October 20, 2017
I Samuel 27:1, 2(All Scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated)
We are considering David Dwelling In The Devil’s Dominion – when this future king of Israel fled from King Saul to hide in the territory of the Philistines for sixteen months! (See I Samuel 27:7). Our featured Scripture is I Samuel 27:1 and 2:
And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand
of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily es-
cape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek
me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.”
Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were
with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
David, after escaping to the land of the Philistines was slipping further and further into idolatry, putting something else in God’s place – first in the lives of His followers – loving Him and obeying Him! (See Mark 12:29 and 30; John 14:15). The most grievous examples of David’s idolatrous sin start in I Samuel 28:1: “…the Philistines gathered their armies…to fight with Israel. And Achish said to David, ‘You assuredly know that you…and your men…will go out with me to battle….”
• Remember, the Philistines were an idol-worshiping people, inveterate enemies of Israel (and so Israel’s God) for a thousand years! Here let’s apply what is recorded in Luke 4:5 and 6:
…the devil taking [Jesus]…up on a high mountain, showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him,
“All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been
delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.”
Satan usurped man’s “…dominion over…the earth…” (Genesis 1:28) when Adam bowed to his headship rather than God’s! (See Genesis 3:1-6). And the point of this Biblical fact is that the Philistines, being heathen, were under The Devil’s Dominion! David’s idolatry involved his submission to King Achish of the Philistines instead of God!
• What was David’s response to King Achish’ statement? He told the king, “Surely you know what your servant can do.” (I Samuel 28:2).
✡ David was claiming himself to be a servant to a Godless king! (according to Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary, the word means a bond-man or a bond-servant in bondage or servitude to a master). He should have called to mind Samuel’s words to the Israelites in I Samuel 7:3:
“If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the
foreign gods…from among you, and prepare your hearts for the
LORD, and serve Him only…He will deliver you from the hand of
the Philistines.”
✡ “Surely you know what your servant can do.” In effect David was saying, “I will show you how Godless I have become! You will be impressed! ” Is this the way we are to present Jesus Christ to an unbelieving world in need of Him? (See John 17:17-23).
• We read later in I Samuel 29:4 and 5 that when the Philistine army’s muster was taking place, the other Philistine princes didn’t trust David to side with them!
“Is this not David, of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying,
‘Saul had slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?…Do not
let him go down with us to battle, lest he…become our adversary. For
with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads
of these men? ”
They were not taken in by David’s deceptive practices – as was Achish! So the king called David and sent him home with these words:
✡ I Samuel 29:6 – “Surely, as the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army is good in my sight. For to this day I have not found evil in you since the day of your coming to me. Nevertheless the [other Philistine] lords do not favor you.” Quite the testimony! But since the world is upside down in God’s eyes (see Isaiah 29:15, 16 – 1965 Bible in Basic English), the fact that Achish said, “…I have not found evil in you…” is actually saying that in God’s eyes, He had found evil in David! So do we really want that said of us by the heathen who are enemies of God?!!
✡ I Samuel 29:7 – “Therefore, return now, and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” Whom are we seeking to please as God’s children – the world or the Lord Jesus Christ?
✡ I Samuel 29:8 – “Then David said to Achish, ‘But what have I done…that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?’ ”
▸ What had David done? He had aligned himself for almost a year and a half to a heathen king and country, the enemies of Jehovah God, to the extent that this man – of whom it is said in Acts 13:22 that he was “…a man after [God’s] own heart…” – was also identifying himself as the LORD’s enemy!
▸ He actually called God’s chosen people – his own people – the Israelites, “…enemies of my lord the king…” and so enemies of God! (See Romans 5:10; 8:7; Philippians 3:18, 19; Colossians 1:21; James 4:4 to see what God views as His enemies!).
▸ David was willing to go and fight against the enemies of the Philistines – God’s people! The Pharisee Gamaliel warned the Jews in Acts 5:39 that if anything “…is of God, you cannot overthrow it — lest you even be found to fight against God.” And one who fights against God will never win!
▸ “…my lord the [heathen] king….” This is just about the bottom depth of David’s idolatry! To think he called King Achish – this enemy of God – his lord?!!
Such is the slippery slope of idolatry! Be careful to “…love [and obey – see John 14:15] the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30). You will then avoid the depths to which David fell!