Dealings with Frenemies - 1 Samuel 26 & 27
Prayer: Help us Lord as we deal with those who oppose us, especially when they oppose us because of our Faith. Help us Lord to build bridges & be peacemakers with those who oppose us, as much as it depends on us. Help us to be both shrewd and tender, both discerning and loving. Help us to stand firm in our faith, and help us never to cease striving to find ways to relate to and reach out to the unsaved.
What opposition are you facing today? Who is picking on you? I think most of us today would be feeling picked on about any political stance we've taken, whatever side we've taken, since we're right in the middle of contentious political times. Is your political view being stepped on? Some of us may be feeling pressures at work or school, or perhaps you're having problems with a neighbor. What about your friends & family? As you strive to live your life for Christ do they give you a bad time about it?
At this point in his life David faced opposition from multiple sources. He faced opposition from within Israel in the form of Saul & Saul's forces & those who wanted to win Saul's favor, and he faced opposition from outside Israel from other countries. You could conclude David wasn't safe anywhere, or was he? In truth, David was safe everywhere as long as he continued to trust and follow God. In these passages we're going to see how David deals with "Frenemies", those who he treats like friends but who are in truth his enemies.
1 Samuel 26 v1-4: If you remember from our previous studies David and his extensive entourage liked to hide out in remote areas, one of which was the Desert of Ziph. The Ziphites for some reason, perhaps to gain favor with Saul, went and ratted out David's location. Saul heads out with 3000 of his troops to search once again for David, Saul just can't let David go, he's intent on hunting David down and killing him. David catches wind of it and sends out scouts to check on things.
This Psalm is noted as having being written when David was ratted out by the Ziphites.
Psalm 54: David doesn't just scout things out, he also cries out to God. David knows that God is his real protection against his enemies.
When it comes to dealing with opposition we must remember that God expects us to act; however, He expects us to act according to His direction & His ways and to cover any & all actions with prayer. If we attempt things on our own strength without relying on God we're likely to fail miserably, or at the least have some unpleasant consequences.
1 Samuel 26 v5-8: David takes a couple men with him to scout out Saul's camp at night. When he gets close he asks one to volunteer to go into the camp with him, presumably the other would stay outside the camp in order to escape for help if something went wrong. Abishai volunteers to go, Abishai is David's nephew (Zeruiah is David's older sister) & brother to Joab who served for a long time as commander of David's army. They are able to sneak right up to Saul undetected, and Abishai wants to strike.
v9-13: David won't let Abishai harm Saul, he reminds Abishai that Saul was anointed by God, and Saul's fate is to be left in God's hands. Instead David & Abishai take Saul's spear and water jug - two vital pieces of equipment for this warrior king. Then they get out of camp to a safe distance. It's interesting that verse 12 adds the insight that God had put Saul & his troops into a deep sleep that allowed David to sneak in and back out again.
v14-16: Once at a safe distance David calls out to Saul's companion Abner - Abner was Saul's cousin & presumably was acting as his bodyguard. David in essence accuses Abner of failing in his duty to protect the king, he points to the evidence of the king's missing spear & water jug. David is not only getting their attention, he is proving that he's not out to kill the king - since he has the spear & jug he obviously had opportunity but resisted.
v17-20: Saul calls out to David calling him "my son", a term of endearment, but David isn't fooled. David very respectfully questions Saul, he asks if there is some reason God has sent Saul out after him. If God has sent Saul then David is willing to repent & make a sacrifice in order to set things right; however, David makes it clear that if it was simply Saul's idea to pursue him then Saul will have to answer to God for his actions.
v21-25: Saul is convicted by David's questions, and admits his wrongdoing. Saul asks David to come back to him, but David knows he can't trust Saul so he arranges to have Saul's things returned & parts ways with Saul once again.
This is the second time that David had the chance to take Saul's life but spared it, David is exercising great restraint where his enemy Saul is concerned, and it is obvious he's leaning on God for the strength to resist taking advantage of Saul.
David faced opposition from Saul and sought out God for strength, protection, and direction. Think about opposition you may be facing, how are you dealing with it? What resources are available for you to deal with it in a Godly manner?
Resources you have:
Prayer - your own, the prayers of others
Bible - the wisdom and guidance of the Scriptures
Fellowship - the care and counsel of other believers
Holy Spirit - God living in you to direct your words and actions
1 Samuel 27 v1-4: What's different about David's approach to his situation this time?
He "thought to himself" (v1)
David seems to have a lapse of faith, and depends more on his own reasoning & not on the guidance of God. I like it when the Bible points out the flaws in its characters, it's one of the qualities that reinforces the authenticity of the Scripture, if it were a mere story the "hero" likely wouldn't be so flawed. Anyway, David & his men & their families go to Gath, a royal city ruled by the Philistine king Achish. David's thinking had in part been right, Saul had no desire to go against the Philistines in order to hunt down David.
v5-7: David, and probably his men as well, really didn't want to be under the constant scrutiny of Achish & his men, so he wisely convinced Achish to send them to occupy Ziklag - a small town further to the south. David is being shrewd in this case, he speaks as a humble servant unworthy of living in the royal city, but what he really wants is a bit more freedom - freedom from the scrutiny of the Philistines, as well as freedom to launch his own campaigns. David & his entourage lived in this area for a year & four months.
1 Chronicles 12 v1-7: As David is living in Ziklag more people are coming to join him from Israel, his numbers continue to grow. Life in Israel under an unreasonable (demonically tormented) king was likely getting increasingly worse. Things are so bad that even some of Saul's kinsmen are among those listed as defecting to join David.
1 Samuel 27 v8-12: David is launching campaigns against some of the enemies of Israel, enemies that were supposed to be routed from the promised land when Joshua & company brought the people into the land. David is careful not to leave any witnesses, but takes the plunder. David uses the plunder to win favor with Achish, claiming that the plunder has been taken from Israel. Achish actually thinks he has control of David, and that David has become subservient to him.
Final thoughts: God knew who He was picking when He picked David... despite David's failings David usually acted wisely. David was good with people, he was able to gain their trust or convince them of what he wanted them to believe. He was a strong leader of men, and a good political/military strategist. I'm not going to stand here and say he did everything right, I know in fact that he didn't, but he was God's choice and he was God's servant, he had the traits God needed to get His work accomplished. There will be consequences for David's lapse of faith, but he's still the man whose heart belongs to God.
In Matthew 10:16 Jesus tells his disciples "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." The verses that follow go on to talk about the types of oppression that the disciples would face as they were sent out into the world to do His will. As Jesus current crop of disciples in this world we should expect the same treatment, we will be opposed and oppressed and we need to be ready. In what circumstances do you need to practice being shrewd yet tender, being discerning yet loving? Think of the different groups of people you interact with work/school/gym/home, with which group do you need to standing firm in your faith and at the same time reach out to rescue the unsaved?
Closing Prayer: Lord train us to come to you first, to lean on you for strength, to be your humble servants. When we instead lean on our own thinking or our own strength pull us back, keep us from harming ourselves and from harming others because we've failed to seek you first. Lead us Lord, help us to listen and to follow, help us to be both "as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves".
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