Faith Valley at Ziklag
1 Sam 27
Thanksgiving
Giving thanks is a great spiritual practice. Giving thanks can nurture a heart that says, God you are good and loving and faithful to me, God your promises to me are true—and here are 20 specific ways you’ve been good and faithful to me
Giving thanks says, here are the promises of God/nature of God, and here is my life. Here is how the grace, love and faithfulness of God plays out in my life. Here is the story of how God has loved, protected, rescued and cared for me.
Giving thanks can be powerful because it helps us draw closer to God, to recognize/enjoy who God is and what He does, strengths our faith.
This Thanksgiving season, let me encourage us to spend some time thinking about all the blessings and provisions God has given us, and let that overflow into praise and worship.
David Flees to Philistine from Saul (vv. 1-4)
David had just spared Saul his life a second time. But in the very next chapter, after this great display of courage and faith, David wavers: he fears and doubts. So David flees to the land of the Philistines, Israel’s enemy.
600 men, plus wives and children
The plan worked: Saul stopped pursuing David (4)
David Gets Ziklag, a Country Town (vv.5-7)
David asks for a country town. Achish grants Ziklag, perhaps to protect his land from raiders.
[map] Gath, Ziklag
1 year 4 months
David Plunders, Slaughters and Deceives (vv. 8-12)
Amalekites, Gehurites, between Philistia and Egypt, Girzites (unknown)—seems to be enemies of Judah, raiders in the area.
When asked, David would reply that he raided against the Negev—areas of Judah or perhaps controlled by Judah. This is why (12) Achish believed that David was becoming a hated enemy of his own people. He was (seen as) a full traitor to Israel.
David slaughtered every man and woman (and child)—no survivors, no witnesses; took animals and clothes. Repeated (9, 11).
It seems David’s plan was a stroke of genius
He moved to Philistia so Saul would stop pursuing him, and it worked. David found safety.
He wanted a country town so he could be removed from Achish and free to do his raids. David got that.
He then attacked Judah’s enemies and helped his people. He said he was attacking Judah, and so gained trust and favor from Achish
It was a risky and deceptive, but it provided everything David could want.
The plot thickens, 28:1-2, when we read that Achish then requires David to go with him to fight the Israelites. David is now in a dilemma. Would David have to kill his own people? Would David be found out and then killed by Achish/Philistines? What happened? Stay tuned . . .
We celebrate David for his faith, so many Psalms display honest, beautiful, courageous faith.
David had just spared Saul his life a second time. To be able to show mercy and kindness to your enemy I think is humanly almost impossible, and as we’ve seen, a result of a life of faith. David believes God is judge, David has a big strong God who will protect him.
But in the very next chapter, after this great display of courage and faith, David wavers: he fears and doubts. So David flees to the land of the Philistines, Israel’s enemy.
He then lives a life of deception, pretending to be an ally to the Philistines while still fighting for his people.
That deception then produces incredible bloodshed. How many hundreds of lives were killed so David could cover his ploy.
What a stark contrast between David the forgiver of his enemies, and David, the self-protective, deceptive, violent and murderous man! Even mighty men of faith hit lowpoints.
I see my faith go up and down with hard times, I struggle. I am humanly comforted that even David hit some low points.
Faith is not a static thing. Maybe we do trust God, and maybe we’ve had big faith moments, perhaps in some trial or need or ministry setting, but then we may falter and live in complete fear and self-protectiveness, even in the very next chapter.
Elijah had a story like that. He confronted 450 prophets of Baal and called down fire from heaven, but then he runs away in fear complaining that there are no other prophets.
In one sense we’re a little sympathetic to David. Let’s not be too harsh or judgmental. He’s been living as a fugitive, his life in constant jeopardy, for so many years.
Long trials can wear you down. Living in constant danger, fear, stress, conflict, or even physical pain—weeks turn to months turn to years. Over time you get worn down, drained, hardened, bitter, defeated, a complainer, etc. It can change you.
For many stories we’ve looked at how David’s faith played out: battling Goliath, in his friendship with Jonathan, in sparing Saul’s life.
Today we’ll look at the other side: what does it look like when we’re not living by faith.
David did some pretty ugly and horrible things, but I think there is a deeper core, the root, the heart problem.
The problem is that fear got the best of David and he started thinking, “What do I need to do to protect myself?”
Run to the Philistines (from Saul)
Pretend to be an alley to Achish (from Achish/Philistines)
Slaughter entire towns (from witnesses that would reveal his deception and disloyalty)
Once David started down the road of “what do I need to do to protect myself,” he was already on the path to deep and dark trouble.
I don’t think too many of us have murdered people to avoid any witnesses to our crimes, but please recognize, as horrible as all that slaughtering was, the heart issue we share is fear and self-protection.
How much of life do we live out of fear (insecurity)?
