1 Samuel 27
Arthur Pink · Citado em PreceptAustin
1 Samuel 27
Pink - After Saul's departure (1 Samuel 26:25), David took stock of his situation, but unfortunately he left God out of his calculations. During tedious and trying delays, and especially when outward things seem to be all going against us, there is grave danger of giving way to unbelief. Then it is we are very apt to forget former mercies, and fear the worst. And when faith staggers, obedience wavers, and self-expedients are frequently employed, which later, involve us in great difficulties. So it was now with the one whose varied life we are seeking to trace. As David considered the situation he was still in, remembered the inconstancy and treachery of Saul, things appeared very gloomy to him. Knowing full well the king's jealousy, and perhaps reasoning that he would now regard him with a still more evil eye, since God so favored him, David feared the worst. "The moment in which faith attains any triumph, is often one of peculiar danger. Self-confidence may be engendered by success, and pride may spring out of honor that humility has won; or else, if faithfulness, after having achieved its victory, still finds itself left in the midst of danger and sorrow, the hour of triumph may be succeeded by one of undue depression and sorrowful disappointment. And thus it was with David. He had obtained this great moral victory; but his circumstances were still unchanged. Saul yet continued to be king of Israel: himself remained a persecuted outcast. As the period, when he had before spared the life of Saul, had been followed by days of lengthened sorrow, so he probably anticipated an indefinite prolongation of similar sufferings, and his heart quailed at the prospect" (B. W. Newton). Reformation Study Bible - Despite recently learned lessons of faith (1Sa 26:10), David tires of being a fugitive in constant danger and gives in to the human fear that Saul will eventually succeed in destroying him. David’s anxiety may be heightened since he and his men have their families with them (1Sa 27:3). For the second time (1Sa 21:10), David seeks refuge among Israel’s archenemies, the Philistines. J D Greear - 1 Samuel 27–2 Samuel 1 is called the “Accession Narrative” because it shows the downfall of Saul but the accession of David to the throne (Firth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 283) (Exalting Jesus in 1-2 Samuel) "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul - What has David just in essence prayed in 1Sa 26:24? "may He deliver me from all distress.” So much for trusting in that prayer! Sadly there is not one mention of God in chapter 27. How quickly our fallen flesh can attack our heart and mind, so that we so quickly forget our great God and His great promises now and eternally! Woe is me! What is David's "prophecy" (not really, but "will" speaks of a future occurrence)? It is a "false prophecy!" Who is he consulting? Himself, not His God. He has been fleeing for so long, he has convinced himself that Saul will catch him and kill him. He is ignoring the truth that God had anointed him to be the next king. As
1 Samuel 27
Pink points out, “After Saul’s departure, David took stock of his situation, but unfortunately, he left God out of his calculations. During tedious and trying delays and especially when outward things seem to be all going against us, there is grave danger of giving way to unbelief. Then it is we are very apt to forget former mercies and fear the worst. And when faith staggers, obedience wavers, and self-expedience is frequently employed which later involve us in greater difficulties.” Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand - David reaches his conclusion and is convinced he will be safe outside of Israel as Saul will give up the chase. His fallen flesh has "reasoned" with him and given him justification for fleeing to Israel's most bitter enemy....and to do it a second time (cf David's short sojourn to Gath in 1Sa 21:10-15+, 1Sa 22:1+)! In effect David was saying something akin to "The End Justifies the Means!" What is absent in this section? The statement "and David inquired of the LORD" is sadly not seen for more than 3 chapters (finally 1Sa 30:6-8+), which covers 16 months. There is no record of consulting prophets. There is no record of calling for the ephod. There are no psalms attributed to this time in David's life. THOUGHT- It's hard to have a psalm (song) in your heart when you out of the will of God! I should add that some like F B Meyer think he did write some psalms during this period “The psalms which with more or less probability may be assigned to this period of David’s life are marked with growing sadness and depression. Among them may be reckoned the 10th, the 13th, the 17th, the 22nd, the 25th, the 44th, and perhaps the 40th and the 69th.” Paul Apple says it this way that there is "No sign of David inquiring after God in this passage; no waiting upon the Lord for guidance; no evidence of faith; no clinging to God’s promises; It is always a problem when one leaves the promised land without explicit divine command."