1 Samuel 27:1-12


Circumstances have a way of making us fearful and forgetful.  David has been on the run for many years and Saul has repeatedly told him that he would stop trying to kill him only to come after him again.  David get tired of running and being on edge and knows that he will not be able to “settle down” in Israel so he takes matters into his own hands and goes back to Gath, a country of the Philistines in order to escape.  This is the same place he had gone before and had to act like a crazy man in order for them to keep him alive.  It seems David has forgotten the faithfulness of God to protect him and given in to his fears and frustrations.  God has told David he will be the next king.  God has enabled David to kill giants and win many battles.  God has repeatedly delivered David from Saul’s grip.  Yet in spite of all of this David decides to put his trust in the hands of a Pagan king instead of the Lord.  We must be careful not to be controlled by our circumstances fear is the opposite of faith and can easily control us when we forget the power and faithfulness of God.

DAVID FLEES TO THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL:  Since David has become tired of running from Saul and fears that one day Saul will catch up to him; he flees back to Gath, a country belonging to the Philistines.  This is ironic because David has fought the Philistines over and over again.  Apparently, the Philistines know that David is on the run and is now the enemy of Saul so they decide that the enemy of their enemy must be their friend and they welcome him into the country.  David asks to live outside the royal city with his men and their families, so the king gives David the city of Ziclag.  I don’t believe that David is doing the right thing in these circumstances.  This seems a lot like Abraham going down to Egypt in order to escape the famine in the land that God had led him to.  We must be very careful not to take our eyes off of the Lord in times of trials.  However, it is a comfort to know that God seems to understand our weaknesses and continues to protect and provide for us even when our faith is weak.

DAVID FIGHTS THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL:  David seems to fear losing his life to Saul, but does not seem to have any fear at all of losing his life in battle.  Even in exile he continues to fight the enemies of Israel.  He is not fighting his host, but he is going out and destroying other enemies of Israel that God had called Israel to destroy a very long time ago.  He seems to tell the king of Gath that he is fighting against Israel so that the king will trust him and believe that David has truly become the enemy of Israel, but that is clearly not the case.  David continues to have victory after victory.  It seems that as long as David can fight his battles, he is confident and fearless.  However, since he cannot raise his own hand to fight Saul he has a hard time just sitting back and trusting God to fight that battle for him.  David is a man of action and it seems that men of action have a hard time resting in the promises and provision of the Lord.  God may bring us to a place where there is truly nothing that we can do about our circumstances.  It is vital that we meet these circumstances with faith and not with fear and simply be still and let God do what we cannot do.

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