Living in a Foreign Land
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Last week, we saw that once again, Saul stopped chasing after David. And we ended our study with the last verse of chapter 26, which closes by saying:
“Then David went away, and Saul returned home.”
David returns back to the wilderness. Now, if you were to look at a map and trace the travels of David, you would find that David and his men were all over the wilderness of Israel. No matter where they went, it wasn’t long before Saul and his men showed up trying to hunt him down.
David’s Great Idea
David’s Great Idea
David, for his part, is tired of this cat-and-mouse game. That is what brings us to chapter 27. So if you have your Bibles, I want to encourage you to turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 27.
But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
There are several things that we need to notice in this passage.
First, David thought to himself. David is thinking things through, but we have no evidence from the passage that he asked God about this decision.
His thought: One of these days, Saul is going to kill me! No matter where I go in Israel, Saul finds me and begins to chase me. David seems to have forgotten that God said he would be the next king. And he has forgotten what his good friend, Jonathan, told him about being king!
If I go to the land of the Philistines
— Saul will stop searching for me
— I will escape from his hand of death.
This brings me to an interesting thought: Was it God’s will for David to go to Gath? Or is David taking matters into his own hands? There are 3 reasons I don’t believe this was a God directed move for David:
The text never says David confided in God. He thought to himself (v. 1)
It seems that David is being controlled by fear, fatigue, and fretting. Despite the fact that Samuel had anointed him the next king (16:13), Jonathan had told him twice that he would be the next king (18:4; 23:27), even king Saul admitted that David would be the next king (24:20; 26:25), and his wife, Abigail told him he would be king (25:30). We need to remember that: Fear, Fatigue, and Fretting will cause us to Forget the Promises of God!
There is NO mention of God in the entire 27th chapter.
Now whether it was God’s will for David to go to Gath or not is an interesting debate. But it really doesn’t matter, because God is going to accomplish His purpose no matter what!
David’s Plan in Action
David’s Plan in Action
So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath.
So David takes his 600 men and they go to Achish who is the king of Gath.
This is amazing to me. Now I know that Gath is not too far from where David has been wandering. But to go to Gath? David had killed their hero—Goliath. It really seems strange that David would go there of all places!
David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.
Nevertheless, David and his men settle in Gath.
And it is not just David and his men, but they also took their families. They are settling in!
Saul’s Response
Saul’s Response
When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
Saul gives up the search!
New Plan
New Plan
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
David and his men are living in the “royal city” with the king of the region. Think about this for a minute. He is living where the king of Gath can keep a watchful eye on every move that David and his men make. So David asks Achish for a “favor.”
If I have found favor in your eyes
Assign me a place for me and my men to live in one of your smaller towns.
We don’t deserve to live here in the royal city with you!
So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since.
So Achish gave David the city of Ziklag for David, his men, and their families to live.
Then we have an author’s side note to help us understand that Ziklag continues to belong to the kings of Judah when the book of Samuel was written.
David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
David was in the Philistine territory for a year and 4 months. 16 months!
David’s Actions
David’s Actions
While he is living in Ziklag, David has to do something to support his men and their families. He can’t do it the way the Philistines would—they would attack the outskirts of Israel. So he comes up with a different plan.
Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)
He begins raiding the other enemies of Israel: Geshurites, Girzites, and the Amalekites.
Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.
First of all, David leaves NO witnesses!
Secondly, he and his men take EVERYTHING!
Finally, they go back and give tribute to Achish.
When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.”
When Achish asked David where he went raiding, David would give Achish general locations. This may imply that David had to walk a fine line. David continued to conduct raids that would benefit Israel much more than they would have benefited the Philistines. Nevertheless, he worked to make it appear that he was benefiting Achish, and David needed to protect against Achish finding out “real truth” of David’s conquests. Look at verse 11.
He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’ ” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory.
No one left to be a witness!
This was David’s practice during his 16 month stay in the Philistine territory.
Achish’s Response
Achish’s Response
Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
Achish now trusts David. He believes that David is loyal to him, to the Philistine mission, and to his country as a whole.
And Achish now believed that David would serve him for life!
Achish greatly underestimated David. Achish never knew that David remained loyal to Israel. He thought David was a turncoat, but in reality, David was biding his time—until he became King over Israel! And it is about to happen! And David is about to predict it!
In those days the Philistines gathered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, “You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army.” David said, “Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.” Achish replied, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
The Philistine Rulers send out a call for all the armies to gather together to fight against Israel.
Achish wants to make sure that David knows he will be expected to fight for the Philistines and not against them.
David tells Achish that he is about to see, first hand, what he is capable of doing!
So Achish makes David (and his men) his personal bodyguard. And he makes David his bodyguard for life.
So What?
So What?
Now this is a great story, and we’re not finished with it yet. A great story, but so what? What is it we take away from this story?
If I could pick one thing to emphasize in this tale, it would be simply this:
When I am consumed by fear,
When I am flooded with fatigue,
And when I am overwhelmed by fretting,
I will always forget:
I will forget the promises of God!
I will forget the plan of God!
I will forget the peace of God!
And ultimately, I will forget the love of God!
This morning, I want to call us to live faithfully in our foreign land. God’s Word reminds us that this world is NOT our home! But that does not mean we don’t belong. The Bible tells us that we are citizens, we are saints—we are memebers of God’s Household! To help us remember this fact, and to drive it home all week long, I picked Ephesians 2:19 for our Memory Verse:
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
When we understand that we are not citizens of this world we will no longer be consumed by fear because we are citizens of a different kingdom—God’s Kingdom—Heaven.
Living as citizens of Heaven will stop us from being flooded with fretting—worry! Because we understand that God is in control! He is in control of EVERYTHING!
And finally, when we live as citizens of heaven we will never forget! We will never forget God’s promises. We will never forget God’s plan. We will never forget God’s peace. And we will NEVER forget God’s love.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