....Let each child of God take solemn warning. When clouds gather around, and faith is beginning to weaken, let us not in sudden panic ‘speedily escape into the land of the Philistines,’ but rigidly and persistently continue to trust in the Lord with all our heart, and wait patiently for Him (cf Isa 40:31+)." (Commentary) Ray Pritchard - In those words you have the x-ray of a discouraged soul. It shows us what discouragement can do to you and me. First, discouragement destroyed his perspective. It all begins when David starts to think about his situation. For nearly ten years he’s been running from Saul. Ten years is a big chunk out of a man’s life. Maybe he was tired on this particular day. No one could blame him for feeling down. We’ve all been in the same place. But this time his mind jumps from one negative thought to another until at last he reaches a hopeless conclusion: “One of these days Saul is going to get me. I don’t know where or when or how but I can’t run like this forever. It may not come for a year or it may happen tomorrow but sure as sunrise, it’s going to happen.” The future looks bleak because he has decided to focus on the negative instead of the positive. As I said, we can excuse and even understand such thinking except for two key facts. First, God had promised that David would be the next king. That wasn’t a prediction the way political pundits predict the next president. No, it was a rock-solid promise and David could take it to the bank. Meaning that Saul would never kill him no matter how bleak the circumstances might appear. Second, David had just emerged from a string of three remarkable spiritual victories. He had spared Saul’s life once in the cave at En Gedi (I Samuel 24). Then he had spared Nabal’s life when Abigail interceded (I Samuel 25). Then he had very recently spared Saul’s life again when he crept into the camp and found Saul sleeping (I Samuel 26). Perhaps it isn’t surprising that discouragement came hard on the heels of such remarkable victories. It is often that way for the children of God. We could almost say that when things are going well, watch out because you are set up to be blindsided by temptation of one kind or another. (Ziklag is Burning) Perish (destroy, sweep away)(05595) sāp̱āh is a verb meaning to scrape or sweep away, to destroy, to perish, to be captured. Patterson says " The basic image of the root seems to be that of sweeping—both the process of heaping things together and of sweeping them away (cf. Arabic saāʾ “to raise and carry away dust”). The root may sometimes be confused with ʾāsap or yāsap. The root is usually used in a hostile sense, particularly in contexts of judgment. David spent much of his life being swept away before his enemies; later, facing God’s judgment for sin, he avoids the choice of being swept away before his enemies (1Ch 21:12–13). The judgment of God against sin is the subject of several contexts. Lot and his family were warned so that they would not be consumed with Sodom (Gen 19:15ff.). The prophets repeatedly warned apostate Israel that God would heap misfortunes upon them (e.g. Isa 7:20). Jeremiah (Jer 12:4) stated that man’s sin was so serious that even the natural world was affected by it. God’s judgment should occasion prayer and intercession. Abraham pleaded with his heavenly visitors for the life of the righteous in Sodom (Ge 18:23f.). The Psalmist, concerned that God’s will and reputation be evidenced in his life, prayed for his enemies to be swept away (Ps 40:14]). (see online Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament) Sapah - 19v - add(2), captured(1), destroy(2), heap(1), perish(2), remove(1), snatched away(1), sweep away(2), swept away(6). Gen. 18:23; Gen. 18:24; Gen. 19:15; Gen. 19:17; Num. 16:26; Num. 32:14; Deut. 29:19; Deut. 32:23; 1 Sam. 12:25; 1 Sam. 26:10; 1 Sam. 27:1; 1 Chr. 21:12; Ps. 40:14; Prov. 13:23; Isa. 7:20; Isa. 13:15; Isa. 30:1; Jer. 12:4 Note especially these other two uses in First Samuel which give you a sense of how discouraged David is at this point in his life... 1 Samuel 12:25+ (SAMUEL TO ISRAEL WHO WANTED A KING LIKE ALL THE OTHER NATIONS!) “But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.” 