Amen. All right, friends, well, let's open our Bibles now, and we'll spend this next half hour together looking at 1 Samuel. 1 Samuel chapter 27. 1 Samuel chapter 27. We'll look at the entirety of this chapter together. It's rather short. 1 Samuel chapter 27, verse 1, down to the end of verse 12. Friends, I have titled this evening Sermon David. a Philistine vassal, David, the Philistine vassal. First Samuel 27. Friends, let us read God's word together, beginning at verse one. Dear ones, the word of God says, then David said in his heart, now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand. So David arose and went over, he and the 600 men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maok, king of Gath. And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. Then David said to Achish, if I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you? So that day Achish gave him Ziklag, Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girsiites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as sure to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. When Achish asked, where have you made a raid today? David would say, against the Negeb of Judah, or against the Negeb of the Jeremalites, or against the Negeb of the Kenites. And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, lest they should tell about us, and say, So David has done. Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. And Achish trusted David, thinking, He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel. Therefore he shall always be my servant. Dear friends, this is the Word of God. Thanks be to God. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your Word. We pray, be with us now by Your Spirit. Help us to see Christ in His glory as we look at the record of the life of David. Lord Jesus, we pray, lead us to know You and love You and worship You. Father, we pray, guard us from the fear of man and grant us, Father, the fear of you that drives out all other fear. But we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, as I've told you, friends, David, his biography is the second most detailed of all scripture. Jesus being the first, we have the most information about Jesus and his life. Second, in terms of extent, we have a lot on David. And so David functions for us as a sort of model in a couple of different ways. He functions for us as the model saint. He shows us what the Christian life ought to be lived like. And there's many things we see in the life of David that are worth emulating, worth following. He is held up as the model king. He is a man after God's own heart. He is a man whose heart burns with passion for the Lord. a godly man. Yet, friends, David also serves, by way of contrast, as an example of a great sinner. And we see in this sort of contrast, this antithesis, how he doesn't measure up to the holiness that Christ calls us to and calls him to. And so by way of comparison and contrast, David brings us to see our need for Christ, who Jesus Christ is and his holiness and goodness and obedience to God, And also friends, we get a good glimpse of ourselves in David. So friends, David's life on the run has meant that there's a lot of things going on. And just like us friends, the pressures are on and we see that sometimes David is loyal in his love to the Lord, trusting in him, hoping in him against all odds and against all the onslaught of Saul. And yet we see there are times when David falls into sin, and this is one particular episode. In chapter 27, when David goes and flees to the Philistines, he is no longer fearing God, but he is fearing man. And in fearing man, he is led into sin. And yet we see the mercy of God, the forbearance of God, the wisdom of God, even in this sinful episode in David's life. So in verse one, notice, that the author of 1 Samuel says that David said in his heart. So this is a conversation David has in his own mind. It's something that David is contemplating within himself. But notice, this is not a prayer addressed to God. This is David relying on his own knowledge, cunning. and expertise. He is seeking to work his own salvation by the political mechanisms and the options that are available to him. So he says in his heart, now I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul. This is a dark day for David. David is despairing. Think about it, friends. He's been on the run for years, hiding out in caves and dens of the earth, running like a madman from Saul, and he's never been able to stay in one place. Now he has two wives and his 600 men have families, too, that have attached themselves. Suddenly, this band of David's followers, it's a lot more substantial. David has a lot more responsibility on his shoulders. And he says to himself, I can't do this forever. One day Saul's gonna get me. I am a marked man. Now friends, from a horizontal perspective, from an earthly perspective, that seems pretty reasonable, right? I mean, David's 600 men, Saul's the king of a nation, he's staying within that nation. Chances are, sooner or later, Saul will get him. But David forgets that God made to him promises to protect him, to preserve him, to be with him, and to replace Saul before him. And it's as though David for a moment forgets all the faithfulness of the Lord, all the kindness that God has shown him. And in this moment of doubt, in this moment of fear of man, he says, I can't trust God. I cannot trust the Lord. One day I will die unless I do something to work my own salvation. And what is his plan? He's going to go to the land of the Philistines. He says, I need to get out of Israel altogether. I will go to the Philistines because I know there Saul will despair of seeking me and I will escape out of his hands. Well, guys, first of all, On the one hand, it sounds like this might be a decent strategy, but remember, David is not trusting the Lord. Just one chapter ago, David was able to walk into the very camp of Saul with his thousands of men. And he was able to boldly say, Saul, I'm not going to kill you. Though the Lord put you in my path, I will spare you because I'm trusting the Lord to vindicate me. And then just a short while later, he says, I can't trust the Lord. I have to escape to the land of the Philistines. Friends, how often are we like this? This is our daily struggle, is it not? We have those mountaintop experiences, and then right after we have these valleys of the shadow of death, there's times where God, by His mercy and by His Spirit, strengthens us and we're able to stand with confidence, trusting our God, hoping