There so much news about our failing economy. What if we lose our job, don’t have enough for retirement or our kids’ college tuitions? We feel we don’t have enough money.
For some of us, we’re constantly stressed, busy, anxious. There’s too much to do, there’s not enough time.
(insecurity) We’re afraid we won’t do well in school, won’t gain friends, won’t get a job, won’t get married.
What if I don’t preach a good sermon, lead a good small group, do good ministry?
What if I’m seen as unimpressive and mediocre? What if I waste my life and have nothing to show for all my education, efforts and abilities
What if I’m overlooked, never the center of anyone’s love and devotion? What if no one ever finds enough in me to say, “Of all the people I’ve met, I choose to spend my life with you.”?
Out of that fear, we ask, “What do I need to do to protect myself?”
We embark on our self-salvation projects, ways we can save ourselves from our fears.
We try to insure our academic success, professional success, financial success, our physical attractiveness. Maybe that’s one reason why some of us work so hard.
Our minds are constantly at work to promote our popularity, our image, our reputation.
We avoid those situations where we might fail: we avoid certain social settings, tasks, responsibilities
We stay in bad situations (relationships, academic programs, jobs) because we’re afraid we may not be able to get better
In the effort to protect and save ourselves, maybe like David, we cross certain lines:
we compromise our integrity (school, work: cheating)
we intentionally mislead and deceive (pretending friendship for personal agenda; using people)
we hurt others to protect and promote ourselves; slandered, manipulated, cheated
Living in fear is a not living in faith, it is a low read on the faith-o-meter. I used to be fear, anxiety, worry as a low-level sin, not a really “bad” sin. But this is a bigger problem than we may think.
Consider how many times Scripture tells us to “fear not, do not be afraid.” I did a quick Bible search and found 69 times in the Bible (NIV) says, “Do not be afraid.” That’s one of the most repeated commands in Scripture. Living with God and living in fear are not compatible.
As mentioned, from God’s perspective, faith is what is important. The Lord is looking for faith on earth. The righteous live by faith.
Even might men struggle, even David wavered. Elijah, Abraham, Peter & all the disciples. We waver too, probably a lot more often than David. Fear and self-protectiveness is a deep human condition.
Faith Valleys of Mighty Men
Grace for David
Even though David hits a lowpoint, David wavers in his faith, God remains constant and is unshakably faithful.
Where is God’s mercy and grace to David?
We said that Achish required David to go with him to fight the Israelites. David is now in a dilemma. Would David have to kill his own people? Would David be found out and then killed by Achish/Philistines? What happened?
In 1 Sam 29, we read the end of that story. The Philistines gather to fight against Israel. David marches with Achish to the battle. When the other Philistine commanders see David, they say No way! This would be David’s perfect opportunity to turn against us and gain the favor of Saul.”
Achish pulls David aside and says, “You’ve been a good servant, and I trust you. But the other commanders don’t approve of you and they demand that you not come with us into battle.”
David is delivered from the mess he had created for himself.
Some may see it as, David got a lucky break. But from the perspective of Scripture with an all-powerful and sovereign God, this was God’s gracious hand.
David, as know, continues to win battle after battle and eventual becomes the king of Israel.
We’ll see later, David will make some other big mistakes, big lapses in his faith, but again, he still becomes the king of Israel, and a citizen of heaven.
So likewise for Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Samson, Jonah, Peter, and so on. The Bible is filled with stories of imperfect people who make big mistakes, but God’s grace, patience and sovereignty prevail. Their mistakes do not mess up God’s purposes for them and through them.
Some of us may have studied Ps 73 in our small groups. The psalmist there wavered in his faith and envied the wicked. Even though he was slipping and sliding, God held his right hand and never let go. “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength and my heart and my portion forever.”
We may waver in our faith, having our up’s and down’s. But the story of the Bible is that the real key is not the constancy of our faithfulness but the unshakable faithfulness of God. The story of the Bible is God’s grace toward imperfect and weak sinners.
Maybe some of us are here: we’ve wavered, failed, struggled. We live in fear, anxiety, and insecurities. That’s okay. Following Jesus is not about you getting your life together. Following Jesus is about finding grace from a rock solid, unshakably faithful God. We are weak and He is strong.
The Perfect King
David was a good king, but not a perfect king. He was a man of faith, but not a perfect man of faith.
There was another who was also pursued by his enemies, life was threatened, but he didn’t run away. He walked right into their hands.
When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:23)
Where David wavered in his faith, where we waver in our faith, Christ never did. Christ entrusted himself to His father. “Not my will but your will be done.”
Though we waver in our faith, it is because Jesus did not waver in his faith that we are saved.
Our hope, our salvation is not that we were so strong in our faith, but that Christ was so strong in His faith.
And because of Christ, that is why David can be king, and you and I can be the children of God. His righteousness is given to us. That’s why we don’t have to live in fear and self-protectiveness.