God speaking in many ways, but he
didn’t. Instead, he made his return
to the land of the Philistines.
What will it take to bring David around? Because God loves David, He will do
what it takes. (David Guzik)
24 The LORD bless
thee, and keep thee:
25 The LORD make his
face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
26 The LORD lift up
his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
27 And they shall
put my name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless
them.
Numbers
6 KJV
Have
a blessed day
Lee
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