As a young lad, David – the man destined to become Israel’s greatest king – showed remarkable character. Godly character.
Volunteering to face off with the Philistine champion, Goliath, he shunned the shallow incentives offered by King Saul. Ignoring the wealth, tax incentives and opportunity for social advancement by marrying the king’s daughter, he simply asked, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” (1 Sam 17: 26)
After soundly defeating the giant, he became a household name. Unfortunately, his newfound popularity placed him in the sights of a now envious King Saul and, in time, jealously drove the king to make multiple attempts on David’s life.
David escaped harm by fleeing the nation’s capital, but on a couple of occasions, he had the opportunity to fight back. Fellow soldiers urged him to retaliate and strike the king down, but his response surprised them: “The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lay my hand on him; for he is the anointed of the Lord” (1 Sam 24: 6).
David’s heart was to honour God with all of his actions, despite his unjust treatment by the king.
But cracks soon started to show in the heart of this otherwise Godly man. Some commentators believe that his next decision marked the beginning of a slow descent to compromise.
“One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul”, lamented David in 1 Sam 27: 1, “the best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines…”
David took his family and private army to the city of Gath and King Ashish. Interestingly, he has been there before. In chapter 21 of 1 Samuel, David, then on his own, sought shelter in the same city, but he was so afraid of being captured and killed that he pretended to be insane. This place proved not to be a safe haven and, at the time, he snuck away as soon as he could.
So, it should come as a surprise to us, that in 1 Sam 27: 2, he has gone back to the same guy. Why go back there?
The immediate result of David and his men fleeing to Gath was that Saul gave up his search for him. So, good result, right?
Maybe. But here’s the problem. First, there was no prayer here about going to Philistine territory. These people were God’s enemies as well as Israel’s. There was no seeking of God. No consulting of the ephod or prophet. David ‘thought to himself’ (we are told in v 1), instead of asking God what He thinks.
Secondly, David and his men proceeded to indulge in some, let’s say, dubious practices. Every time he and his army went out to battle, they gave the impression to Aschish that they had been attacking their own people, hiding from him that they were, in fact, still wiping out Israel’s enemies.
So, David abused the king's trust by lying. We might say he pretended to be someone else again. It seems that every time he goes to Gath, he lives a lie. Here in chapter 27, David is not being truthful about who he is and what he is doing. David has compromised his integrity.
It makes me wonder how often I or we are tempted to live in enemy territory, to compromise who we are in Christ, to absorb ungodly attitudes, and to hope for things in the world that only God can provide.
In going to Gath, David looked to ungodly humans for protection instead of God and, although he gained short-term peace (for 1 year 4 months,), it was at the cost of a clear conscience.
When we compromise, we lose something of our transparency, our truthfulness, our innocence and our integrity.
Reading further in 1 Samuel, we see the consequences of David’s compromise. In this case, his actions put his family in terrible danger.
More than ever before, our world needs followers of Jesus who shine a clear, bright light, with no compromise.
