1 Samuel 29

Bible Passage:  1 Samuel 29

What do you think of David going to the Philistines?

Some people say that David was backsliding and showed lack of faith when he went to dwell with the Philistines. But I think he chose a path that he did not have to fight head on with Saul whom he had high regard for and did not want to kill even though he had opportunities and would have solved his problem and those who followed him. Then again maybe I can’t say this justifies his act of defecting to the enemy of the Israelites.

In this chapter, he was almost about to fight his own people when the Philistines disallowed him. In fact, he has been lying to Achish that he was raiding the Israelites when he did not. So actually I think that God might have bailed him out in this situation. Not only that, God sent him to where he really needed to be, as we can read in the next chapter.

Though he seemed to be disappointed that the Philistines did not trust him, I would have been very relieved if I were him, not having to make the choice between betraying his master and betraying Saul. Unless… he was planning exactly what the Philistines were afraid of, which is that he would turn against them in battle. Some people think that David has forgotten his identity as one of God’s people after dwelling some time with the Philistines, but I think he knew exactly what he was doing. Remember how we read that David was always behaving wisely? But if he really went up to battle against the Israelites and turn around to fight the Philistines, what does it mean about the “uprightness” that Achish had recognized him for? Would he still be regarded as “an angel of God”?

Have you experienced times when God bailed you out when you placed yourself in a situation that you are about to sin against Him? I am certain I had that experience before when I was still a student, though I cannot recall what it was about anymore. It was unintentional, but somehow I got caught in a situation where I felt that whatever choice I made would have been bad and not glorifying to God. I think it involved lying to keep myself looking good as a Christian or student maybe… I do remember that I was in a panic. But in the nick of time God bailed me out, and I did not have to make a choice. Then I was just a kid. Now that I’m older, I feel that the responsibility of what to speak lies on me and I cannot expect God to bail me out anymore. What I say makes who I am.

Sometimes I find it hard to differentiate between being wise versus being deceitful.

May God give me the wisdom to discern, and may the Holy Spirit be always able to have a voice in our minds, to teach us how we ought to speak and behave, and we will indeed behave wisely before people, truly bringing glory to God always.