And David and his men went up and made a raid upon the Geshurites, and the Gerzites, and the Amalekites for those were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, and as far as the land of Egypt.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
David is living at Ziklag under the protection of Achish, a Philistine king, and raiding Israel's old enemies. Were these raids obedience to God, or the cover story of a man hiding where he should never have been?
One commentator reads the killing as a precaution, not as a command obeyed. David left no survivors to contradict the story he told Achish.
Verse 11 tells us that David did not take any captives or allow any of these enemies to live. This was not because God had commanded it. He did not want anyone to bring Achish a true report of what had happened. It seems strange that he could keep up such deception for so long a time.
Another writer names what the lie was protecting: a shelter David had chosen for himself.
David, however, accepted Ziklag, and instead of remaining as a homeless stranger, he becomes a citizen in the land of the Philistines. He no longer acts the madman, as before: no; he now plays the part of an outright deceiver. He wages war on the Geshurites and Gezrites, and lies about it, in case he should again lose his self-chosen place of protection.
The people David struck were real enemies of Israel. The targets can be defended; where he was standing cannot.
David goes up into the land of the Geshurites and Gezrites, where the Amalekites also were. He destroys them completely, leaving neither man nor woman alive, and carries off the plunder. These seem to have been Israel's ancient enemies, and so under a ban of destruction. Yet little seems to lighten the darkness that has gathered around David here. We cannot feel that his victory belongs alongside those of Joshua, or even of the Judges.
Ridout takes up the return to Achish, and the lesson in it.
Coming back to Achish, he pretends he has gone into the land of Judah, among his own people. His aim is to make Achish think he has turned completely against Israel. He has cut off every one, so no one is left to give Achish the truth. A false position leads to lying. It spoils even work that would otherwise deserve praise. How often, too, does someone try to make up by great activity for glaring unfaithfulness. Clear truth about one's own place may be rejected, and a lower path taken. Alongside this may go what looks like great activity against certain forms of error, and a great show of faithfulness.
This was not a moment's panic. It became a way of life, and one writer draws a verdict on human nature from how long it lasted.
Up to now David would not strike a blow against Israel under any circumstances. But what good was it to Achish to receive him if he did not? So, to meet his probing questions about the raids he made, David had to deceive him. He did so, and it worked. Achish said, "David has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant." But trickery and lies alone could not keep him safe from discovery. So of those he made war on, he "would leave neither man nor woman alive," in case they should tell what he had done. And this was his course for sixteen months! Surely in the flesh there dwells no good thing; only sin is found there. Deliverance from it can come only by the Cross of the Lord Jesus.
Taking Philistine protection cost David his freedom. The raids kept his protector satisfied.
Achish, who knows David, wants to use him in his service, and David cannot refuse. Faith gives a man energy from the Spirit of God. But if unfaithfulness has put him in a false position, he has no power against the one whose authority he has placed himself under. And if he does not use that energy on his protector's behalf, he naturally stirs up his jealousy. God in His mercy preserved David, but he was now in a sad and false position.
The scheme succeeded, and that is the danger. Ridout reads the success itself as the reason chastening had to come.
The ruse succeeds with Achish, as it may succeed for a time in any case, but chastening is sure to follow. The Lord loves His servant too well to let him carry on in a false position, and gain standing with his enemies by a false account of his own battles.
- Position. David chose a shelter God never gave him; everything in this verse grows out of that one step.
- Protection. To keep the shelter he had to lie. To keep the lie safe he left no survivors. The killing served the cover story, not a command.
- Performance. Real enemies, real victories, real plunder. But activity cannot repair unfaithfulness. A false position spoils even good work.
- Price. A borrowed shelter costs freedom: the man under a protector's authority has no power to refuse him.
- Pursuit. The deception worked for sixteen months. Success was not approval. Love sends chastening rather than leave a servant in a false position.