DAVID IS REJECTED BY THE ENEMY

1 SAMUEL 29:1-11

1- WHAT ARE THE HEBREWS DOING HERE?

1 Samuel 29:1–5 ESV

1 Now the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek. And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel. 2 As 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, 3 the 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.” 4 But 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? 5 Is not this David, of whom they sing to one another in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?”

It is very terrible when the children of the world have a higher sense of Christian propriety and fitness than Christians themselves, and say to one another, “What do these Hebrews here? The word “Hebrew “means one that has passed over—a separatist. The death of our Lord Jesus was intended to make all His followers separatists. Through Him they have passed from death unto life; they have been delivered out of the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God’s dear Son. The appeal of His cross to us all is, “Come out from among them, and be ye separate.” Too often, however, that call is unheeded; and, for fear of man, we mingle with the ranks of the enemies of our Lord. FB MYER

EVEN IN THE WORSE TIME OF DAVIDS LIFE GOD PROTECTS HIM FROM HIS STUPIDITY AND USED THE ENEMY TO DO SO

2- ACHISH SENDS DAVID AWAY

1 Samuel 29:6–7 ESV

6 Then 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. 7 So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.”

3- DAVID RESIST ACHISH

1 Samuel 29:8–11 ESV

8 And 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?” 9 And 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.’ 10 Now 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.” 11 So 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.

Ray Pritchard - The World Doesn’t Trust a Compromising Christian - There is an important lesson for us to consider at this point. A child of God defects—even temporarily—to the other side and then he discovers that the other side doesn’t want him because they don’t trust him. Why? Because a child of God is always a child of God. The new nature within cannot be taken away even though it can be covered up and camouflaged by compromise. That’s why backsliding is a kind of spiritual suicide. The believer who cuts himself off from the people of God soon discovers the people of the world don’t want him around either. So he is fated to spend his years in a kind of no-man’s land, half in the world, half in the church. He is a man without a country. When I preached this sermon, a woman came up to me and thanked me for pressing home this point. “I’ve been too concerned with what the other women in my neighborhood think of me.” She had been trying to become like them in order to win their favor. But it never works. The people of the world are smarter than that. They can recognize the true children of God and they won’t respect us if we try to play on their team. The world respects Christians who stand up for what they believe. They may not like us (they might even persecute us) but they will respect us and they can’t deny the reality of our faith. (Ziklag is Burning)