1 Samuel 26:10+ David (SPEAKING ABOUT KING SAUL, EVEN GIVING A PROPHECY) also said, “As the LORD lives, surely the LORD will strike him, or his day will come that he dies, or he will go down into battle and perish. ILLUSTRATION - Once upon a time the devil decided to have a garage sale. He did it because he wanted to clear out some of his old tools to make room for new ones. After he set up his wares, a fellow dropped by to see what he had. Arrayed on a long table were all the tricks of his infernal trade. Each tool had a price tag. In one corner was a shiny implement labeled “Anger—$250,” next to it a curved tool labeled “Sloth—$380.” As the man searched, he found “Criticism—$500” and “Jealousy—$630.” Out of the corner of his eye, the man spotted a beaten-up tool with a price tag of $12,000. Curious, the man asked the devil why he would offer a worn-out piece of junk for such an exorbitant price. The devil said it was expensive because he used it so much. “What is it?,” the man asked. The answer came back, “It is discouragement. It always works when nothing else will.” Surely all of us can testify to the truth of that little fable. We all know from hard experience how the devil uses discouragement to keep us from moving ahead. When anger won’t stop us, when lust can do us no harm, when envy finds no foothold, discouragement always works. It is the devil’s number one tool. The dictionary defines discouragement as “anything that makes us less confident and hopeful.” Another way to look at it is to say that encouragement is the act of putting courage into someone. Therefore, discouragement is anything that takes the courage out. That’s a dangerous state to be in because a discouraged person makes many mistakes. You won’t be surprised to learn that David’s life offers an excellent example of what discouragement can do to a man of God. The story is told in I Samuel 27-30, a passage little known to most of us but one which is perfectly relevant today. - (Ziklag is Burning by Ray Pritchard - his sermons are always worth checking for "pearls!") ILLUSTRATION OF SPEAKING TO YOUR HEART (POSITIVELY) - Soul talk is quite a familiar idea in the Bible. Remember how Jesus depicted the farmer whose silos and bank account were full; the farmer says, “I will say to my soul, ‘Soul [imagine!], you have ample goods laid up for many years …’ ” (Luke 12:19RSV+). There is a whole world and life view in that statement. The junk you tell yourself can make a difference. Actually, David himself knew how to talk to himself (Ps. 62:5NIV). Happily, sometimes others will rivet our minds on the right propaganda. It was 1854, Charles Spurgeon’s first year of ministry in London. Cholera struck. One family after another called Spurgeon to the bedside of loved ones and almost daily he stood by a grave. At first Spurgeon threw himself into his visitation of the sick with all his youthful vigor. Soon, however, “weary in body, and sick at heart,” he began to think he was about to succumb. He was on the Great Dover Road dragging himself home from a funeral when a large broadside posted in a shoemaker’s window arrested his attention. It did not look like a trade announcement, nor was it. In the center of the large sheet, in good bold handwriting stood the words, Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. The words of Psalm 91:9–10 took immediate effect. Spurgeon reported: “Faith appropriated the passage as her own. I felt secure, refreshed.… I went on with my visitation of the dying, in a calm and peaceful spirit.” (Spurgeon's Treasury of David, Psalm 91) In any case, lean on your true security, be careful what you speak to your heart. That is the exhortation of this God-less text. (borrow Dale Ralph Davis' Looking on the Heart) C H
1 Samuel 27
Pink - David went over to the Lord's enemies. Would you have believed it: he who killed Goliath, sought a refuge in Goliath's land; he who smote the Philistines trusts in the Philistines; nay, more, he who was Israel's champion, becomes the chamberlain to Achish Bergen - The first time he had entered Gath armed and alone from the royal household in Gibeah—a circumstance that appeared threatening to Achish, who knew nothing of the conflict between Saul and David. However, this time David was entering as an infamous outlaw—a would-be usurper of Saul’s throne who was so feared by the Israelite monarch that he had repeatedly sent thousands of men into the desert to track David down. The Philistines’ awareness of this conflict is evidenced by their timing a raid on Israel to coincide with one of Saul’s forays against David (cf. 1Sa 23:27–28). Acting in accordance with the timeless dictum “My enemy’s enemy is my friend,” the Philistine ruler welcomed David, his men, and their families into his territory and probably considered them to be mercenaries (cf. 1Sa 28:1). (Borrow 1 & 2 Samuel - New American Commentary) TSK - This measure of David's, in uniting himself to the enemies of his God and people, was highly blameable; was calculated to alienate the affections of the Israelites; and led to equivocation, if not downright falsehood. Paul Apple asks "What type of defeatist thinking enters our mind – despite all that God has done for us in His grace and His providence in providing for us and protecting us?" Do we ever get tired of trying to follow the Lord and just lay aside any efforts at seeking Him and take matters into our own hands? What has been our experience in those times?