In those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.”
David has been living in Philistine territory, under the protection of Achish. Now the bill falls due. The Philistines go to war with Israel. Achish orders the true king of Israel to march against his own people.
A Trap of His Own Making
David could not choose the day war would come. The order in this verse is not a fresh crisis. It exposes an old decision.
H. L. RossierThe day comes — David cannot escape this turn of events — when the Philistines once again gather their armies to go to war against Israel. David's false position among them will now be made obvious. Poor David! What is he to do? How can he draw back after having fooled the enemy about his ventures and his sympathies? Let us remember that it is easier to enter a wrong pathway than to leave it. We will see that God does not abandon David... but we will also see how severe the discipline is that he will have to endure.
Why He Could Not Say No
Achish does not ask David; he tells him. That is what protection costs. The one who accepts shelter from the world has handed over his freedom to refuse.
J. N. DarbyAchish, who knows David, wants to use him in his service, and David cannot refuse. Take a man who has the energy the Spirit of God gives through faith. If he puts himself into a false position through unfaithfulness, he has no power against the one under whose authority he has placed himself. And if he does not use that energy for his protector, he naturally stirs up his protector's jealousy.
The Next Step Down
This order did not arrive out of nowhere. An earlier gift from Achish — the town of Ziklag — made it possible.
C. H. MackintoshSatan knows his ground. He knows where the seed of evil has taken root; he knows the heart that is ready to respond to his temptation... When a Christian links himself with the world, he lays himself open to be "persuaded" by the world. He opens himself to take up a course of action unworthy of Christ. David took Ziklag from Achish (1 Sam. 27:6), and the next step was to join Achish against Israel.
Trusted by the Wrong Man
Achish means every word. He trusts David completely. David's reply — "you shall know what your servant can do" — promises nothing while sounding like everything.
H. L. RossierIs it surprising that Achish, deceived by David, is counting on him? This proof of confidence ought to cover the man of God with shame... A wrong walk is not only disastrous for ourselves; it also drags into evil those we are called to guide. David's answer is ambiguous, like all his behaviour... Here then is the "beloved" being called on to support Israel's age-old enemy! This is his reward; he rises in rank. He, the true king of Israel, becomes Achish's bodyguard. What a promotion, what an honour!
The same royal standing belongs to every believer:
H. L. RossierThough a Christian is nothing in his own eyes, he is a king in God's sight. He is called to walk in line with this dignity. If he takes the world's honours, he loses his royal character. He becomes a slave, and he shares his master's benefits only as far as he stays in bondage to him.
God's Mercy in the Mess
The chapter closes with David enlisted against God's people. He never fights. God Himself steps in and undoes what His servant has done.
William KellyBut soon the Philistines gather their armies to fight with Israel. Then God shows His tender mercy. He repairs, or at least overrules at this stage, the damage done by His servant... As far as the arrangement went, David was to fight with the Philistines against Israel! God alone is faithful.
Rescue was not the end of it. God was also getting David ready for a throne he was in no fit state to take.
J. N. DarbyGod truly brings David back to Himself and rescues him from his false position, and David walks and acts with God. God was, without his knowing it, preparing a very different position for him, and was purifying and preparing him for it. How dreadful it would have been if David had been with the Philistines! He would have shared in the defeat of God's people, and in the death of the man whose life he had spared so movingly, again and again.
Summary
- Step. David's move into Philistine country was one wrong pathway. It is easier to enter a wrong pathway than to leave it.
- Snare. Ziklag, taken from Achish, made marching with Achish possible. Ties to the world let the world persuade a believer.
- Summons. Under a protector, David has no power to refuse — shelter from the world costs obedience to it.
- Shame. Achish's genuine trust is the sharpest rebuke. David's evasive answer drags others into evil with him.
- Salvage. The arrangement had David fighting God's people. God alone was faithful. He overruled the mess and prepared David for the throne.