The Road Back Home Can Be Rejection


1 Samuel 29:6–7 (ESV) 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.”

 The end of 1 Samuel is approaching and we are like movie-goers awaiting the tension to be resolved and the resolution to come. Saul is descending further and further into moral disaster, David is living among the Philistines, war is on the horizon between Israel and Philistia. What will happen? How will it all end? This is good storytelling and we do well to pay attention to the movements here on out. 

 The first move toward resolve is the rejection of David by the Philistine lords. While Achish had no qualms with his apparent loyalty, the other four Philistine lords were not convinced and even fearful of his presence. So Achish is forced to send David back home. 

 What are we to gain from this passage? What is the Lord saying to us about Himself or us? 

 The first hint is the war. God's people are at war with the powers of this world. This has always been and will always be the case in this age. David is in that precarious place in which many Christians find themselves. They want to be friends with the world but they really do not belong. The world, when it really comes down to it, will reject them because they are not of this world. Jesus told His disciples as much in the last supper:

John 15:19 (ESV) If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Here's the simple truth for you, Christian believer. You cannot stay half-way in the church and the world. The world is not your home. Like David in this portion of the Bible, you can try to manipulate the right people and play both sides. David certainly did this successfully for a season, claiming to fight for the Philistines in front of them but secretly fighting the Lord's battles in front of others. This is a double-life and it never works long term. 

Herein lies the beauty of the grace of our Lord. David is rejected by the Philistines by the grace of God. Now, this seemed like a terrible moment for David. Note his reaction in verse 8:

1 Samuel 29:8 (ESV) 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?”

David honestly wanted to stay! YET God would not allow it. You see, God will make the world vomit out his own. Peter tried this as well. As he warmed himself by the fires of the world during Christ's arrest AND even as he denied the Lord to gain their approval, the rooster finally crowed and the words of Jesus ran through his head, "This night you will deny me three times." Words that came shortly before (John 13) Jesus told those disciples the world would reject them because they did not belong to the world.

 The Prodigal Son tried. And even after all his spending on those false friends, when the famine came a key phrase is mentioned, "NO ONE GAVE HIM ANYTHING" (Luke 15:16). His rejection led to his return home to the Father and where he belonged.

 What hope for you Christian! The world's rejection of you MEANS the Father acceptance of you. The world's rejection is the visible expression of God's grace active in your life. So when you feel hated and lost, out of place and stuck in a world that does not jive with who you really are - remember that this is a GOOD THING, God is not going to let you go and you belong to HIM. 

 I know we spend a lot of time talking about how we need to avoid the world. We need to seek the kingdom of God for sure. But the truth is, the Lord is the one bringing us OUT of the world by His grace. This calls for gratitude, joy and love in response to a God who will not give up on us. 

 Amen! 

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