“And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me to seek me any more within all the limits of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand” (1 Sam. 27:1).
Isn’t it surprising to see David’s weakness here after so many striking marks of divine protection? Just yesterday he had said, full of confidence: “Let my life be highly esteemed in the eyes of Jehovah, that He may deliver me out of all distress!” (1 Sam. 26:24). Today his courage is gone and he says: “I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul.” We must often experience that a great victory is apt to be followed by a great despondency. When God was with us, did we not happen to attribute something to ourselves? When David said to Saul: “Jehovah will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness” (1 Sam. 26:23), God alone knows whether or not there was some self-satisfaction in these words. Therefore God leaves us to ourselves (I am not saying, of course, that He forsakes us) in order to show us that we cannot have any confidence in the flesh. Thus we learn to probe “the division of soul and spirit” which is so subtle that in the fight of faith we are often unaware of the mixture of the two, and that gold which has been refined, or which appears to have been refined, still needs the crucible to be purified from every alloy. This clearly explains the weakness of believers at the very time when their faith has been shining so splendidly.
Elijah is a striking example of this (1 Kings 19). Heaven had been closed at his request, he had escaped the wrath of Ahab, had performed miracles, had vanquished the priests of Baal, had confronted an entire people, and now look at the great prophet of Israel who trembles and flees from a woman. Let us remember that having been used by God does not mean that we know ourselves yet, and let us remember that this self-knowledge is indispensable for us to appreciate grace. We often have this experience after times of special blessing. The enemy takes advantage of the situation to make us fall when, armed with God’s power, we have illusions about our own strength, esteeming ourselves to be unassailable. Therefore a time of special favor and power is often an occasion for the flesh to act. Being introduced into the third heaven does not preserve us from this and the purpose of God’s discipline, as we shall see, is to lead us to examine all this and many other things besides.
Is it God who is commanding David to save himself in the land of the Philistines? Were not the experiences he had had at Achish’s court sufficient (1 Sam. 21:11-15)? Was it God who had sent him there then? No, God through the mouth of Gad had then given him a positive commandment to go into the land of Judah (1 Sam. 22:5). Had this command been revoked? And why didn’t he inquire of the Lord as he had done at Keilah (1 Sam. 23:1-13)? Headlong haste, discouragement, forgetfulness of God’s word, seeking help from Israel’s enemies, confidence in his own thoughts while neglecting to seek divine direction: all these weaknesses are concentrated in David here.
The lovely walk of faith which had characterized him seems to be annulled by a single false step. But it is a good thing for our souls to fathom these precipices. We cannot be the companions of Christ unless we hold the beginning of our assurance firm to the end (Heb. 3:14). For David to save himself by fleeing to Achish could in no way be a type of Christ. There was no altar for Abraham in Egypt; David’s second stay among the Philistines did not inspire him with any psalm.
It is an exceedingly serious thing to consider that often one false step causes us to lose all the benefit of a long life of faith. One day while hiking high in the mountains my feet slipped toward a chasm; I was done for when the strong hand of my guide succeeded in holding me back—already disappearing over the edge. Without him I was lost, His hand saved me (that is grace), but in an instant I had measured and realized the terrible consequence of one wrong step.
Grace alone is able to prevent our fall, but often we must long experience the consequences of a walk which did not have the Lord’s approval. This course delivers David from Saul’s pursuit: “And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath, and he sought no more for him” (1 Sam. 27:4). At what price? The following chapters inform us, and this chapter instructs us already.
The stay at Gath gives rise to falsehood. Under pain of appearing to be their enemy the Philistines cannot be told that one has had to depart from Israel. Some success is had against the Geshurites, the Gerzites, and the Amalekites, but to openly declare one’s self to be their adversary would be to expose one’s self to many dangers. David is a guest of the Philistine who from this fact deems him brought into subjection: “He shall be my servant forever (1 Sam. 27:12). How can one then make war against their race? One uses words that have a double meaning to hide one’s real sympathies (1 Sam. 28:2). Just see how many serious consequences the search for the world’s assistance brings with it! The Christian swamped by “social conventions” to which he is subjected loses his true character there and has no more effect on the consciences of those around him. He lives in fear of displeasing the world which is protecting him; he seeks like David to destroy all the witnesses who could come forward to give evidence of his hostility against the enemies of God’s people; he no longer has a good conscience. Although he is a child of God he is following a path of hypocrisy.
“Achish trusted David.” The world believes us and flatters itself to have broken the ties that united us to God’s people (1 Sam. 27:12). David through God’s grace will he restored and in what follows his behavior will awaken Achish to his deception. But how many Christians tangled in this net never awaken the world to their deception, lose their strength, their peace, and their joy there, sacrifice their testimony there, and finally leave this scene to go to be with the Lord feeling that they have been nothing for Him during their lifetime, nothing for Him who however has done everything for them!