in Christ, relying on His Spirit. But then there are other days where we begin to doubt. Trials mount, pressures mount, and there's the temptation, like David, to say, need to do something for myself. I can't trust the Lord to do everything he's promised for me. I need to work my own redemption. So friends, what David is doing here, it's not simply that he's trying to be prudent. He's failing to trust the Lord. He's being disobedient to God because he's going not to Edom, where his, you know, or to Moab, where his grandmother Ruth came from, he's going to the very heart of the enemy. He's going to the oppressors of Israel. He's going to the very people who have been wrecking havoc. But they're strong, they're warriors, and he knows that he can find a place in their army as a mercenary. So David says, my options are stay in Israel and be hunted and killed by Saul or take my 600 men and become a hiredling, become a vassal of the kings of the Philistines. Friends, let us be very careful about our fear of men that may drive us to do something where we are not trusting God and to make plans and purposes without taking counsel from the Lord, without seeking him in his word, without bathing it in prayer, Because friends, when we set ourselves on a course of disobedience, friends, oftentimes the consequences will be severe. And so David is sought and he goes in verse two and he arises and he leaves. He takes his 600 men with him, he comes to Achish. There is some question, is this the same Achish he met earlier? It probably is, but Achish could be just the name they give to their king. We see that in the book of Genesis, for example, there's a Bimelech is a very common name for the kings of the Philistines. So maybe Achish is a common name too, but it seems most likely that this is the same Achish. Because it hasn't been that many years since David fled there. So he came the first time to Gath and he played the madman all alone. Now he comes with 600 men and he comes as a warrior. He comes in his own name. He comes asking for a job. He comes to Achish, the son of Maok, king of Gath. Now again, friends, Gath is where Goliath was from. Gath is one of the Philistine royal cities. This is the enemy. This is the heart of the enemy. This is a people who despise the Lord and despise his people Israel. Reject his covenant. This is David fighting for the enemy of God's people. This is a bad idea altogether. But he gets there and verse three, Achish accepts him. He comes to Gath with his men. And notice again, the men and their household. And again, that's part of the pressure. David has mouths to feed. not just his soldiers, but now their wives. And with their wives come children. So all of a sudden, David has quite the following that he needs to care for. And so this is a way he can secure permanent employment for them. They can have a place of safety and refuge. The children can be in walled cities. The women can be at home, not dwelling in tents and caves. Again, can't you see how logical this makes sense? David's considered his options and he says it's better to be a mercenary than to be a fugitive. But though it may seem wise according to worldly standards, he is not trusting that the Lord is able to deliver him. And he's about to put himself in a compromising position where he may have to kill his own people. he may have to kill his fellow Israelites. So all the family get there, verse four, read three, we see that David has his two wives. Again, friends, polygamy, though it's ascribed to the patriarchs and the kings, the net result of all that polygamy is nothing but disaster and strife and contention. And so, friends, that is an implicit argument against polygamy, that it is something that God says is no good. It's not God's design. God made one man and one woman and he brought them together in one covenant relationship. And we see friends that, you know, this again is revealing David's own sinful heart as well as our own. And so friends, we need to be wary because sometimes friends, we carry our sins around with us. And so we see that David has his two wives. He comes in verse four, Saul doesn't seek him in Gath and He has some relief. Well, in verse five, we see that David's been hanging out in the royal city until he pleads with Achish for a city. If I found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns that I may dwell there. Well, David on the one hand says, you know, Achish, we're fugitives, we're wanderers. You know that we're the outcasts of Israel. We're not used to high society. We're not used to living in a royal city with all this Remember, the Philistines are wealthy. They're on the coast, they're part of the Phoenician peoples, so there's a lot of wealth concentrated here. So this is a big city, and David is saying, you know, we're not really used to this lifestyle. Achish, will you give us a city in the country to dwell in? Something in your territory, Achish. Remember, Achish has Gath, but there's also a bunch of other little towns. that are swearing allegiance to the city-state of Gath. So Gath's the capital, but there's all these other little cities, these little territories that are under the king of Gath's control. And David says, I'll be your vassal. I will serve you not just as a mercenary, but I'll join your court as a more permanent servant if you will give me as territory, a city of my own. And Achish agrees, he gives him Ziklag. And we're told by the author of 1 Samuel that Ziklag has belonged to the tribes of Judah, to the kings of Judah to this day. It is considered one of the royal possessions. David gained this city of Ziklag. Well, it's in the country and it's away from Gath. Presumably it's somewhere near the Negev, somewhere kind of towards the interior of Israel, somewhere on the border of the wilderness. So David wants not to be right under the thumb of Achash. He wants a little latitude, a little freedom to do his own thing. So we're reminded in verse seven that David stays with the Philistines not just for a day or a month, but for a year and four months. So this is a substantial amount of time. So this is a bad idea. It's almost like David's trapped now. What is David going to do? Friends, we know even with our cursory understanding of history that a vassal is subject to his king, and if the king needs soldiers for his army, the vassal is called up. And chances are before long, The Philistines are going to fight Israel and David is going to have to go to war. And in the meantime, between time, David has to prove that he is a worthy servant