1 Samuel 28:1 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Samuel 28:1

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Normal hostilities with Israel are now resumed as far as the Philistines are concerned. ‘It came to pass in those days that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David,’ – he has sent for him, and David has made the journey from Ziklag to Gath – ‘Know thou assuredly that thou shall go up with me to battle, thou and thy men.’ There is no indication that this is a test or trap on the part of Achish. He trusts David, and is sure that he is ready to fight against his own nation, because of the hostility of Saul. So now Achish wants David's entire loyalty. He wants his presence. He wants him and his men to take part in this great battle. David is in an impossible position, facing an impossible dilemma, and it is his disastrous decision to flee to Gath that has got him in this position, made worse by the cloak of lies that he has fabricated around himself. He has been living a lie in the presence of Achish for sixteen months. But he is going to be delivered, and it is amazing to see how the Lord delivers him. This is part of his spiritual recovery from this period of backsliding. It is interesting to contrast the nominal Saul with the backsliding David and see the great difference in the way God treats them. In this chapter and the following chapters Saul will consult with the witch of Endor, and David will be spared from having to betray his calling and fight against Israel who he is appointed to defend. ‘And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do.’ It sounds awful, but it is not genuine. There is a lump in his throat, even as he speaks. He almost chokes these words out. Inwardly he must be desperately hoping that God will intervene, and he will never be put to this: enrolled entirely into the service of the Philistines. Achish says to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.’ He has a strange attachment to David, and is half promising him some position of great closeness to the king of Gath, the first lord of the Philistines. What an impossible position for David! Anointed to be king of Israel, commissioned by God to be Israel's deliverer from the hand of the Philistines, and now about to be part of the Philistine army offensive! But God is going to overrule and by a remarkable incident, there is war and it leads to the death of Saul and Jonathan, and the deliverance of David. He is also given an opportunity to prove that the power of God is with him when he delivers his own who have been captured in Ziklag, and taken captive by heathen enemies. It runs very similarly to a previous chapter. We see some of the lessons and warnings of faith in this passage. But for the moment, the narrative switches to Saul, the nominal believer. He has no spiritual life. He is an unconverted man; he is a kind of cultural or nominal believer only.

Application

David’s dilemma reflects the position of every backslidden believer. When we are one foot in the world, and one foot in the kingdom of God, very soon the world wants all of us, and some great enticement, or some terrible temptation will come along, and we shall be spiritually weak and enfeebled, and we will collapse. Now David is in this terrible position. He cannot continue any longer in the land of the Philistines, but at a distance from Gath, trying to do two opposite things at once. Our only option is to return to the Lord entirely, and nail our colours to the mast and be ready to be seen as wholeheartedly for him. Then the world will stop treating us as a possible friend, and the position of both sides will become clear.

Pink comments that, ‘to seek the society of non-Christians is to play with fire, and to accept favours from them will almost certainly result in our getting burned. To compromise one point, will be followed by letting down the bars at others. For a young lady to accept the attentions of an undesirable young man, makes it far harder to reject his later advances. Once you accept a favour – even if it be but a “joyride” in an auto – you place yourself under an obligation, and though you be asked to pay a high price in return, yet if you demur, ”ingratitude” is what you are likely to be charged with … David had done wrong in seeking protection from Saul in the land of the Philistines, and now the king of Gath required service from him in return.’ We might think also of a young Christian who starts a new job, and immediately feels under pressure from his unconverted work companions to join them in their socialising, to approve of their joke, and lower his standards. Maybe it is made clear that this is the only way he will get on the company. To compromise would be to weaken himself. God has promised his children that with the temptation he will also make a way to escape, that we may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13), but when we persist in sin, the way of escape becomes harder to find.

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1 Samuel 28:1 Commentary and Bible Study