1 Samuel 29

Am I on, Andrew?

There I am.

Yeah, great.

I'm going to tighten up this stand so it doesn't fall over mid-sermon.

That would be embarrassing.

Hey, if you started attending Trinity ten years ago, you were here at the beginning of our

1 Samuel series.

Just kidding.

We've been in 1 Samuel for a while.

We've been doing the whole book, which has been exciting.

We're in 1 Samuel 29 tonight.

We're nearing the end.

That's page 251 in the Pew Bible.

And actually, if you're used to just looking at it on the screens, let me encourage you

to pick up the Pew Bible and turn there because we're going to do a little bit of flipping

to get the context of our chapter tonight to sort of see what God wants us to see in this

text.

So, 1 Samuel 29.

Let me read this for us.

Now, the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek.

And the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel.

As the lords of the Philistines were passing on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and

his men were passing on in the rear with Akish, the commanders of the Philistines said, what

are these Hebrews doing here?

And Akish said to the commanders of the Philistines, is this not David, the servant of Saul, king

of Israel, who has been with me now for days and years?

And since he deserted to me, I found no fault in him to this day.

But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him.

And the commanders of the Philistines said to him, send the man back that he may return

to the place to which you have assigned him.

He shall not go down with us to battle.

So less in the battle, he become an adversary to us.

For how could this fellow reconcile himself to his Lord?

Would it not be with the heads of the men here?

Is not this David of whom they sing to one another in dances?

Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands.

Then Akish 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 with me in this 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 Akish, 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 Akish 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.

So let's pray.

God, we thank you for your word.

We thank you that each part of it is inspired and is useful, Lord, for our growth and grace.

So help us tonight to understand this passage.

And Lord, speak to us so that we might grow in our knowledge and love of you.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

Well, so chapter 29 of 1 Samuel.

What is this chapter about?

Well, it's really the story of how God rescues David from going to war against his own people.

That's what's kind of going on here in this chapter.

And what we see here are some of the unlikely means that God is willing and able to use in

order to extend his undeserved mercy to David and to his people.

Some of the unlikely means God uses to extend his undeserved mercy to his people.

Now, to understand our chapter tonight and what it means for us today, we have to understand the context.

If this is your first time here at Trinity and you're jumping right in, you probably think,

what in the world is this chapter about?

So let's set some of the stage.

Turn back to chapter 27.

Back in chapter 27, what happened?

David had fled from Saul and taken refuge among the Philistines.

Look at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 27.

Then David said in his heart,

Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul.

Remember, Saul is hunting David down.

There's nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines.

Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel,

and I shall escape out of his hand.

So David arose and went over, he and the 600 men who were with him, to Achish, the son of Maok, king of Gath,

which is one of the great cities of the Philistines.

So he's one of the sort of head chief Philistine commanders.

And the Philistines, obviously, at this point in Israelite history, are their sort of like primary enemy,

the Philistines and the Israelites.

So David flees to the land of the Philistines.

And for the moment, the plan seems to work, right?

Look at verse 4 of chapter 27.

And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.

Great.

Mission accomplished, right?

But there was a price.

After all, how would David convince Achish, his Philistine host, to let him stay?

After all, David had tried hiding out in Gath once before, and it backfired.

Do you remember that?

Turn back a few more pages to chapter 21.

Chapter 21 is when David is first on the run from Saul.

Look down at verse 10 in chapter 21.

And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish, the king of Gath.

And the servants of Achish said to him,

Is not this David the king of the land?

Did they not sing to one another of him in dances?

Saul has struck down his thousands and David his ten thousands.

That song must have been a total earworm because everyone in, like, the surrounding regions knew of it.

It was like Taylor Swift.

Everyone was singing it in their heads on the way back and forth to the grocery store.

In other words, what are Achish's servants telling him?

They're saying, look, you've got to be crazy to let this guy stay here.

He's the one who massacred all of our troops.

What are you doing?

He's got to go.