and a worthy vassal to Achish by providing revenue, tribute to Achish. So David's quandary is where do I find the tribute to give to Achish, king of Gath? We see some of the cunning of David. Again, he's not going to raid Israel. In his own heart, despite being in this compromising position, he cannot bring himself to slaughter the people of God like Saul and take their possessions and give them to the king of the Philistines. We see the mercy of God in saying, you know, David is not gonna fall into that kind of depravity. But David's going to do some, Pretty extreme raiding. And we see in verses eight down to verse nine that David would go to the desert tribes, the Geshurites, the Gerzaites, and the Amalekites. These are the tribes of the Negev kind of out in the wilderness, away from the big cities. David would go there and he would strike the land. He would come as raiders. He would come and he would kill everybody, men and women, He would not leave any of them alive, but he would take all their stuff, all their possessions. And part of the reason why he would kill them all is so that no word would get back to Gad. He would take all their tribute, and that tribute would be what he would bring to Achish. And when Achish would ask where he was raiding, he would lie. And he would say, I was raiding the Negev of Judah, or against the Negev of the Jermelites. These are allies of Israel, or against the Negev of the Canaanites. These are further allies of Israel. So what David is doing, he is deliberately deceiving Achish by trying to present to Achish that he is going around slaughtering Israelites and their allies, putting them to the sword, and that the tribute he's bringing is from these settlements. It's a lie. It's evil. It's wicked. But again, we see that David, well, David is a sinner and he's thinking in the fear of man. This is a way as a mercenary, as a vassal, he can curry the favor of Achish, he can establish a home for his company. And in one sense, friends, it would seem that David has some noble goals in mind. He's going about it the wrong way. He's not going about it in a God-honoring way. Now friends, there is some dispute because these Amalekites, for example, are enemies that God has put under the ban. Remember, God punished Saul for not putting the ban on the Amalekites and not putting them to death. And so we see that there is some warrant, but of course, David himself has never received that order from God to put the Amalekites under the ban, to call for their destruction. Even though God has said of the Amalekites that we will have war with them forever. So they're a perennial enemy of God and of his people. But we see that he's just lying to Achish. And friends, it's not even a noble lie. It's not even a lie like we saw Rahab gave to the kings of Jericho It's not a lie to protect human life. It's not a life to protect the unborn sons of Israel, like the midwives who lied to Pharaoh. But friends, this is a bald-faced lie. And David, again, may have had some noble goals, providing for his family, providing for his soldiers, protecting them and their families. But he's fearing man rather than God. And the consequences are he is increasing in violence. And in one respect, for instance, probably gaining the ire of the Amalekites because soon those Amalekites are gonna come and they're gonna raid his own city. So there's unforeseen consequences here. But we see in verse 11 that since nobody was left alive, news never got to Gath. God restrained news from getting to Gath that David was doing this. And so, all the while he was in the country of the Philistines for a year and four months, David would make raids against these desert tribes, these non-Israelites, these Canaanite tribes. And then he would say to Achish that the tribute he brought came from destroyed Israelite villages. And Achish believed him. Verse 12, Achish trusted David. Achish believed David, took him at his word, But notice how Achish is thinking. He's saying, huh, if David is willing to do this to his own people Israel, he's made himself an utter stench to them. There's no way they'll want David to be king now. Who's going to want the butcher of Israel to be king? Very logical, right? Who's gonna call for David's anointing, David's kingship if he's got thousands of dead Israelites on his record. Therefore, verse 12, he shall always be my servant. Achish thinks he's got the better deal. Achish says, I've just got Israel's greatest warrior to be my vassal. He has made himself a stench to his own countrymen. He will serve me. all his life, and so Achas trusts him. So again, friends, David is resting in his own cunning, his own wisdom, his own abilities. He's doing things, friends. He's playing with fire. I mean, this is a really dangerous game to play. He's endangering himself, his family. He's endangering the future of his kingship. If it were not for the sovereign grace of God, friends, this would spell the end of David's aspirations to be king. But friends, our sin does not thwart a holy God. God is able to accomplish for us all that he's promised. And he swore an oath to David. that he would be king. And so God will ensure that David becomes king. And furthermore, we see the forbearance and mercy of God, that God does not allow David to kill his own people. So friends, let that be a warning to us. The fear of man will drive us to sin, but the fear of God drives out fear. Let's seek to cultivate it this week Let us ask the Lord to open our eyes to see His glory more clearly. Let us ask the Father to teach us to see Christ and His rule as more powerful than any forces in government or in our society at large. As we see God, as we behold Christ, friends, then that fear of Him will drive out all fear of man. And so, friends, again, we will see soon that David will be here when there is war again between Philistia and Israel. So let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. Lord, we thank you that our sin does not derail your good, wise, and faithful purposes. But Father, we pray, please forgive us, Lord. Your word says, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means. O Spirit, we pray that you would help us When we do start to fall into sin, Lord, we pray that you would bring us to repentance, that you would raise up godly people in our lives to speak the truth. We pray that, Lord, you would soften our hearts, oh God, and we thank you that you are ever faithful, even if we are faithless, for you cannot deny yourself. Father, we thank you for Christ, and we ask it all in his name.