1 Samuel 27:1-12: The Danger of Moral Compromise

1 Samuel 27:1-12: The Danger of Moral Compromise

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of 1 Samuel, and today the next passage we come to is 1 Samuel 27:1-12. Hear now the words of the Living and True God:

¹ Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is 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.” ² So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. ⁴ And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. ⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” ⁶ So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷ And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. ⁸ Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. ⁹ And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. ¹⁰ When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” ¹¹ And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’ ” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. ¹² And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”

May God bless the reading of his Word.

 Let’s pray: Father, we’re told that the one who delights in your Word is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season and that has leaves that do not wither. We want to be that tree. So please, open up your Word to us this morning so that we can be rooted in your Word, nourished in your Word, and sustained by your Word. Holy Spirit, use the things taught in this passage to change us from within. It’s in Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

One of the memories I have from high school PE class is of our yearly ritual of running the mile. As most of you are probably aware, a mile is four laps around an outdoor track. And every year, it went pretty much the same way. Just about everyone in the class would run that first lap pretty fast. I imagine they were probably trying to impress others with their speed. However, they’d almost always run the second lap noticeably slower than the first. And by the third lap, at least half of the class was walking. And by the fourth lap, hardly anyone was running at any decent pace any longer. By the start of that fourth lap, the vast majority of the class was pretty much out of energy.

By contrast, competitive runners—especially at the more elite levels—will usually run faster on their final lap than on any previous lap. They’ll deliberately run relatively fast on their first lap, slow down a decent bit on their second lap, then begin to pick up speed again on their third lap, and then give it everything they have and run their fastest lap on their fourth lap. And I imagine there are both physiological and psychological reasons for doing it that way.

Similarly, the Bible compares our spiritual lives to a race. And when it comes to my life spiritually, I’d like to do everything possible to ensure I’m more like that elite runner than the kid in PE class. You see, so often, people start their Christian lives relatively well. A brand-new Christian is typically very excited and enthusiastic about the things of God. But all too often, they end up getting off track spiritually in one way or another and not finishing very well at all. So, how can we make sure that doesn’t happen to us? How can we make sure we not only start the race well but also finish well—much like that elite runner? That’s what our study of 1 Samuel 27 will lead us to consider this morning. 

Now, as we’ll see, there are a couple of different ways people interpret this chapter, but it appears to me that this chapter records David unfortunately stumbling in the race and deviating from what God would have him do. Thankfully, this is only a season of David’s life, since he’ll eventually end up turning back to God a few chapters later. But, for the time being, David’s doubt in God’s protection leads him down a path of severe moral compromise. And that’s the main idea of this passage. David’s doubt in God’s protection leads him down a path of severe moral compromise.

Now, to remind you of what’s been happening in the book of 1 Samuel, God’s made it clear to David that he’s chosen David to be the next king of Israel. However, the current king—Saul—is determined to prevent that from happening. So, for the past several chapters, David’s been forced to flee for his life from one place to another as Saul pursues him.

The story then picks up in verse 1 of chapter 27: “Then David said in his heart, ‘Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is 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.’”  

This perspective is a noticeable departure from the perspective David had expressed in the previous chapter. In verse 10 of the previous chapter, David had expressed confidence that Lord would deal with Saul at the appropriate time and in the appropriate way. He had said, with regard to Saul, “As the Lord lives, the Lord will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish.” So, David had expressed faith that God would do whatever was necessary to Saul in order to fulfill his promise of making David king. Along these same lines, David had also said in verse 23 of the previous chapter: “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness.” So, David had great confidence that God would reward him for the “righteousness and faithfulness” he exhibited in not killing Saul when he had the chance.

However, here in chapter 27, David appears to have a much different mentality. Instead of trusting God to take care of him, David takes matters into his own hands. Again, we’re told, “Then David said in his heart, ‘Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines.’” So, despite the fact that God had promised to make David king, David essentially buys into the lie that God won’t take care of him, leading him to the conclusion that he has to take care of himself.

Similarly, all of our sinful deviations from God’s will begin with us believing lies as well. Much like David believed the lie that God wouldn’t take care of him and—even going back to the original sin in the garden of Eden—much like Eve believed the serpent’s lie that eating the fruit would result in her being like God, our sinful deviations likewise begin with us believing lies. And these lies originate not only from our own hearts but also from Satan whispering these lies into our ears.

