Good morning. Would you turn
with me to First Samuel chapter 29? I'd like to read this chapter
together. First Samuel chapter 29. Now, while I am reading this
chapter, I want you to imagine that you'd never heard anything
about David at all. And this is your introduction
to David. Never heard anything about him
at all, and what would you think? Verse Samuel 29. Now the Philistines
gathered together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites
pitched by a fountain which is in Jezreel, And the lords of
the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, but
David and his men passed on in the rear ward with Achish. He was one of the five kings
of the Philistines and David was with Achish. Then said the
princes of the Philistines, what do these Hebrews hear? David
and his 600 men. And Achish said unto the princes
of the Philistines, is not this David, the servant of Saul, the
king of Israel, which hath been with me these days or these years?"
Actually, 16 months. And I found no fault in him since
he fell unto me unto this day. And the princes of the Philistines
were wroth with him. Are you crazy? is what they were
thinking. And the princes of the Philistine said unto him,
make this fellow return, that he may go again to his place,
which thou has appointed him. And let him not go down with
us to the battle, lest in the battle he be an adversary to
us. For wherewith should he reconcile
himself unto his master, should it not be with the heads of these
men? Is not this David, of whom they sang to one another years
ago in dances, saying, Saul's flow is thousands, and David
is ten thousands? Then Achish called David and
said unto him, Surely as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright,
and thy going out, thy coming in with me, and the host is good
in my sight. Had you been with me, a Philistine
king? For I have not found evil in thee since the day of thy
coming in unto me, unto this day. Nevertheless, the Lord's
favour thee not, wherefore now return, and go in peace, that
thou displease not the lords of the Philistines. And David
said unto Achish, king of Gath, one of the Philistine kings,
but what have I done? And why hast thou found in thy
servants? And what has thou found in thy
servant? As long as I've been with thee unto this day that
I may not go fight against the enemies of my Lord, the king.
Now he's calling the Israelites, the enemies of my Lord, the king.
I want to fight for you and I want to fight against the Israelites.
And Achish answered and said unto David, I know that thou
art good in my sight and as an angel of God, notwithstanding
the princes of the Philistines have said, he shall not go up
to battle with us to the battle. Wherefore now rise up early in
the morning. with thy master servants that
are come with thee. And as soon as ye be up early
in the morning and have light, depart." So David and his men
rose up early to depart in the morning to return to the land
of the Philistines. They were going back to Ziklag
in the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to
Jezreel in order to fight the Israelites. Let's pray together. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of our blessed son. And we ask in his name that we
might be enabled and allowed by your grace to worship thy
dear son. May your gospel be preached.
May you give us hearing ears and receptive hearts. And Lord,
we confess our sins. We pray for forgiveness and cleansing.
And Lord, we pray for a spirit of unity for the Lord's sake. with all your people. Now bless
all your people wherever they meet together. Give us grace
to love you more and love one another more. In Christ's name
we pray, amen. Now in reading this passage of
scripture, when we read about David, it seems to me that David
is an enemy of Israel. He says he wants to stay with
the king of the Philistines, He wants to go fight against
Israel. Now, if this is all the information
you had about David, what would you conclude? Now, we know David
is a man after God's own heart. This is God's anointed king.
This is David, the sweet psalmist of Israel. This is David who
defeated Goliath years before, who fought against the king of
Gath. who said regarding the armies of Gath, these uncircumcised
Philistines, he was an enemy to them. And now all of a sudden
he says to the king, I want to stay with you and I want to fight
against Israel. And he was in this position for
16 months. What would you conclude about
this man? I know what I would conclude. He's not a man after
God's own heart. He's not God's anointed king. He's against Israel. That's what
I would conclude just from this isolated time in David's life. Now we read of a great military
gathering in verses 1 and 2. Now the Philistines gathered
together all their armies to Aphek, and the Israelites pitched
by a fountain which is in Jezreel, And the lords of the Philistines
passed on by hundreds and by thousands. You think of this
great army, but David and his men passed in the rearward with
Achish. He was one of the kings and they
were in the back and David was with them. He'd been with them
for 16 months. War was getting ready to take
place and David and his men were in the mix. Now, would David
have really fought against Israel? You know, just about everybody
I read said, no, he wouldn't have done it, but you don't get
that from the scriptures. It appears that he would have. And
when the king says, you go back to Ziklag, he said, why? I want
to be with my lord, the king, and I want to fight against Israel.