And if you remember what happens, how does David get himself out of that jam?

He pretends to be crazy.

He pretends to be mad.

And Achish says, look, I've got enough madmen to take care of.

Get him out of here.

And David barely makes it out alive.

So now here we are in chapter 27 and 29, a few years later.

How is it that David's going to convince Achish that he and all his 600 men that have now gathered around him,

this sort of mercenary fighting force,

how is he going to convince him that he and his men aren't a threat?

How is he going to keep his cover among the Philistines?

Well, in verses 8 through 12 of chapter 27, we see how.

David and his men go out.

They raid some of the Gentile tribes sort of to the south of the Philistine country.

Then they come back and lie to Achish and say that they were raiding the cities of Judah and some of their allies.

You see, they make Achish think that they've defected,

that they've deserted Israel and Saul.

They've just sort of given up on that once and for all.

And now they've sort of come over to the other side.

And David's scheme, again, seems to work.

Look at verse 12.

And Achish trusted David, thinking he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel.

Therefore, he shall always be my servant.

David's scheme seems to work.

But at what cost?

You know, the sense of these verses in chapter 27 is that David goes out again and again.

And he ends up going deeper and deeper into deception and lies.

And in order to do that, he has to descend further and further into brutality and violence.

After all, he can't leave any witnesses of what he's actually doing because it will blow his cover, right?

So when David and his men raid these Gentile tribes to the south, they end up killing all the men and women, leaving none of them alive.

Which was not, by the way, common sort of tribal raiding practices in the ancient Near East.

He usually just sort of got the stuff and got out and let the people alone.

So you see, David figures out how to stay safe in the land of the Philistines.

But only at the cost of more and more lies and more and more violence.

And what's interesting is that the narrator of 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel, is completely silent.

He doesn't make a moral statement about David's actions here.

The text doesn't come right out and say, oh, and by the way, this was really despicable of David.

But, you know, I think the narrator doesn't do that because he doesn't have to.

I think we're meant to see David's actions as wrong here.

And I think we see something even more in this episode in David's life.

Notice how, in David's life here, one sin leads to another.

How it sucks him in deeper and deeper.

It's like quicksand that every move he tries to make just sends him down faster and faster.

Look at it.

He stops trusting God to protect him and he flees to the land of the Philistines.

And once he flees to the land of the Philistines, he has to start lying.

And in order to keep up the lie, he has to start killing.

And, of course, you and I might think, whoa, I'd never do anything like that.

Okay, fair enough.

But I think that's just because you and I underestimate just how quickly and how powerfully sin can grow.

No, you and I might not end up murdering anyone.

But we underestimate how quickly sin can take control in our lives.

You see, sin always grows in compound interest.

That lustful glance here and there becomes, over time, a seemingly unstoppable pornography addiction.

The bitter root of unforgiveness when someone hurt you years ago that you never really take care of

takes root until you can barely have any relationship at all

without constantly getting angry and hurt and burning all your bridges.

The little tinge of self-pity gets nursed and nursed

until eventually you see yourself as utterly worthless and unloved

and you start to wonder whether life is worth living at all.

You see, no matter what the sin is,

it always takes you farther than you want to go.

And sin, it seems, can strike at any time, too.

We're never immune or off limits from its attack.

That's another thing I think we see here.

The shocking thing about chapter 27 is that it comes right after chapter 26.

In chapter 26, David has this great moment of obedience and trust in the Lord, right?

I spent a whole sermon talking about how David was a great model for how to fight sin and temptation in chapter 26.

And what happens in chapter 27?

Boop!

Total opposite direction.

Remember in chapter 26, David has the opportunity to kill Saul and all his troubles,

and he refuses to do it.

He obeys God and doesn't lay a hand on the king's anointed.

And in that chapter, ironically, David even says,

Saul, you know why what you're doing is so bad?

Because it's forcing me to leave the land.

I can't stay in the land if you keep coming after me like this.