Maybe it’s the lie that God doesn’t care that much about our sin or that the sin isn’t really that big of a deal. Or maybe it’s the lie that God’s holding out on us and that the sin is what we need to be happy and that we’re missing out on something wonderful that the sin offers us. Or maybe we believe the lie that the sin won’t have any real consequences since we can just stop any time we want and then ask for God’s forgiveness. Or maybe we believe the lie that we deserve something nice that God’s not offering us or that we can make up for this particular sin by doing enough virtuous things or that we’ve already ventured too far in the direction of this sin so it’s too late to turn back now. As you can see, the list of lies that Satan suggests to us and that arise from within our own hearts is nearly endless.

In addition, not only did David’s deviation from God’s will begin with him believing a lie, it was also the result of David neglecting to do something very important. You may recall that, on numerous occasions in the past when David had a significant decision to make, he was very deliberate about consulting God about what he should do. For example, 1 Samuel 23:2 told us, “Therefore David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’” We also see David inquiring of the Lord again in verse 4. And then, down in verses 9-10, David inquires of God yet again. These examples just from chapter 23 serve to highlight what appears to have been a regular pattern in David’s life of inquiring of God.

Yet here in our main passage, it seems that David didn’t inquire of God. Instead, verse 1 tells us that “David said in his heart” what he predicted would happen and what he believed the best course of action would be. So, what we have in chapter 27 isn’t David praying and then hearing from God but rather David listening to himself and following his own reasoning and intuition.

Similarly, with us today, it’s a lack of prayer that gives rise to just about all of our spiritual wandering and backsliding. The nineteenth century theologian J. C. Ryle writes that “[B]acksliding generally first begins with neglect of private prayer. Bibles read without prayer; sermons heard without prayer; marriages [entered into] without prayer; journeys undertaken without prayer; [houses] chosen without prayer; friendships formed without prayer; the daily act of private prayer itself hurried over, or gone through without heart: these are the kind of downward steps by which many a Christian descends to a condition of spiritual palsy, or reaches the point where God allows him to have a tremendous fall. 

Ryle also writes the following—and although this is written specifically about prominent Christian leaders who fall into sin, it can easily be applied to every Christian. Ryle writes, “You may be very sure men fall in private long before they fall in public. They are backsliders on their knees long before they backslide openly in the eyes of the world. Like Peter, they first disregard the Lord’s warning to watch and pray, and then like Peter, their strength is gone, and in the hour of temptation they deny their Lord.”

All of this points to the larger reality that the quality of our prayer life is perhaps the most important indicator of our spiritual condition. Martyn Lloyd-Jones states that “There is nothing that tells the truth about us as Christian people so much as our prayer life.” Just like a thermometer is the best indicator of the temperature of a room, prayer is usually the best indicator of our spiritual condition. So, back in our main passage, perhaps the clearest indication that David’s about to make a very bad decision is that he relies on his own reasoning instead of seeking God’s will in prayer.

Verse 2 then records David following through with his plan to go to the land of the Philistines. We read, “So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.” Although I don’t want to read anything into this verse, the phrase “went over” sounds rather ominous. One commentator observes, “There is almost something sinister in the words ‘went over.’ David crossed a boundary that day, and not just a geographical one. He ‘went over’ to the other side.”

In addition, David goes not just to any Philistine city but specifically to Gath, where he had already been before. However, this time, things are a lot different. David now makes no attempt to hide who he is and also travels to Gath with 600 men and their families under his command. He’s therefore now able to offer Achish something valuable—and that is his services as a mercenary, as we’re about to see.

Verses 3-4 then tell us, ³ And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. ⁴ And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. So, in modern terms, we’d call this “defecting.” David takes his 600 men and joins the ranks of the Philistines—and specifically of Achish. 

We then read in verses 5-7, ⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” ⁶ So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷ And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months. So, Achish gives David the town of Ziklag as a kind of “signing bonus” in exchange for David’s services as a mercenary.

Things then take a rather dark turn in verses 8-9. These verses help us see why David living among the Philistines was such a bad idea. They say, ⁸ Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. ⁹ And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. So, we now see David carrying out raids, plundering towns, and conducting mass executions on behalf of the Philistines.

Now, one thing to note about this that might make it not quite as bad as it first appears is the fact that these peoples against whom David conducts raids were actually the same peoples who were occupying the Promised Land and whom God had told the Israelites hundreds of years earlier to destroy because of their wickedness. Unfortunately, the Israelites had only carried out a partial conquest of the Promised Land and had allowed these peoples to continue to exist. So, David’s actions in our main passage might be very charitably construed as completing the task God had commanded the Israelites to do. This is what verse 8 might be hinting at when it says, “for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old.”

