1 Samuel 27

1 Samuel 27

Chart from recommended resource Jensen's Survey of the OT - used by permission 1 Samuel Chart from Charles Swindoll TIMELINE OF THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL, KINGS & CHRONICLES 1107 1011 971 931 853 722 586 1 Samuel 2 Samuel 1 Kings 1 Kings 2 Kings 31 1-4 5-10 11-20 21-24 1-11 12-22 1-17 18-25 1 Chronicles 10 1 Chr 11-19 1 Chr 20-29 2 Chronicles 1-9 2 Chronicles 10-20 2 Chronicles 21-36 Legend: B.C. dates at top of timeline are approximate. Note that 931BC marks the division of the Kingdom into Southern Tribes (Judah and Benjamin) and Ten Northern Tribes. To avoid confusion be aware that after the division of the Kingdom in 931BC, the Southern Kingdom is most often designated in Scripture as "Judah" and the Northern Kingdom as "Israel." Finally, note that 1 Chronicles 1-9 is not identified on the timeline because these chapters are records of genealogy. The Ryrie Study Bible Map on Left ESV Global Study Bible, on right Jensen's Survey of the OT Click to enlarge - Identify #13 in region of CARMEL/MAON. Then follow yellow line to #14 = GATH, and then SW to #15 = ZIKLAG. Copyright Faithlife 1 Samuel 27:1 Then David said to himself, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel, and I will escape from his hand." David: 1Sa 16:1,13 23:17 25:30 Ps 116:11 Pr 13:12 Isa 40:27-31 51:12 Mt 14:31 Mk 4:40 2Co 7:5 I will: This was a rash conclusion: God had caused him to be anointed king of Israel, and promised his accession to the throne, and had so often interposed in his behalf, that he was authorised to believe the very reverse. there is nothing: 1Sa 22:5 Ex 14:12 Nu 14:3 Pr 3:5,6 Isa 30:15,16 La 3:26,27 into the land: 1Sa 27:10,11 21:10-15 28:1,2 29:2-11 30:1-3 1 Samuel 27 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries Dale Ralph Davis (borrow Looking on the heart) divides this story as follows... David’s plan, 1Sa 27:1–4 David’s town, 1Sa 27:5–7 David’s practice, 1Sa 27:8–12 David’s dilemma, 1Sa 28:1–2 Related Passages: Proverbs 3:5-6+ Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. Psalm 31:15 My times are in Your hand; Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. Psalm 42:1-11+ (A POSITIVE EXAMPLE OF TALKING TO YOURSELF) For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah. As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. 2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. (POSITIVE TALKING TO SELF OR "PREACHING A SERMON TO YOURSELF!") 5 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. 6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. 8The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life. 9I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” 10As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” 11 Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God. Psalm 56:1-4 (NOTE - THIS WAS WRITTEN YEARS BEFORE AFTER THE EVENTS OF 1Sa 21:10-15!) For the choir director; according to Jonath elem rehokim. A Mikhtam of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath. Be gracious to me, O God, for man has trampled upon me; Fighting all day long he oppresses me. 2 My foes have trampled upon me all day long, For they are many who fight proudly against me. 3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You (ED: NOTE YOU CAN WRITE INSPIRED PSALMS BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU WILL ALWAYS PRACTICE THEM!). 4 In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me? WHEN VERTICAL VISION BECOMES HORIZONTAL VISION This is a strange chapter in the life of a man after God's own heart and sadly it was not a momentary lapse of strangeness, but a period that lasted 16 months. It is a strange chapter because David becomes a servant of a pagan king. It is a strange chapter because the name of God is not mentioned once. It is a strange chapter because there is not one suggestion that David sought the LORD during this 16 months. It is a strange (better sad) chapter because most writers agree that David did not pen one psalm during this 16 month period! He went from a physical wilderness to a spiritual wilderness! But why? In a word, he had a faith failure because of his fear focus! He feared man (Saul), not God. How do we know? Because if you fear God, you'll have nothing else to fear (Mt 10:28+). In these next 3 chapters we find that David is "running on empty," emotionally worn out and essentially in a backslidden state spiritually. But God won't let His children remain that way forever, and in David's case He brought an Amalekite raid on Ziklag, burning the town and taking the families of all 600 men (cf the disciplining hand of the LORD - cf Hebrews 12:5-11, Ps 119:67, 71). It was only then that David repented and returned to the LORD summarized in the crucial verse 1Sa 30:6+. Alan Redpath says, “He traded the smile of God for the grin of the devil.” “At one moment we find David facing circumstances calculated to tempt him to blazing anger, and immediate retaliation. At the next moment, he is surrounded by such constant and overwhelming attacks from his lifelong enemy that he is discouraged and almost ready to give up. Here is the anvil upon which the character of a man of God is hammered out, the fiery furnace through which he is melted and poured as steel for the glory of his God. Thus the iron gets into a man’s soul. The language of David at this point in his life is in the minor key of depression and sadness, Then David said to himself - Note all the personal pronouns in this verse but no mention of Yahweh. Literally "David spoke to his heart," not a bad thing to do if one is speaking truth and/or meditating on Scripture (cf Ps 119:9-10, 11, cf Ps 42:5) Beware of speaking to self! When horizontal vision (SELF FOCUSED) replaces or overrides vertical vision (GOD FOCUSED) we are danger of falling prey to unbelief and the consequences thereof. David was walking by sight (horizontal vision), not by faith (vertical vision). David reversed Pr 3:5+ and instead of trusting in God trusted in himself and leaned on his own understanding. How did David reason? Like all natural men (even saved men and women at times) David feared man and forgot God. His faith flagged, while his fear "flourished." Pr 29:25 proved true in his life "The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted." David was ensnared by despair, defeatist thinking, discouragement. Samuel had told David he would be the next king. Jonathan had assured him he would be king. But when he took his eyes off of God's promise, he began to doubt. He was like Peter who walked on the waves until he took his eyes off of His Lord and began to sink. As an aside what had Saul just said to David (in their last face to face meeting)? "Then Saul said, “I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will not harm you again because my life was precious in your sight this day. Behold, I have played the fool and have committed a serious error.” (1Sa 26:21+) Clearly David did not trust Saul, and we can hardly blame him for Saul was a bitter man and his bitterness could spill over in anger at any moment (THOUGHT - Beware if you are harboring bitterness to another human being!)! When we start to look at God through our circumstances instead of looking at our circumstances through God’s eyes, we will lose faith, patience, and courage, and the enemy will triumph! -- Warren Wiersbe Dale Ralph Davis on said to himself - David has a special niche in salvation history but he shares common dilemmas with all the Lord’s people. Covenant kingship is not at stake in our situations, but we still know the subtle danger of leaning on something else and less than the everlasting arms. Our concern is practical: Is there any way I might avoid deceiving myself with a substitute? How can I, how should I, go about leaning on Yahweh? Answer: By talking to yourself, by talking truth to yourself, especially by speaking to yourself the truth about your God. I am only suggesting a reversal of David’s procedure in verse 1. I had a reason for translating it literally: “Then David said to his heart, ‘Now I am going to be swept away one day by the hand of Saul.…’ ” David was talking to himself and what he kept saying to himself determined his action. What you say and keep saying to the center of you will direct your way. All of us propagandize our souls, that is, we constantly talk to ourselves. (Not many do this audibly, but we continually do it, and, if you don’t believe it, you haven’t been listening, and your self is probably angry with you for being so unreceptive!) 5 How crucial it is to feed our souls true propaganda, especially about the adequacy of our God. (borrow Looking on the Heart) David