1 Samuel 29:6-11 (ESV Strong's)
Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the Lord lives, you have been honest, and to me it seems right that you should march out and in with me in the campaign. For I have found nothing wrong in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, the lords do not approve of you. So go back now; and go peaceably, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.” And David said to Achish, “But what have I done? What have you found in your servant from the day I entered your service until now, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?” And Achish answered David and said, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God. Nevertheless, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He shall not go up with us to the battle.’ Now then rise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who came with you, and start early in the morning, and depart as soon as you have light.” So David set out with his men early in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. But the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
Tag: The World’s False Image of Believers
We never really know what others are like. We see this in the above passage the King of Achish, where David had been hold up in his flight from Saul. The Kings of the Philistines had told the King of Achish that David was a liability in the upcoming battle with Israel. Remember, David had previously killed Goliath, the Philistines champion. Now, on the run from Saul, he pretended to want to fight for the Philistines, not against them. The entire time he was with the King of Achish, David had lied about where they were conducting raids. David would say he was raiding the cities in Israel. In reality he was raiding far out cities of the Philistines. David was untruthful to the King of Achish on multiple occasions. Now, in the above text, he pretended to be insulted at the suggesting he could be dishonest or deceptive. The King of Achish even says you have been like “an angel of God” in his midst. What?!! Yes, indeed, David had begun his return back to God and was doing things to honor God. He would, in the next chapter, begin to really seek God’s face and God’s wisdom. But, he was not “an angel of God.” The world often has a view of the people of God that is different than we really are. David, in the above story, acts indignant toward his treatment. But, he was not an innocent man. Yes, these are the enemies of God, but never-the-less David was anything but “an angel of God” and he did nothing to correct the impression the King of Achish had of him. We might be able to fool a foolish world, but we can’t food God. He knows who we are. David, in the next chapters will be presented with who he really is. He will, in Psalms 51, eventually admit to God who he is. But, in the above story he can pretend to be an angel of God in front of a foolish world. But, only God really knows who we are.
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