Achish

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 Achish, the commanders of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish 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 have 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, lest 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 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.

It says this in 1 Samuel 21 10.

Then David arose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish, king of Gath.

But the servants of Achish said to him, is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of this one as they dance, saying Saul is slain his thousands and David his ten thousands? David took these words to heart and greatly feared Achish, king of Gath.

So he disguised his sanity before them and acted insanely in their hands and scribbled on the doors of the gate and let saliva run down into his beard.

Then Achish said to his servants, behold, you see the man behaving as a madman.

Why do you bring him to me? Do I lack madmen that you may have brought this one to act the madman in my presence? Shall this one come into my house? Remember that thousands and ten thousand song? That was the song that put jealousy and fear in Saul that eventually led to the first king of Israel taking target practice on the young shepherd armor bearer.

He comes to Gath and the Jewish song that was sung by Hebrew women seemed to become popular in Gath too.

I mean, I guess desperation leads to foolish actions is kind of a lesson from that.

The only reason that David survived, however, was because he ended up feigning insanity, pretending like he was crazy, so that Achish, the king of Gath, would have no choice but to release David, which he did.

1 Samuel 21, verses 14 and 15 tells us that Achish, the king of Gath, said to his servants, Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman, speaking of David, why do you bring him to me? Do I lack madmen? Apparently they were abundant in Gath.

Do I lack madmen that you have brought this one to act the madman before me? Shall this one come into my house? In other words, get him out of here.

So Psalm 56 showed David running and turning from fear to faith following his narrow escape.

I mean, David, there's a verse, this one I find pretty funny.

In 1 Samuel, David deliberately pretends to be insane before the Akish.

The passage is significant because the people involved clearly possessed a concept of madness, of somebody being demon-possessed.

Have I need of madmen? A madman was somebody that was, some will argue and say he was mental, but it is clear the fact that there's a direct correlation between somebody that's mad and somebody that's evil.

Now, the Philistines had gathered all their forces at Aphek, and the Israelites were encamped by the spring that is in Jezreel.

And 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 Achish.

The commander of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish 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 me, I have found no fault in him to this day?" But the commander 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, lest in the battle place, uh, lest 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 the, 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 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, 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 lord 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.

As my lord the king has said, so will your servant do." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days.

But it happened at the end of three years that two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish, son of Maachah, king of Gath.

And when it was told Shimei, "Behold, your servants are in Gath," Shimei arose and saddled a donkey and went to Gath to Achish to seek his servants.

Shimei went and brought his servants from Gath.

And when Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and returned, the king sent and summoned Shimei and said to him, "Did I not make you swear by the Lord and solemnly warn you, saying, 'Know for certain that on the day you go out and go to any place whatever, you shall die'? And you said to me, 'What you say is good.

David was grasping at straws and trusting in his own judgment, which was making him do very foolish things like lying to the high priest and defecting to the enemies of God's people.

As soon as David arrived in Gath, he was brought to the city's king, a man named Achish.

But as soon as David made his appearance in King Achish's court, it became clear that he'd made a huge mistake.

The king's servants, that's the people who ran King Achish's government, immediately recognized David and they said to the king, is this not David, the king of the land? Did they not sing of him to one another in dances, saying, Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands? David was much more well-known to the Philistines than he'd realized.

They knew that David had been the one who delivered so many defeats to the Philistines over the years.

And they really hated him for it.

And David said, There is none like that, give it to me.

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? And David took these words to heart, and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath.

So he changed his behavior before them, and pretended to be insane in their hands, and made marks on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle run down his beard.

Then Achish said to his servants, Behold, you see the man is mad.

Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?

Here endeth the first lesson.