He seemed wholeheartedly for the Philistines. Now, I don't
know if he would have, but it appeared he would have. And what
makes me... Here's what I think. There is no sin that a believer
would not commit but the sin against the Holy Spirit. There
is no sin that a believer would not commit except the sin against
the Holy Spirit. Actually, We do commit every
sin, but that one in our minds anyway, if not actually in our
minds, there's no sin. That's a humbling thought, isn't
it? There's no sin that we don't commit, but the sin against the
Holy Spirit. And anytime somebody says a believer
wouldn't do that, they're making a very ignorant statement. There is no sin that you and
I would not commit apart from the restraining grace of God. Do we believe that? Do we really
believe that? Look at David's position as an
enemy of Israel at this time. Now, David's position began with
David's unbelief in chapter 27, verse 1. We read this a couple
of weeks ago. And David said in his heart,
I shall ne'er perish one day by the hand of Saul. There's
nothing better for me that I should speedily escape into the land
of the Philistines. And Saul shall despair of me
to seek me any more. in any coast of Israel, so shall
I escape out of his hand. Now, he didn't seek the Lord's
counsel on this. He didn't pray about this. He just went into
the land of the Philistines, and all of a sudden, he is a
helper to the king. Now, look in verse three. Then
said the princes of the Philistines, what do these Hebrews hear? They
were getting ready to fight Israel. And he said, what are they doing
here? And Achaz said unto the princes of the Philistines, is
not this David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, which
hath been with me these days or these years? And I found no
fault in him since the day he fell unto me unto this day. And I think that language there
is very interesting, isn't it? Notice the word after fell unto
me is in italics. Oh, how David had fallen. Oh,
how David had fallen since the day he fell. Now, I think of
David in the land of the Philistines at this time. Do you remember
who their God was? It was Dagon. It was Dagon, the
fish God. And they were worshiping the
fish God, and he who knew the living God was in this place
where they were worshiping the fish God, and he didn't say a
thing. You'll notice that Achish said, all his words have been
good. All of his words have been good. All of his actions have
been good. He hadn't done anything to offend me. Is that a good
thing? I mean, David just kept his mouth shut at this time,
even while he was with the Lord's enemies, even while he was with
this idolatrous people, worshiping Dagon, people who hated Jehovah,
who were against Jehovah, who were against Israel. And here
David is with them and keeping his mouth shut. keeping himself
safe, not saying anything with regard to Dagon the fish god.
He was in the midst of idolatry and he just kept his mouth shut. Now that is where David was at,
at this time. Verse 4, And the princes of the
Philistines were wroth with him, They thought, this is crazy.
You know, they knew something about David. What a mighty warrior
he was. I mean, they remembered that
he's the one who killed Goliath. And they remembered his zeal
at one time for the Lord of Hosts. Now, I know he doesn't seem to
have it now. He seems to be your head now. But look what they
say. And the princes of the Philistines were wroth with him. And the
princes of the Philistines said, make this fellow return that
he may go again to his place, which the house appointed him,
talking about Ziklag. He'd given him a city in the
Philistines. And let him not go down with
us to the battle, lest in the battle he bury an adversary to
us. For wherewith should he reconcile
himself unto his master?" I mean, he could turn things around.
We could be in the midst of the battle and he can turn on us
and he can win back over Israel because you know that in the
eyes of Israel, David stank at this time. They were disgusted
by him. As a matter of fact, If you remember
from, I think, the last chapter to the chapter before that, he
said he's made him to stink in the eyes of Israel. And he did
stink. He was with the Philistines,
and everybody thought he was a complete traitor, that he had
just left all truth. Like I said, if you would have
looked at David during this 16th month period of his life, you
would have thought, this guy's apostatized. He's left. There's
nothing to him. Verse five, is not this David
whom they sang one to another in dances, sang Saul's Louis
thousands and David his ten thousands? Why would you want him going
with us? Now, verse six, then Achish called David and said
unto him, surely as the Lord liveth, thou hast been upright
And thy going out and thy coming in with me in the host is good
in my sight. For I've not found evil in thee
since the day of thy coming unto me. Unto this day you've been
good to me. Is he talking about the Lord
Jehovah? He's a Dagan worshiper. I don't know if he's talking
about Dagan or maybe he's using some kind of religious language
trying to get along with David. I don't know what's going on.
But he said, David, you've been good to me. Nevertheless, the
Lord's favor thee not. Wherefore now return and go in
peace that thou displease not the Lords of the Philistines.
You just go back to Ziklag. You're not going to come into
war with us. Verse eight. Now look at David's language.
And David said unto Achish, But what have I done? And what hast
thou found in thy servant, as long as I have been with thee
unto this day, that I may not go fight against the enemies
of my lord the king? Now he says, I'm with you, Achish,
and I'm going to go fight against your enemies, because you're
my lord, you're the king. That's what David says. Now what
would you conclude about David at this time? Him saying something
like this, he wanted to go fight against Israel. And Achish answered and said
to David, I know that thou art good in my sight as an angel
of God. Notwithstanding, the princes
of the Philistines have said he shall not go up with us to
the battle. We can't trust him. He might turn on us and try to
get back on Israel's side. Wherefore, now rise up early
in the morning with thy master servants that are come with thee.