However, the verse never elaborates on that statement, so we can’t be sure what it might be implying. Also, even if this statement is intended to help us see why David’s actions might not be quite as bad as they first appear, it still falls far short of an exoneration or a justification for David’s actions. Remember, first of all, that verse 1 frames this entire passage in a decidedly negative way by telling us that David’s doing all of this because of his own human reasoning rather than as the result of him seeking God. And indeed, the line of reasoning David employs directly casts doubt on God’s faithfulness to protect him in the land of Israel.

In addition, keep in mind that David’s conducting these raids and executions not on behalf of the Israelites as an extension of their conquest of the Promised Land but rather on behalf of the Philistines. And also, we have no indication that David’s motive for doing this is obedience to God’s command. Rather, his motive seems to be the deal he had struck with Achish to be Achish’s mercenary. In other words, David’s motive isn’t faithful obedience to God but simply doing what has to be done for his own self-preservation.

So, despite the notation in verse 8 that “these were the inhabitants of the land from of old,” I think we have to conclude that David’s arrangement with Achish is very much a deviation from God’s will and has put David in a situation of severe moral compromise.

We then read about an interesting development in verses 10-12: ¹⁰ When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” ¹¹ And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’ ” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. ¹² And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”

So, when David reports back to Achish about his raids, he lies to Achish about where he conducted the raids. In reality, David conducts raids on peoples who are hostile to Israel. However, he tells Achish that he’s conducting raids on territories that are either a part of Israel or that are friendly toward Israel. David does this in order to trick Achish into believing that he’s burning his bridges with the Israelites—when, in fact, he’s doing nothing of the sort.

Of course, in order for this work, David has to not only conduct a typical raid on these places—which would usually just involve taking plunder from them—but he also has to kill everyone who lives there—so that none of the inhabitants of these places are able to escape and inform Achish of the true location of David’s raids. And David’s tactics are quite successful. Verse 12 tells us that Achish is deceived into “trust[ing] David” with the belief that David “has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel.”

So, from a human perspective, David demonstrates impressive cunning and cleverness in this chapter. He manages to not only find a safe haven in the land of the Philistines but even tricks King Achish into trusting him by telling Achish that he’s raiding territories belonging to Israel and its allies, even while he instead conducts raids on other territories. David even goes to extraordinary lengths to make sure that no one’s alive to contradict his claims.

However, all of this is a far cry from the righteousness and virtue David exhibited in previous chapters. In 1 Samuel 26:23, David said, “The Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness.” Yet we sure don’t see much “righteousness and faithfulness” from David here in chapter 27. Although David’s cleverness is admittedly pretty impressive, his virtue isn’t. Indeed, I think it’s quite accurate to say that this is a season of moral compromise and backsliding in David’s life.

So, whereas the previous chapter recorded David at his best in his refusal to kill Saul even when he had the chance, this chapter records David at his worst. This is a good reminder for us that we dare not lean on yesterday’s victories as if they serve as any kind of guarantee about how faithful we’ll be today. Instead, we have to make the choice every day to live for God and avoid being overconfident about how faithful we’ll be today simply on the basis of how faithful we were yesterday. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”

In addition, David’s moral compromise also illustrates how sin has a way of drawing us in and taking us further than we ever thought we would go. Not only is this apparent from what we’ve already seen in chapter 27, it’s even more apparent when you consider the beginning of chapter 28, which we’ll examine in more detail next week. Basically, David’s so successful in gaining Achish’s trust that Achish enlists David to fight alongside him against Israel!

1 Samuel 28:1 states, “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.’” That’s what you call getting in over your head. At first, David probably just thought he could get away with conducting raids on random towns as Achish’s mercenary. He probably didn’t anticipate Achish expecting David to fight alongside him against Israel. Yet that’s the way it is with sin. It slowly but inevitably draws us in and takes us further than we ever thought we’d go.

We can see this progression also in Psalm 1:1, which states, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” Notice the progression from walking to standing to sitting. By its very nature, sin draws you in.

The Puritan author John Owen said it like this: “Sin aims always at the utmost; every time it rises up to tempt or entice, [if allowed to] have its own course, it would go out to the utmost sin in that kind. Every unclean thought or glance would be adultery if it could; every covetous desire would be oppression…. [E]very rise of [sinful desire], [if it has] its course, would come to the height of villainy: it is like the grave that is never satisfied.”

