The Anointed in Exile
Introduction: When the Man of God Lives by His Wits
We come now to a passage that ought to make our modern, sanitized sensibilities deeply uncomfortable. We prefer our heroes to be straightforward, our lines of battle clear, and our men of God to be above reproach. But the Bible is not a collection of moralistic fables for children. It is the story of God's rugged, bloody, and glorious redemption in the real world, a world full of compromised men, desperate situations, and the inscrutable providence of a sovereign God who is never flustered.
Here we find David, the Lord's anointed, the sweet psalmist of Israel, living as a vassal to a Philistine king. He is on the run from the mad king Saul, and in a moment of despair, he has concluded that he will one day perish by Saul's hand. His faith has faltered, and he has fled to the one place Saul will not follow: the enemy's capital. He is living in Gath, the hometown of Goliath. And in this compromised position, we see him acting in a way that looks to us like a freebooting raider, a liar, and a man whose hands are covered in blood for the sake of self preservation.
And yet, this is God's man. This is the man after God's own heart. What are we to do with this? We are to do what the Scriptures train us to do. We are to look past the surface and see the hand of God at work, weaving His purposes through the tangled threads of human fear, sin, and worldly cunning. This passage is a master class in divine providence. It teaches us that God's plan is not dependent on the pristine performance of His servants. It shows us a man walking by sight, and a God who is nonetheless guiding him by an invisible hand. David is playing a dangerous double game, but God is playing the ultimate triple game, and all the pieces on the board, including the Philistine king, are His.
The Text
Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites; for they were the inhabitants of the land from ancient times, as you come to Shur even as far as the land of Egypt. And David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. And Achish said, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David said, “Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites.” And David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, “Lest they tell about us, saying, ‘So has David done and so has been his custom all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’ ” So Achish believed David, saying, “He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.”
(1 Samuel 27:8-12 LSB)
Waging the Lord's Battles from the Enemy's Camp (v. 8-9)
We begin with David's military operations.
"Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites... And David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive, and he took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing." (1 Samuel 27:8-9)
While living under Philistine protection, David is not idle. He uses his position as a staging ground to wage war. But against whom? Not against Israel, as his patron Achish will be led to believe. He raids the ancient enemies of God's people. And notice the third name in that list: the Amalekites. This should ring a loud bell. These are the people whom God had placed under the ban, the herem. They were devoted to destruction for their treachery against Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 17). And it was King Saul's failure to execute this ban completely that was the final straw leading to God's rejection of his kingship (1 Samuel 15).
Here is a profound irony. David, in exile, living a compromised life among the uncircumcised, is more obedient to the command of God than Saul was on the throne of Israel. David is carrying out the sentence of God against the Amalekites. He is waging the Lord's battles, even while his address is in Gath. He puts them all to the sword, leaving no one alive. This was not simple bloodlust; it was the execution of a divine sentence. Saul spared King Agag and the best of the livestock out of a mixture of greed and a desire for popular approval. David, for his own complicated reasons, does what Saul failed to do. God's will is being accomplished, even through the instrumentality of a man in a state of spiritual decline.
Wartime Deception (v. 10)
After the raid, David must report to his new lord, and this is where the deception begins.
"And Achish said, 'Where have you made a raid today?' And David said, 'Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites.'" (1 Samuel 27:10 LSB)
David lies through his teeth. He tells Achish that he has been raiding his own people and their allies. This was a calculated and brilliant deception. He was, in fact, weakening the enemies of Israel while making his Philistine host believe he was alienating himself from Israel. Now, we must be careful here. The ninth commandment forbids bearing false witness against a neighbor. It is a prohibition against the kind of lying that destroys the peace, trust, and amity of a community. But deception in a time of war is another category entirely. Rahab was commended for deceiving the men of Jericho. The Israelite spies deceived the city of Ai with a feigned retreat. David is in a state of war. Achish is the commander of an enemy force. To deceive him is not a violation of the ninth commandment any more than killing an enemy soldier in a just war is a violation of the sixth. David is using a lawful wartime tactic to protect himself and to continue his work of fighting the Lord's battles under the very nose of the enemy.
A Fearful Prudence (v. 11)
The text then gives us the explicit reason for the severity of David's raid. It was not entirely born of pious zeal.
"And David did not leave a man or a woman alive to bring to Gath, saying, 'Lest they tell about us, saying, "So has David done..."'" (1 Samuel 27:11 LSB)
Here the Scripture is brutally honest about David's motives. He killed everyone to eliminate witnesses. Dead men tell no tales. If a single Amalekite captive had been brought to Gath, David's whole scheme would have unraveled. This reveals the precariousness of his position. He is not acting out of pure, unadulterated faith. He is walking by sight. He is relying on his own cunning and ruthlessness to manage his impossible situation. His faith has taken a hit, and he is resorting to the methods of the world to secure his safety. This is a man after God's own heart, yes, but he is also a sinner. His heart is divided. Part of him trusts God, and part of him is trying to handle things himself.
And this is where we see the glory of God's sovereignty. God uses both the righteous and the sinful aspects of David's actions to accomplish His will. David's righteous action was executing God's judgment on the Amalekites. His sinful, fearful motive was to cover his tracks so his lie would not be exposed. And God, the master weaver, uses both threads. He uses David's obedience to judge Amalek, and He uses David's fear-driven thoroughness to ensure that the deception of Achish would be complete.
The Blindness of the Enemy (v. 12)
The chapter concludes with the result of David's deception, and the irony is thick enough to cut with a knife.
"So Achish believed David, saying, 'He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.'" (1 Samuel 27:12 LSB)
Achish is completely taken in. He hears David's report and draws exactly the conclusion David wanted him to draw, and exactly the conclusion God wanted him to draw. The enemy is blinded by his own logic. He thinks he has secured the loyalty of Israel's greatest warrior. He believes David has burned his bridges with his own people and is now a permanent asset to the Philistine cause. This is a divinely orchestrated delusion.
God is using David's lie to lull the Philistines into a false sense of security. While Achish is thinking David is his servant forever, God is positioning David to become the king who will finally and decisively crush Philistine power. The very man Achish believes is his permanent servant will soon be his master. This is how God works. He gives His enemies enough rope to hang themselves. He allows them to become confident in their own wisdom, which is foolishness, just before He brings about their downfall. God is sovereign over the lie, sovereign over the deception, and sovereign over the blindness of the unbeliever.
Conclusion: Providence Over All
So what do we take from this gritty and uncomfortable episode? We see, first, that God's purposes are invincible. God had promised David the throne, and neither Saul's murderous rage nor David's own fearful flight to Gath could derail that promise. Our security in Christ is not based on our consistent courage, but on His unbreakable covenant.
Second, we see the reality of the Christian life. Sanctification is a war, and sometimes we retreat to Gath. We make compromises. We operate out of fear. We rely on our own wits. The Bible does not hide the sins of its saints, because their story is not about their own greatness, but about the greatness of God's grace. David is a mess here, but he is God's mess. And God is still with him, protecting him, using him, and preparing him for the throne.
Finally, we are driven to the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. David fought God's enemies with a sword and with deceit. Jesus fought the ultimate enemy, the father of lies, with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and with perfect, unadulterated truth. David had to kill every witness to cover his deception. Jesus is the Faithful and True Witness, who laid down His life and was raised again, so that there would be a cloud of witnesses to testify to His victory. David's actions, a mixture of faith and fear, secured a temporary safety. Christ's perfect obedience secured an eternal salvation for all who, unlike Achish, are not blinded, but who believe in Him.