Fridays with David

Read 1 Samuel 27:1-2 – And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. (NKJV)

This moment in David’s life seems to demonstrate his inability to trust God. He relocates to Philistia and must resort to deception and unspeakable violence to carve out a place for himself there. It is likely moments such as this disqualified David from building the temple. His acts of deception and killing later culminate with Uriah, the Hittite, but here we see more widespread demonstrations of such behavior. David kills every inhabitant of the cities he raids and then lies to the Philistine leader concerning where he has been. Perhaps David has given up on God’s promise or at least is acting out of his frustration for Saul’s unrelenting effort to kill him. David will recover and get back on track, but this section of his life shows the kind of messes we can make when we trust our own wisdom rather than living with God’s. When we take matters into our own hands or trust our own judgment, we can’t see the whole picture or all that will be required to make our plan work. God has that vantage point. He knows the best steps for us, so it makes sense to wait on Him for clear direction.

– Dr. Mike Clarensau serves as Senior Director of the Healthy Church Network of the Assemblies of God.