And as soon as you be up early in the morning and have light,
depart. So David and his men rose up early to depart in the
morning to return unto the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines
went up to Jezreel, where Israel was. He was going back to Ziklag. And in the next chapter, we have
one of the most beautiful gospel types that you find in the scripture,
where he went back to Ziklag. The Lord's going to bring good
out of evil. Now, in this passage of scripture,
the first thing that I see is God's wonderful providence in
preventing David from committing this awful sin of sinning against
God, against Israel, and fighting against Israel. God and His providence
put it in the heart of these Philistine kings. We're not going
to let him go up. Evidently, he was willing to
go up. He was willing to fight against Israel. He said, well,
why can't I do it? I want to fight against the enemies
of my Lord, the King. He said that to the King of Gath,
Achish. He was willing to do it, but
God in His glorious providence prevented him from doing it. Now, let me say this. Any sin that you and I do not
commit It's because God providentially hindered us from committing.
Aren't you thankful for God's providence? I want to look at
a scripture in the Old Testament and in the New Testament that
gives us an example. Let's turn to Genesis chapter
20. Genesis chapter 20, and Abraham
journeyed from thence toward the south country and dwelt between
Kadesh, Shur, and sojourned in Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah
his wife, she's my sister. And Abimelech, king of Gerar,
sent and took Sarah. He was afraid to say that she's
my wife because he thought it would cost him his life. So he
said, she's just my sister. And he let Sarah, his wife, go
into a harem of this king. Now, men, how do you think your
wives would think about you if you let that happen to them?
I think there would be some real problems there. And as a matter
of fact, he repeated this in chapter 26. He did it again.
But he said, she's my sister. Had God came to Abimelech in
a dream by night and said to him, behold, thou art but a dead
man. For the woman which thou hast taken, she's another man's
wife. But Abimelech had not come near unto her. And he said, Lord,
wilt thou slay also a righteous nation? Said he not unto me,
she's my sister, and she even she herself said he's my brother.
In the integrity of my heart and the innocency of my hands
have I done this. And God said unto him in a dream,
yea, I know that thou didst it in the integrity of thy heart,
and here's how come, for I also withheld thee from sinning against
me. That's why you didn't do it.
I kept you from doing it. That's the only reason. Now look
in Acts chapter 21, something in the New Testament. Now this is the apostle Paul, verse 26. Then Paul took the men, and the
next day purifying himself with them that entered into the temple,
to signifying the accomplishment of the days of purification,
until that an offering should be offered for every one of them."
After the resurrection of Christ, after Paul preached the gospel
many times, he had some people say to him, you need to take
the valve of Nazarite and this will keep the Jewish believers
happy. Now in the valve of Nazarite, you purified yourself, you shaved
your head. Seven days later, a blood sacrifice was to be offered
for you. Now was there anything okay with
that? I mean, the sacrifice has already been made and he was
getting ready to offer up a blood sacrifice. And when the seven
days, verse 27, when the seven days were almost ended, when
the sacrifice would have been made, the Jews which were of
Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people
and laid hands on him, crying out, men of Israel, help, this
is the man that teaches and so on. So you can go on reading,
but the point is, he was prevented from doing this. He got arrested
before he had a chance to do it. I'm so thankful for God's
wonderful providence that prevents us from doing what we would do
if he didn't keep us from it. Don't you know that so? I am
so thankful. Now, David, in verse eight, back
to our text. David said to Achish, But what
have I done, and what have you found in your servant, as long
as I've been with thee into this day, that I may go fight against
the enemies of my Lord the King? David, did he really feel this
way or was he acting deceitfully? I don't know. His life of duplicity
came out in this fawning speech, and I'm not sure what his intentions
were, but God in his wonderful providence stopped this. Now,
what can we learn from this dark, dark period in David's history? And it's a dark period. Sixteen
months, he was in the land of the Philistines. What can we
learn from this? It kind of reminds me of Lot
lingering in Sodom. You know, the Lord came to destroy
Sodom, Lot knew it, and the Scripture says Lot lingered. He didn't
want to leave. He lingered. And the angels grabbed
him by the hand and pulled him out. And that's what happened
with David this time. David is providentially prevented
from doing this horrible thing. Well, what are we going to learn
from this? Let me give you six or seven things. First, the Scripture gives the
real story. A human biographer would have
left this part of David's life out. I don't know how many times
I've read biographers. You know, I pretty much quit
reading them. Maybe I should, but I pretty much quit reading
them. Because you read these biographies of the guys, man, they pray for two hours a day and
read the Bible. You think, man, I wish I could
live up to their way of living, you know, and so on. But the
Bible doesn't present men like that. David, the man after God's
own heart, and that's who he was, the scriptures give the
real story. Now, if somebody was David's
enemy, they might have tried to embellish this. You know,
you can always find things to destroy people with if you want
to do it, if that's what you're about. And if David's enemies
wanted to destroy him, they would have magnified this event. But
still, the scripture gives us the real picture of what human
humanity is. David, how weak. He seemed like
an unbeliever at this time. Now, the second thing that hits
me about this is how How weak we are. This is David. This is David. And if you looked at his life
at this time, you would say, this man is not even saved. This
man is an enemy of the Lord. This man is joined up with the
Lord's enemies. Now, do you look at this and
think, well, I can see so and so being this way. I can see
this person, or do you see, this is me. Apart from God's restraining
grace, this is me. I'd be right there with him.
