"David arose and fled that day from before Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. The servants of Achish said to him, 'Is this not David the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another, saying, 'Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousand?' Now David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So, he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hand, scratched on the doors of the gate and let his saliva fall down on his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, 'Look, you see that this man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? Have I need of madmen that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?" (1 Samuel 21:5-10, NKJV).
One of the proofs that the Bible is literally true is that it does not hide or omit the mistakes, bad choices, and embarrassing details in the lives of the people whom God used in spite of themselves. Whether good or evil, the Sovereign LORD has created everyone for a reason. No one is an accident nor a random fluke in the course of history (Genesis 1:26; Psalm 139:13-18; Acts 17:24-28). When reading about the life of David or anyone else in Scripture, we need to remember that these people were flesh and blood, literal individuals who lived and worked in real situations in real nations in what we define as "the Middle East", the authentic cradle of civilization. We read in Scripture where people took matters into their own hands instead of trusting in God to see them through the dark times. In this passage, we witness David's descent into a seemingly hopeless and destitute situation that appeared to take him out of the picture as the next king of Israel. What happened and how would he come back to the place where he totally relied on God for strength and substance?
David was the sweet psalmist of Israel, the slayer of giants, the captain of the armies of Israel. He was admired and loved by the people and even by the members of King Saul's family. Up to this point, it seemed that all was well and that the path to the throne of Israel was set despite Saul's rage and the plots he conceived to rid himself of David's presence and influence over the nation. He seemed to have a fail-safe "support system" in place. Yet, by the time of the events recorded in 1 Samuel 21, it looks as if David has lost all self-respect, acting like a madman in front of the king of Gath, the nation that had borne the giant Goliath and a sworn enemy of Israel. The lessons that David would learn involve us today, and that lesson centers on whom we call and rely upon for support. God is fixing to take David to school, and we are part of that class. We need to see that whatever "support system" we think we have in this world, whether it be our friends, family, job, status, reputation, or office, all of it can fall apart and leave us with nothing except to lean on the everlasting arms of God.
Up to this point, David had done everything right. He has been the absolute model of faith, courage, obedience, integrity, and devotion to God and the king. However, he is still a very young man far from home and family. So, God, in His mercy and grace, provided David with people and things to be a support system for him. David leaned on the support of position (1 Samuel 18:13). He had risen from a humble shepherd boy to become a leader over the armies of Saul. His work provided needed stability in his life. He needed that and relied upon it for support. He no doubt also saw this responsibility as another steppingstone to the throne of Israel. He had also leaned upon the support of popularity (1 Samuel 18:16). The people of Israel loved David and respected him for the work he had done on their behalf and that of Saul. The praises he received were another assurance that one day he would be their king. He also leaned upon the support of people such as his wife Michal (1 Samuel 18:20, 28). She truly loved him, and this gave David emotional and moral support. He also had the friendship and support of Prince Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1-4). Jonathan became David's "eyes and ears" in the throne room, placing his friendship with David above his allegiance to his father, King Saul. He had also leaned upon the friendship and guidance of the prophet Samuel, who had anointed him king upon the orders of God (1 Samuel 16:13; 19:18). The prophet had provided him both counsel and the importance of service and worship to God. He was the model of mentorship for David. David also had his sense of accomplishments as a source of support.
David could look upon what he had done for the LORD and Israel and saw that his actions and words had provided comfort and courage to the people. Everything seemed to be going well. That is when the bottom dropped out of David's life. He could have started to think that all of these events were a product of his own making, but God had other plans. God did not want David to go down the path of pride and disobedience that ruined Saul. No child of God is exempt from adversity and testing. He can and often does remove everything we think we need in this world for support in order to show us that He is the true and eternal source of our strength, support, and substance. We cannot be attached to what the world thinks is essential. This world is temporary and scheduled for destruction (2 Peter 3:10-13; 1 John 2:15-17). As followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, we need to focus on the eternal and everlasting.
The "support rug" got pulled out from David in a rapid fashion. 1 Samuel 19 and 20 describe what happened. He lost his position as captain of the Israelite army, then he was removed from the public eye and soon forgotten, and then he lost the support of his wife, best friend, and his mentor (1 Samuel 19:11-17, 20:1, 41-42). Finally, he lost all sense of pride, ending up in the court of Israel's enemy, Gath, and the presence of their king, Achish. The champion of Israel ended up going to the enemy in search of support (1 Samuel 21:10-15). The Philistines had not forgotten that David had killed their champion Goliath, and now here he was, trying to seek refuge among the very people who had sworn in times past to eliminate Israel. David has nothing left, or so it seems. Why did God do this to the one whom He referred to as "a man after My own heart?". This is the hard lesson we need to learn when we find ourselves in what looks like a hopeless situation with no visible means of returning to any sense of normalcy. God did this to David so that he would learn to lean upon Him and not on all the other props he had constructed in his life.
Hard times and bad things happen to the best and holiest of God's people. All we need to do is look at history where we read of persecutions, slander, hatred, violence, and other evil actions done against the Lord Jesus Christ and His church. Although some revisionists and fanatics want to deny it happened, the Holocaust of a generation ago took the lives of 6,000,000 Jews. There is every reason to question why these things happen, but we do not have access to the future and the "big picture" of God's plans except what has been given to us in the Bible, nor do we have any way of turning back the clock to correct mistakes that got us into situations we would rather forget or minimize. In the midst of this darkness, David did not turn inward and allow bitterness or unbelief to cloud his perspective. Psalm 34 describes what had happened to him and knew that God was with him while others would curse God and wither away in self-pity, anger, and rage. David learned to lean on the Lord's praise (Psalm 34:1-3), seeing that earthly position, praise, and power meant nothing in terms of having a relationship with the LORD. He learned to lean on God's protection (vv.4-7), learning that it is the LORD who is the protector of His people. He learned to lean on God's provision (vv.8-10). God was the source of all his needs, not the shallow riches of the world (Psalm 37:25).
David learned to lean on God's promises (vv.11-17) and learned that everyone who leans on the hand of the LORD will see every promise of God fulfilled in their lives (Psalm 119:89). David leaned on the presence of God. He is the everlasting faithful friend who will never leave nor forsake us (Proverbs 18:24; Matthew 11:28-30; Hebrews 13:5). He knew that God would preserve him through good and bad times. David's life was in the hands of God, and this is the supreme source of comfort that the world does not have, nor does it understand (Matthew 16:26; Luke 21:34; Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:2; 1 John 2:15). The loss of a "support system", or "comfort zone" can be God's way of helping us to grow up spiritually and rely on His provision, teaching us that He is all we need. He created the world and everything in it. He designed everything. He owns the universe. There is nothing that is not under HIs Sovereign control and will, including the course of our lives. We need to learn to trust in Him in this life, trust in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life, and see that He is good, reliable, gracious, and worthy of all praise. The Psalms David wrote are proof. If you are going through a time where all your "support systems" are gone and it seems that nothing will ever get back to normal, know that we can always lean on the everlasting arms of our great God. Is that not enough?
donaldwhitchard@outlook.com
www.realitycityreverend.com
