My Favorite David Moment and Making the Most of Your Trouble
Years ago when I read through the Bible once per year this was my favorite David moment. I know most people love the Goliath moment, but 1 Samuel 27 would be high up on your list after you read it. David decides the only safe place to be while Saul is bent on killing him is in the land of the Philistines. The Philistines, after all, were the people who managed to hold Saul in check. So David decides to join them. But it's not what you think.
1 Samuel 27:1 (ESV) Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”
1 Samuel 27:5 (ESV) Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?”
Now the simple observer of the Bible will use stories like this to discredit God's choice of David. Here he is fleeing to the enemy! What faith has David for God to commend here? But simpletons pick parts of the Bible out of context to ignore the God of the Bible they hate to acknowledge.
Now we could suppose that David is driven only by anxiety and fear instead of the great faith in God he displayed so early. But let's give him some leniency. He's been on the run for some time and Saul will not stop. David's fear may be part of the deciding factor, but there's also a good measure of wisdom to not simply let Saul have at him until he's dead! Many Christians would do well to learn from David's moment of supposed weakness and see the wisdom it beholds. We may be commanded to turn the other cheek but we are not asked to stick around until the slap becomes a stab in the back! Christian, you are not called to be someone's doormat.
But there's more. While David is in exile in the land of the Philistines he goes on a raiding bonanza. He uses this time given him by his enemies to devour the other enemies of God's people.
1 Samuel 27:8–9 (ESV) Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
Mind you, he does this while telling Achish he's been raiding Israel all this time.
1 Samuel 27:10 (ESV) When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”
So under the protection of the Philistines, David is cleansing the land of Israel's nemesis nations! The very thing the Israelites had failed to do, David will accomplish while he's hiding!
Now we could suppose that David is driven only by anxiety and fear instead of the great faith in God he displayed so early. But let's give him some leniency. He's been on the run for some time and Saul will not stop. David's fear may be part of the deciding factor, but there's also a good measure of wisdom to not simply let Saul have at him until he's dead! Many Christians would do well to learn from David's moment of supposed weakness and see the wisdom it beholds. We may be commanded to turn the other cheek but we are not asked to stick around until the slap becomes a stab in the back! Christian, you are not called to be someone's doormat.
But there's more. While David is in exile in the land of the Philistines he goes on a raiding bonanza. He uses this time given him by his enemies to devour the other enemies of God's people.
1 Samuel 27:8–9 (ESV) Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish.
Mind you, he does this while telling Achish he's been raiding Israel all this time.
1 Samuel 27:10 (ESV) When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.”
So under the protection of the Philistines, David is cleansing the land of Israel's nemesis nations! The very thing the Israelites had failed to do, David will accomplish while he's hiding!
This is a clear illustration of what Paul calls, "making the best use of your time because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16)! This is why I LOVE this moment of David's life. David models a tenacious spirit as he pursues God's goals wherever he can EVEN if he doesn't have the peace or provision he longs for. What a glorious way to live. Saul out to kill him? No throne even when it's been promised? More against you than for you? Okay, he reasons, let me find a place where I can get things done even if it's not perfect!
Too many Christians are guilty of waiting for perfect conditions to get anything going. Bad news for them: perfect conditions do not exist. Consequently, some wait until death. The point is, you can't expect zero conflicts, no enemies or consecutive desirable seasons in your life. Like David, you may have to work in dishonorable places, partner with questionable people and wisely choose your words around them to accomplish God's purposes.
This world is fallen. Expect turbulence. But turbulence in a flight does not terminate the process of arriving at the original destination. The plane glides through it. You can too. Keep your head up and make the most of what you have where you are.
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