Now this is another example. The only way a man can be saved,
a man like this can be saved, is by grace. The only way David could be saved is if God chose to save him freely
by His grace, if Christ put away all of his sins, if God the Holy
Spirit invincibly and irresistibly caused him to come to Himself,
and if he's preserved by the grace of God. You know, the doctrine
of grace, the doctrines of grace, doctrine of grace, whatever you
want to call it, I sure am thankful for grace. There's no way any
sinner can be saved without grace. This isn't just accurate theology. It's the only way I can be saved.
It's the only way David could be saved. I also thank God for His restraining
grace that prevented David from going on in this. You know, he
would have. You know, the Lord providentially
caused a way for him to get out of this mess. And when he comes
to the king, he says, no, I want to go with you. And, you know,
sometimes I think David felt himself, you know, David still
had a new heart at this time. He thought, I can't get out of
this. I can't get out of here. I'm going down. I can't get out.
And it was only God's grace that would cause him to come out.
Thank God for his providential grace. Thank God for his free
grace. Thank God for His eternal grace
that refused to let David fall away. Because David would have
fallen away, wouldn't he? I mean, if he could have, he would have. And if you could, if I could,
we would. Thank God we can't. David was
just as preserved, David was just as saved during this dark
era of his life as he was when he was writing the Psalms, as
he was when he was fighting the life. Now, that's called eternal
Grace. Thank God for grace that brings
good out of evil. Now, what I think is so beautiful
about this passage of scripture, during this dark time when he
goes back to Ziklag, God providentially makes a way for him to come back
to Israel. It didn't have anything to do
with David's doing. It was all God's doing. God got him out
of the mess that he was in. You know, Lord, get me out of
any mess I get in. I can't make it right. I'm going
down the tubes. Lord, help me." And I'm sure
that's how David felt at this time. He felt like he was just
going down the drain. There wasn't anything. Everything
he did condemned him. Everything he said, he knew it
was wrong while he said it, but here he kept going, and it's
only the grace of God that could rescue him from this. Now, if you see a believer acting
like an unbeliever. It's all right, but don't be
too hard on him. Don't be too hard on him. Here's
my attitude. If a man be, this better be my
attitude. If a man be overtaken in a fault,
how easily could you be overtaken in a fault? How easily? If a man be overtaken in a fault,
you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness,
considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Now, how good are you at standing
up before temptation? You reckon there's a reason the
Lord taught us to pray Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. You really believe that if you're
tempted like he is, you'll fall like he does. You know that.
You know if you're put in the same position, you'll even be
worse. And so, oh, may the Lord cause us to have this spirit
of meekness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted." You
see your brother acting like an unbeliever, it's not right,
it's wrong. You know, and I want to honor
the Lord with my life, don't you? I want to honor the Lord
with my conduct, by the way I treat you, by the way I respond to
things. I want to glorify God. I see
somebody acting like an idiot, that's me. If I'm put in the
same position, I'll fall. I know it. Restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness. Now, if you're a believer who
has got yourself in a mess, and you could even appear to be an
unbeliever to others. Have you ever had a time in your
life like David's, when if somebody would have looked at you, they'd
say, they're not Christians. How could they be? Look at who they're
aligning themselves with. Look what they're doing. and
you feel like you're going down the tubes, you feel like you're
going down the drain, you can't get out and there's nothing you
can do to stop it, the Lord will rescue you. He'll rescue you
in ways that you don't have any idea of. He'll always do it,
just like he did for David. He rescued David when he sent
him back to Ziklag. And oh, it's such a beautiful
story. And he makes it to where he can get back in the good favor
of Israel. He had stopped before Israel,
but now the Lord makes it to where he can get back in the
good graces of Israel and come back. So understand this. The righteous falleth. seven
times a day. And he gets up again. You know
what seven times a day means? All the time. All the time. But here's the difference. The
Lord picks him back up. He raises him back up. That happens
all the time. So David, like I said, aren't
you thankful for the life of David? I love David. Here, And you know, he's going to have
other dark periods of his life, too. He had a lot of dark periods
of his life. Sound like anybody you know? But the Lord, by His
grace, brought him back. And that's the way He always
does.