The Gath Revival

1 Samuel 17:4 “4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”

1 Samuel 17:46 “46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

1 Samuel 27:1-3 “1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. 2 And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.”

2 Samuel 15:18-19 “18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king. 19 Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite, Wherefore goest thou also with us? return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger, and also an exile.”

2 Samuel 15:20-21 “20 Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whither I may, return thou, and take back thy brethren: mercy and truth be with thee. 21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.”

Introduction

D. A. Carson Sermon Library The God Who Is There, Part 12: The God Who Gathers and Transforms His People (Ephesians 2:1–18; 4:17–5:10; Galatians 5:13–26)

In April of 1942, Jacob DeShazer was a bombardier in the Doolittle Raid over Japan. That’s the Doolittle Raid that basically turned Tokyo into a furnace. With four other crewmen, he bailed out. Two of them were executed; the others spent the rest of the war (three years and four months) in prison camps.

They were beaten, tortured, and starved. At some point, DeShazer asked for a Bible. They brought him one allowing him to keep it for three weeks. He later wrote, “I eagerly began to read its pages. I discovered that God had given me new spiritual eyes and that when I looked at the enemy officers and guards who had starved and beaten my companions and me so cruelly, I found my bitter hatred for them changed to loving pity.”

He survived and dedicated his life to missionary work in Japan. One of his converts was Mitsuo Fuchida, the lead pilot in the Pearl Harbor attack. Fuchida became an evangelist.

Basic Bible Sermons on Easter Power Still Available

Commander Mitsuo Fuchida led the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor with its destructive and far-reaching effect. Hating Americans, Fuchida became more bitter after we dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His hatred was further enflamed when he was led to believe that Americans, like Japanese, tortured their prisoners. But Fuchida had some positive exposure to Christians and Christian influence. One day when his anger and hatred were about to destroy him, and he was in great desperation, he said to himself: Maybe a Bible could help me. He began reading a Japanese translation. He later declared that when he came to Luke 23 and read Christ’s prayer just before He died on the cross, then he understood. “I met Jesus that day.… He came into my heart and changed my life from a military officer to a warrior for Christ.” Mitsuo Fuchida became a great preacher of the gospel of Christ

When you think of the first interaction that David had with people from Gath, you wouldn’t think that it would lead to any kind of lasting positive relationship.

We know the story of David and Goliath.

1 Samuel 17:4 “4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.”

Goliath was a literal giant that the Philistines hoped to use in battle against the Israelites.

He was identified as a man from the Philistine city of Gath.

For 40 days he taunted the Israelites.

There is no doubt or mistaking the disdain that Goliath felt for the Israelites and specifically their God.

I want us to think for a moment about the hometown pride that the other men of Gath must have felt.

Goliath was from their town.

All of the philistines looked up to him.

He was like the star player of the High School football team.

Everyone in town had stories of Goliath.

All of the Gittites were proud of their connection to Goliath.

We know well the mocking that Goliath directed towards David and his God.

Don’t you think that Goliath’s friends were loving every minute of it?

Don’t you think they were joining in and making their own contributions?

They didn’t know that David was not facing Goliath for his own glory.

They mocked the thought of David as Israel’s champion.

David had no delusion of his own power in this instance.

David went to face Goliath because of his concern for the reputation of God.

The men of Gath heard David when he answered Goliath’s taunts with these words...

1 Samuel 17:46-47 “46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord'S, and he will give you into our hands.”

Then they watched as Goliath and David ran towards each other.

It is doubt they felt an ounce of fear.

They watched as David fired the stone at Goliath.

They heard the crack as it hit and embedded in Goliath’s forehead.

As his body thudded to the ground they could not believe what they were seeing.

This child had beaten their champion.

Whatever God he claimed to serve had given him a victory over their hero.

Rather than hang around to figure what had happened, they took off running.

Imagine their surprise, many years later, when David pulled up to Gath seeking refuge from Saul.

David’s victory over Goliath had catapulted him into the public eye.

He became a leader of Israel’s armies.

He won many victories over the Philistines.

The men of Gath became very familiar of this enemy named David.

Little did they know, they weren’t the only ones who considered David an enemy and a threat.

Saul became jealous and suspicious of David.

He began to persecute David and sought to destroy him.

David felt he had no choice but to flee.

David runs to the one place he thought Saul would never look for him.

Gath

1 Samuel 27:1-3 “1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. 2 And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.”

For the next 1 year and 4 months, David lives among the Philistines.

A lot happens during this time.

David is given a city to live in.

He gets pretty close the Philistine king.

He almost goes to war against Israel.

His city is attacked and his family and the families of his men are taken captive.

He goes and gets them back.

Mostly, I would think David and his men just go about trying to live as normal a life as they can.

I have to wonder what that was like.

Were the people suspicious of him?

Were there moments of persecution?

Just because the king liked him as a trophy, didn’t mean the people did.

Did they notice any big difference between David and his men and their own culture?

Eventually, David leaves.

He never lives among the Philistines again.

He goes on to become king.

He wins many victories over the Philistines.

As an old man, David faces a moment of crisis.

We will see this this coming Sunday night, but David’s public persona and his private reality were not always in harmony.

This fractured life wreaked havoc within his family.

Things got so bad, his son rebelled against him.

Absalom ran his father out of Jerusalem.

In these moments, David learned that man people that he had trusted were not as loyal as they had appeared.

So many people that were close to David betrayed him.

But, as David is making his way out of the city, he is joined by a few groups of loyal supporters.

2 Samuel 15:18 starts out by saying “And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites”

We have talked before about the Cherethites and Pelethites, they were David’s bodyguards.

But this other group is less familiar.

What are Gittites?

A Gittite was a citizen of Gath.

2 Samuel 15:18 “18 And all his servants passed on beside him; and all the Cherethites, and all the Pelethites, and all the Gittites, six hundred men which came after him from Gath, passed on before the king.”

It seems like David and his men didn’t leave the land of the Philistines alone.

They had returned home with 600 Philistine men and their families.

Now maybe you are sitting there thinking that they were just impressed with David’s leadership skills and decided to jump on the David bandwagon.

I don’t believe this is the case.

David tries to tell the Gittites that they don’t have to come with him.

He speaks to their leader a man named Ittai.

He tells Ittai to go home.

He is already an exile from one home, why should he be exiled from another.

Why were Ittai and his people exiles?

Maybe Ittai’s response will tell us.

Ittai responds to David in 2 Samuel 15:21 “21 And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.”

This sure sounds like the words of David’s great-grandmother Ruth.

Your God will be my God.

Should we be surprised by this?

Did David not say in 1 Samuel 17:46 “46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.”

Was Ittai in the valley the day that Goliath died?

We should have been surprised if there weren’t any Philistines that came over to Israel.

As it is, David, at his lowest point is reminded of what God had done with his life.

Notice what verse 22 shows us.

2 Samuel 15:22 “22 And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that were with him.”

God had used David to not only change the lives of the 600 Philistines who left Gath with him but, now, because of the time that had passed, at least two more generations of Gittites.

Does God still want all the world to know Him?

Is God still sending his people to live among nations, languages, and tribes that do not know him?

Is he still calling out strangers from every corner of the globe to become His people?

Can we set aside, for a moment, our responsibility to reach those around us and think about those who purposely plant themselves in a foreign city in order to spread the gospel?

Our church has a responsibility to reach the uttermost parts of the earth.

Though I am still convinced that we have pastors and missionaries in our membership that God is calling, not everyone will leave America for the foreign field.

That doesn’t mean we don’t still carry a responsibility to let the whole world know there is a God.

We do that by praying for and supporting our missionaries.