Perhaps you might be tempted to think that you’re somehow immune from that and that you’re able to secretly indulge in certain sins and keep them more or less under control. But that’s just not how it works. Sin will never be satisfied with whatever place you give it in your life. Although it starts with only a small moral compromise here and a clever justification for a certain sinful indulgence there, you can be sure that’s never where it ends. Sin will always demand more and become ever more rooted in your heart.

 J.C. Ryle, whom I quoted earlier, also writes, “Every fresh act of sin lessens fear and remorse, hardens our hearts, blunts the edge of our conscience, and increases our evil inclination.” Ryle then observes how sin has a way of picking up momentum in our lives very quickly. He compares it to a boulder rolling down a hill. The longer that boulder continues rolling down the hill, the more speed it picks up. It rolls faster and faster and becomes harder and harder to slow down. And that’s the way it is with our sin.

And brothers and sisters, this is yet another reason why we need each other. Galatians 6:1-2 states, ¹ Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ² Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. So, it’s entirely possible for a genuine Christian to be “caught” in a transgression. Just like an animal might be caught in a trap, it’s possible for any of us to be “caught” in a sin. And whenever that happens, we need other Christians hold us accountable and help us escape the bondage of that sin. That’s what it means to “bear one another’s burdens.” So, here’s a question: are you involved enough in our church and have you developed relationships that go deep enough that other Christians in our church would be in a position to minister to you in that way should the need arise? By the way, this is precisely why we have Community Groups.

I also appreciate Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s observation when he writes, “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power of sin over him, and the more deeply he becomes involved in it, the more disastrous is his isolation.” In other words, it’s a vicious cycle. The more isolated we are, the more power our sin exerts over us. And the more power sin exerts over us, the more isolated we become.

It's also imperative that we be immediately responsive to any ways in which the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. John MacArthur tells the story of being a college football player and injuring his knee during practice. Yet he was determined to play in the next game, so he went to the doctor and got the doctor to give him some cortisone shots and some strong medicine to deaden the pain. He then played in the football game without incident. However, he reports that this ultimately resulted in permanent damage to his knee and more severe ligament injuries that would affect his mobility for the rest of his life. MacArthur then makes the point that pain is the body’s natural warning system and exists in order to warn us and protect us. And when we ignore that warning, bad things happen.

Similarly, feelings of guilt often function as a kind of spiritual warning system that tell us we’re engaged in something that’s doing massive—and perhaps catastrophic—damage to our soul. So, don’t ignore the feelings of guilt you experience when you begin to drift into sin. Instead, repent as soon as you begin to sense that what you’re doing is wrong.

In addition, as we consider what 1 Samuel 27 records about this unfortunate period of moral compromise in David’s life and the way David trusted in his own reasoning instead of trusting in God—and the way we ourselves so often end up doing that very same thing—all of this should lead us to appreciate even more the way in which Jesus was strikingly different.

Unlike David, who trusted in his own cleverness and shrewdness in dealing with Achish, the Bible says that Jesus exhibited perfect trust in God the Father throughout his life—all the way to the cross. This is visible at several points in Jesus’s ministry including Matthew 26:39. Jesus knew he was about to be arrested and crucified, yet he surrendered to the Father’s will and prayed, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” Then, shortly after that, the soldiers arrived to arrest Jesus. And Peter, functioning according to his own impulses, drew his sword and cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant. Yet, in John 18:11, Jesus told Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

Then, finally, in Luke 23:46, as Jesus was on the cross and breathing his last breath, he cried out to the Father, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” So, throughout his life—and especially leading up to the cross—Jesus exhibited perfect trust in God the Father and faithfully followed the Father’s will all the way to the very end. In 1 Peter 2:23, Peter describes it in terms of Jesus “entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” Unlike David, who embarked on a plan of his own making because, on that particular occasion, he didn’t trust God, Jesus, by contrast, entrusted himself to the Father. 

Peter then says of Jesus in verse 24 that, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” You see, God had a purpose for sending Jesus to the cross. It was so Jesus could bear our sins. Jesus endured the punishment for our sins on the cross so we wouldn’t have to endure it in hell. Our sins were placed upon his shoulders so that he suffered the penalty we deserved. Jesus was then raised from the dead to demonstrate that the Father had accepted his sacrifice. He now offers to rescue each of us from our sins, provided that we turn away from our sins and put our trust exclusively in him for that rescue.

If we try to follow a path of our own making—as David does in our main passage—we’ll eventually suffer spiritual and eternal disaster. But if we put our trust in Jesus to do for us what we could never do for ourselves, he’ll rescue us from both the objective guilt of our sin and from the subjective power sin has in our lives.