That's why this is so bad.

And I say that's ironic because, look, when chapter 27 begins, David's like,

okay, I'm out.

I'm leaving.

He stops trusting God will protect him and runs to the land of the Philistines.

And I think the lesson for us is this,

is that there's never a time when we can put our guard down.

David has this great spiritual victory.

And the next moment, a downward spiral.

Even after great moments of trust and obedience,

we can still succumb to moral failures, both small and great.

You know, it's very interesting.

One of the very first sort of pictorial images of sin that the Bible gives

is of a crouching predator ready to overtake its prey.

Do you remember what God told Cain?

Sin is crouching at your door.

We need to always be vigilant to fight and to flee.

There's never a time when sin can't strike.

The old Puritan theologian John Owen once wrote what I think is probably the best big idea in a sermon ever written.

He wrote, be killing sin, or sin will be killing you.

But not only does sin grow exponentially, and not only does it strike at any time,

but do you see here how sin also begins to steal control?

In chapter 27, David is playing an incredibly dangerous game.

Trying to win Akisha's favor,

while at the same time trying to not do any harm to his own people back in Israel.

And for a while, it looks like he can keep it together, right?

It looks like he can stay in control.

It looks like he can keep manipulating the situation to his advantage.

But then the day comes when David is in too deep.

And he finally gets stuck in an impossible situation.

Look at the beginning of chapter 28.

In those days, the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel.

And Akish said to David,

Understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army.

David said to Akish,

Very well.

You shall know what your servant can do.

And Akish said to David,

Very well.

I will make you my bodyguard for life.

The day finally comes when the Philistine forces are going to march out to war against Israel.

You know, this is the day that David was probably hoping would never come,

but any outside observer knew it was bound to happen.

He'd been feigning allegiance to Akish,

against Israel for almost a year and a half at this point.

So, of course, Akish is going to say,

Okay, David, you're coming with me.

And then David gives this incredibly politically vague answer in verse 2.

Very well.

You shall know what your servant can do.

David knows he's in trouble.

After all, if he tells Akish he can't go to war,

he risks blowing his cover, right?

Not a very good idea.

When you and your 600 men are surrounded by Philistines,

you've got nowhere to hide because you've been living in broad daylight with them for the last year.

Oh, by the way, Akish,

I've actually been lying to you for the last year and a half,

and there's no chance I'm going with you to war.

But, of course, if David actually goes into battle with the Philistines,

he'd be fighting against his own people,

shedding the blood of his brothers and his cousins and his friends.

And besides David not wanting to do that for the obvious reasons that they're his own people,

such a move would functionally destroy any chance that David had of becoming Israel's king.

After all, who would follow a king who goes to war against his own people

in the ranks of their sworn enemy?

In fact, even if David were to get into that situation

and then sort of become a fifth column in the midst of the battle,

the damage will have already been done.

The men will have seen him marching in,

and his hopes of kingship will be dashed.

David's foolishness, his lack of trust,

his blatant sin have backed him

straight into a corner

with seemingly no way out.

That's what's going on when chapter 29 begins.

With the ranks of the Philistines

assembling for battle by the hundreds and by the thousands,

you can see them sort of marching in.

There's David.

His face is probably stone cold,

but inside his heart is probably anxiously pounding

and his mind racing,

wondering whether everything that he had been holding out for

for these long years in the wilderness,

everything that he had been promised,

the kingdom, the crown,

whether all of that was about to be thrown away

because of his foolish move of fleeing to death.

But as David draws near to the gathering armies,

the Philistine commanders see David and his men,

and they ask rightly,

what are these Hebrews doing here?

And Akish, ironically,

stands up and defends David.

And of course,

we as readers know way better than Akish.

We know that David's been lying to him this whole time.

But Akish can't convince the Philistine commanders.

Those commanders, too, remember that same song.

Saul has struck down his thousands,

and David his ten thousands,

and they force Akish to send David away

with all of his men.

