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1 Samuel 16—2 Samuel 1
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Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 21; 1 Sam. 22; 1 Sam. 23; 1 Sam. 24
In this message we will continue to see how David was persecuted and tried by Saul.
Through all of Saul's persecution, David did not fight or do anything to avenge himself. The only thing he did was flee. As Saul was seeking to kill David, Jonathan and Michal helped him flee. Through them God sovereignly provided David with certain kinds of information. In everything related to David, God was sovereign.
From David's experience under Saul's persecution, we need to learn an important lesson. This lesson is that in the church life there should not be anything of the flesh; there should be no anger, no devices, no conspiracies, and no plots. The church is the kingdom of God (Rom. 14:17), and in the church there must be the divine authority with the proper order. No one should overthrow this order. As we will see, David feared God and did not dare to overthrow the order arranged by God. It would be a shame for us to say that we are in the Lord's recovery, yet we do not know that there is a God-ordained order. Rebellion and fighting annul the church life. With us there should be no rebellion, no anger, and no fighting. We should just live Christ in the spirit that we may live a church life according to the divine, ordained order.
We need to learn the lesson of crucifying the flesh. Avenging and fighting back are matters of the flesh. In Ephesians 4:26 Paul said, "Do not let the sun go down on your indignation." This means that when the sun sets our anger should also set. No anger should linger. This is the revelation in the Bible, and we should practice it.
In the kingdom of God the flesh has to be ruled out. Galatians 5:17 says that "the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh." Verse 24 says that "they who are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and its lusts." Verse 21 says that those who partake of the things of the flesh "will not inherit the kingdom of God." If we are partakers with the flesh, we are through with the kingdom and will have no share in it. Things such as jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, and divisions are foreign articles in the kingdom. In the church life, therefore, there should not be any foreign articles.
Let us now see what is recorded in 1 Samuel 21 through 24 concerning David's being persecuted and tried by Saul.
When David was fleeing from Saul, he and his companions were supplied with the holy bread of the presence and with the sword of Goliath by Ahimelech the priest (21:1-9). The Lord Jesus referred to this when the Pharisees came to Him, saying, "Your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath" (Matt. 12:2). He answered them by reminding them that David and his companions had eaten of the holy bread of God's presence. He said to them, "Have you not read what David did when he became hungry, and those who were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and they ate the bread of the presence, which was not lawful for him to eat, nor for those who were with him, except for the priests only? Or have you not read in the law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless? But I say to you that something greater than the temple is here" (vv. 3-6). Christ is greater than David and greater than the temple. Without Christ, we should not do anything. Without Christ, whatever we do is wrong. With Christ, whatever we do is right. This is God's kingdom.
David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath (1 Sam. 21:10-15; cf. Psa. 56, title). The servants of Achish suspected him and said to him, "Is this not David king of the land? Is this not him of whom they sang to one another in dances, saying, Saul has stricken down his thousands;/But David, his ten thousands?" (v. 11).
When David was suspected by the servants of King Achish, he disguised himself as a madman to escape from Gath (vv. 12-15; cf. Psa. 34, title). Saul's persecution of David was so severe that David was forced to disguise himself as a madman. It seemed as if there was no place for him in the land of Christ. In Isaiah 8 the good land was called the land of Immanuel. There was no place for this God-fearing and God-loving man to remain in the land of Immanuel, the land of Christ.
David went from Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1-2; cf. Psa. 57, 142, titles). From there he went to Mizpeh of Moab (1 Sam. 22:3-4). But when Gad the prophet told him to depart and go into the land of Judah, David went into the forest of Hereth of Judah (v. 5).
When Ahimelech's supplying of David was reported to Saul, he killed Ahimelech and his family (vv. 6-23; cf. Psa. 52, title). This shows that Saul was utterly rebellious toward God. He had no subordination to God, nor did he take God as his King and Head. He was constituted with rebellion, which equals the worship of idols (15:23). Every case of rebellion is a matter of presumption, a matter of daring to do things without God.
According to 23:1-12 David defeated the Philistines and stayed in Keilah. Even though David was persecuted, he could still fight against the Philistines. However, instead of staying in the proper place, the good land, he stayed in Keilah.
David remained in the wilderness of Ziph (vv. 13-28; cf. Psa. 54, 63, titles).
Even though Saul sought for David every day, God did not deliver him into Saul's hand (1 Sam. 23:14).
David was strengthened by Jonathan the son of Saul to trust in God (vv. 15-18). There was an occasion when Jonathan could leave Saul and come to David for the purpose of strengthening him. Jonathan was surely a great provision for David.
David hurried to get away from Saul, while Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men in order to capture them. Then a message came to Saul that the Philistines had raided the land. So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went to meet the Philistines (vv. 25-28).
David went up from the wilderness of Ziph and remained in the strongholds of En-gedi (v. 29). When Saul returned from following the Philistines, he was told where David was, and Saul took three thousand choice men and went to seek David (24:1-2).
When David and his men were hiding in a deep cave, Saul fell into David's hand (vv. 3-4a). This was God's discipline on Saul in his pursuing of David.
David would not kill Saul but only cut off a corner of Saul's cloak. However, even for this David's heart smote him, because of his fear of God in that Saul was God's anointed (vv. 4b-7). In God's kingdom there is a divine order of authority. Saul was not a self-appointed king; he was the king appointed and anointed by God. Saul was therefore the divine authority, and David feared God in this. David kept the God-ordained order of authority among God's elect. By so doing, David laid a good foundation for himself to be the king of God's elect in the coming days. If he had rebelled against Saul, then he would have been to the people an example of rebellion against the God-ordained, appointed king.
David pleaded with Saul, and Saul was somewhat influenced by David's appeal (vv. 8-15). What David did here was exactly what the New Testament teaches concerning not repaying evil for evil but overcoming evil with good (Rom. 12:17, 21).
Finally, David's God-fearing and God-honoring life subdued the reckless Saul and stopped Saul from pursuing him (1 Sam. 24:16-22). In his relationship with Saul, David is a very good pattern for us in the church life today.
