David and the Philistines

I've been reading a bit about David lately and I want to share the following passages-

1Sa 28:1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.
1Sa 28:2 And David said to Achish, Surely thou shalt know what thy servant can do. And Achish said to David, Therefore will I make thee keeper of mine head for ever.

(David was dwelling with Achish- the king of Gath. Remember this…

1Sa 17:4 And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

Also remember this…

1Sa 21:12 And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.)

Goliath was of Gath, Achish, the king of Gath was sheltering David when David was trying to keep Saul from killing him. This is the same king David went to and feigned madness so he could escape to hide in a cave. Eventually David went to this king again and this time He went with an army of 600 men and asked the king to shelter him.


1Sa 27:5 And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
1Sa 27:6 Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.
1Sa 27:7 And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.



As David dwelled in the lands of King Achish- the Philistines were preparing to fight against Israel. Remember David was the Lord's. David was part of Israel. David fought for the Lord against Goliath of Gath a Philistine and defeated Goliath and the Philistines. Yet here we have David taking refuge with a Philistine king and this king is preparing to war against Israel- God's chosen people, and the king expected David to go out and do battle with him against his own people.


Isn't this a super strange relationship? Think about it. God's chosen to fight against God's chosen?


David living in Philistine lands. The Philistines were godless people, the Philistines were enemies of God. The Philistines worshipped false gods-


Jdg 16:23 Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.


These worshippers of false gods were those David chose to live with, in their good graces, and yet David was NOT rejected of God for this, why? Because even though he took refuge among the godless pagans, he NEVER took on their beliefs, NEVER. David never forsook God, David never stopped worshipping God. Living in the land belonging to the godless and under s godless king, David still lived with God.


We are told often that we aren't to give place to the godless etc. etc. etc. And I'm not saying we are to choose to live with godless people. There is a GREAT danger when we associate with those who aren't God's that we'll be led astray by them- look at Solomon- the wisest of the wise. Yet, God has His ways and we cannot JUDGE the eternal life of people. We have to believe that God has His reasons for some of the situations we find ourselves in, situations that some would be shocked about. Some people who call themselves Christians, who believe they are among God's chosen are shocked and quick to judge when they see others among the ungodly. The supposed people of God in Jesus' day rejected Jesus because he dwelt with sinners! God's Son! The MESSIAH! The Holy One, associated Himself with sinners! He associated with those that people would call godless.


David wasn't living in his own little world among God's chosen people, David believed he was forced to live among the godless to protect himself from God's anointed king, Saul. God stayed with Him and God used David for His will. We don't HAVE to understand all the ways of God, we can't understand them all. We have to trust that wherever we are led that God will use us for His purposes and NOT be quick to judge the situations believing we are abandoned by God. We need to be God's always in every situation. When our understanding fails we have to believe that God's never will.


More on this tomorrow…. God willing.


All glory to our God!


In Christ now and forever!


Amen.