And then Akish comes to deliver the news to David,

and again, the irony is thick.

Akish just is sort of bowing over backwards

to sort of declare David's innocence

in verses 6 and verse 9.

And David will even fake disappointment in verse 8.

And of course, his language there is just as ambiguous

as it was back in the beginning of chapter 28, wasn't it?

Look at what he says there.

He says, look, why can't I go

and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?

Who exactly is David referring to as my lord the king?

Akish?

Saul?

God?

Who exactly is the enemy that David thinks he's going to fight?

It was a pretty shrewd thing to say in that moment.

But either way,

when morning comes,

David is released from his duty to the Philistines.

And he's delivered from the dilemma,

from the catch-22 that his own foolish and sinful decisions

had put him in.

You can imagine the relief of David

as he and his men marched away from the battle lines,

seeing the sun break over the hills,

knowing that he'd been rescued

from his own stupidity and wickedness.

But how does the author of 1 Samuel

want us to understand

what happens in chapter 29?

Again, very interestingly,

the narrator is completely silent almost.

There is very little

theologizing going on

in this chapter, right?

In fact, the only time

that God's name is even mentioned

is when Achish is praising David

for being so honest and so blameless.

But of course,

this is another instance

where the narrator doesn't say anything

because he doesn't have to.

It wasn't luck

that rescued David that day.

It wasn't the fact

that that song was so incredibly catchy.

No, it was God

who rescued David on that day.

God working his undeserved mercy to David,

working through the unlikeliest of means,

the Philistine commanders.

That's what this chapter

is really here to show us.

That God can use even his enemies

to do his will

and that God's will

is one of unmerited favor,

of completely undeserved mercy.

When David had boxed himself in

and caught himself in a trap

of his own making,

God's quiet, sovereign hand

did what seemed impossible

and rescued him.

So what's the practical application

for us today?

Of course,

the application for us today

is not

that we should just go ahead

and sin ourselves into the corner

and trust that God's going to bail us out

at the last minute, right?

That would be a poor application

of 1 Samuel chapter 29.

1 Samuel 29 · chapter mention

And in a way,

Paul addresses that

in the book of Romans, right?

Shall we go on sinning

that grace may abound?

He asked,

by no means.

If you're alive with Christ,

you've died to sin.

So this chapter in 1 Samuel

isn't giving us some license to sin.

And the text actually,

in addition to that,

isn't promising us

that we'll never experience

the earthly consequences

of our sin.

In fact,

sometimes God definitely allows us

to undergo the earthly

and natural consequences

of our sinful choices

in order to teach us

eternal spiritual lessons.

In other words,

sometimes getting busted

and getting found out

is the best thing

that can happen for us,

spiritually speaking.

Because we finally can come clean.

Because in that moment,

we can finally

see sin for what it is.

And often it's the times

when we've been busted

and found out

that we run back to God.

So if this chapter

is not a license to sin,

it's not a promise

that we'll never experience

the consequences

of our sinful actions,

1 Samuel 29

is still

a massive

display

and reminder

of God's relentless

and persistent

and undeserved mercy.

some of us know

what it's like

to make

a total mess

of things.

Through our own

cleverness

or through our own

selfishness,

thinking that we can

control things

and work things out

in our own way

apart from God,

we know what it's like

to try that

and in the end

to make a total disaster

for ourselves

and for others.

And this passage

is saying that

even then,

even when

your mercy

would have withered

and run dry,

even when you

would have given up

on you,

even then,

God's mercy

isn't done with you.

That God's mercy

is an ocean

whose waves

don't stop

pounding the shore.

God's mercy

is like the sun

whose beams

don't stop

shining down.

And that same mercy

is pursuing you.

even out

into the country

of the Philistines

where you've

buried yourself.

Even there,

God's mercy

is coming

after you.

Even tonight,

beckoning you

and barging

in on you

using the most

unlikely means

if necessary,

the foolishness

of preaching

even.

All in order

to get you

to see

that the morning

is about to dawn

and it's time

to come home.

And you know,

you and I,

we aren't David,

right?

You and I

are not

God's

special

anointed king.

But why did

God save

David here?

You know,

it was more

than just a mere

example

of his mercy.

No,

in saving

David

from David's

self-imposed

ruin,

God was

actually

carrying out

and carrying

forward his

plan

to save

us all.

Because it

was through

David's

line,

you see,

that an

even greater

David would

come,

the Lord

Jesus Christ.

God

rescues

David

to keep

his great

rescue plan

for all

of creation

moving forward.

And in

that plan,

and in

that one

Jesus Christ,

God's

persistent

mercy has

come after

all of us.

No matter

how deep

you're in

it,

no matter

how stuck

or trapped

you feel,

Jesus has

come to

fulfill

God's

mission,

to be

the king

who gives

his life

so that

you might

live,

to be

the king

who lives

and reigns

as a

rightful

Lord of

all,

the one

who says,

come taste

and see

that the

Lord is

good.

And if

you trust

him for

his grace

and if

you bow

your life

to him,

know

all your

problems

won't

instantly

go away.

some of

the consequences

of sin

will remain

but the

condemnation

of sin,

the guilt

of sin,

that will

be washed

away.

And his

spirit will

begin to

work a

change in

your heart

that will

affect

everything.

This Sunday

is the first

Sunday of the

month and

on those

Sundays we

go to the

Lord's

Supper.

and when

we come

to the

table we're

remembering

just that.

We take

the bread

and we

take the

cup to

remember

Jesus'

death for

all who

believe in

him,

for all

who take

him as

Savior and

Lord.

His

death is

our

substitute

that sets

us free

from the

penalty of

sin that

we deserved.

So maybe

tonight you

see a

pattern of

sin in

your life

that needs

to be

stopped

before it

grows any

bigger.

Maybe you

even see a

sort of

complacent

attitude

thinking that

no that

could never

happen to

me.

Well friends

tonight as

we go to

the table

confess your

sins and

take the

bread and

take the

cup if

you're a

believer in

Jesus as

a sign that

he died

for you and

that he's

working in

you to

free you

from sin's

power and

that you are

not stuck and

you are not

trapped.

And maybe

tonight you've

lost sight of

how persistent

God's mercy

is.

Maybe you've

been trying to

be good on

your own

steam.

Maybe you've

blown it and

you don't think

you can get

back up.

Well friend if

that's you

tonight then

take the bread

and take the

cup as a

sign that the

mercy of Jesus

never runs

out.

God's mercy

once and

for all

flows forth

never losing

its power

never growing

old

never revoked

never drawn

back.

Isn't that a

sign of what

we do

continually in

the Lord's

supper we

take it up

again and

again and

again.

Not because

Jesus needs to

die again and

again and

again but as a

sign that what

he did was so

magnificent and

so mighty that

it can never run

dry.

So friends

let's pray and

let's prepare our

hearts to receive

the Lord's

supper tonight.

Oh Lord

Jesus thank you

that you have

come to rescue

us from the

impossible situation

that our sin

had bound us

in.

Lord we had

turned from

you and in

turning from

you we had

lost it all

and then in

trying to save

ourselves we just

went deeper and

deeper down.

Lord thank you

that you've come

and used the

unlikely means of

a Roman cross

that sign of

torture and

torment to

bring us life

life and

peace.

To bring us

up from the

pit and to

set us on

solid ground.

To take us

from darkness

and to set us

free to run

towards the

morning.

Lord as we

come to your

table may we

be confessing

sin and

finding assurance

in your grace

we pray.

Amen.

So the

music team is

going to come

up and

Matt would

you help

serve tonight?

Thanks.

Jonathan would

you help

serve tonight?

Thanks brother.

The way we

celebrate the

Lord's Supper

here at

Trinity is

that we're

going to

take the

bread together

and then

we're going

to eat it

together.