Part 1 - King David Falls Into Depression
1 Samuel 27
Many years ago, a young Midwestern lawyer suffered from such deep discouragement and depression that his friends removed all sharp knives and razors from his home. He questioned his life’s purpose and whether he should continue to push through or not.
During this time, he wrote, “I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I (dreadfully fear) I shall not (be).”
But somehow, Abraham Lincoln fought through it, and his life thoroughly vindicates his battle with discouragement and depression.
We are in the thick of the Covid-19 Stay-At-Home/Self-Quarantine/Don’t-Go-Near-Anyone – crisis. And a lot of us are dealing with increased levels of emotional strain and stress – to say the least. This past week, I have personally dealt with my own struggle with discouragement and depression.
Last Sunday was Resurrection Sunday. And the stress and intensity leading up to last weekend drove me to a difficult place of discouragement and depression. I’m committed to learning what it looks like when I (personally) get into this kind of place, and I’m committed to learning what to do about it when I get there. But neither of those things – “recognizing it” or “knowing what to do about it” are easily learned or easily done.
But this is not a personal therapy session. Because I’ve seen and heard about a lot of emotional and mental health concerns in other people these past few weeks, and this subject is a substantial concern in our society as we battle the shutdowns and the lock-ins.
So, this is a part one message of a two-part message today. I want to talk about one of the dangers of depression today, and then next message, we’ll talk about how to fight back for victory over depression.
Let me start today (as I always do) with this disclaimer. There are varying levels of varying causes of depression, and it’s critically important that you do not think that I am trying to deal with all levels and all causes (of depression) in these messages. My strong encouragement for those who struggle at deeper levels of depression is to take hold of all that God has provided for you – including the fact that God may bring some healing through the professional and medical community.
So today, I just want to send up a flare for you. I want to show you an event in the Bible that graphically illustrates why we need to be so careful when we start heading down “depression alley.”
And I don’t think there’s any better place in the Bible to look at the dangers of depression than the life of King David, Israel’s greatest King, with a massive amount of scripture written about him along with being the writer of most of the Psalms.
The life of David encompasses so much it’s hard to know where to jump in, but let me try.
Israel picked their first king by a popularity contest like we pick a homecoming king in high school. His name was Saul, and he kind of reminds me of some homecoming kings I’ve known. And so, after Saul had made a mess of things, God had the Prophet Samuel anoint young David as the next King of Israel. But – God didn’t remove Saul from being King of Israel. Instead, after David’s meet-up with Goliath, which made David a national hero – God allowed Saul to try to kill David for eight long years.
And those eight years of being hunted by Saul was a big part of what made David into Israel’s greatest King. So, if you’re in a difficult place right now, understand God uses it to refine and mature and perfect you for what he has for you. But those eight years also overwhelmed him and discouraged him and led him into depression – more than once.
In fact, many of the Psalms of David, when he was crying out to God to save him, came from these eight years of running for his life. David knew depression, and he shared his depression with us throughout the Psalms.
Psalm 13:2 (NLT)
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? . . .
Psalm 109:22 (NLT)
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is full of pain.
Psalm 69:1–3 (NLT)
1 Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.
2 Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me.
3 I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me.
Psalm 69:29 (NLT)
29 I am suffering and in pain. Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.
Psalm 102:7 & 9 (NLT)
7 I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof . . .
9 I eat ashes for food. My tears run down into my drink
Listen, if you’ve been depressed, you can relate to those words. If you’re struggling with words that come like that right now, it may be because you are struggling with the beginnings of depression, maybe you’re deep in right now. I want you to know God has an answer for you.
I want you to know first, today, David knew depression, and after the events in 1 Samuel Chapter 27, David knew that his depression had led him into deep spiritual compromise.
Here’s how it builds up to the breaking point (you write these down – read this week).
In 1 Samuel 21, David is running from Saul, and he asks one priest in the Tabernacle for help. In 1 Samuel 22, Saul kills 85 priests because one helped David, and this news reaches David. In Samuel 24, David and his men are hiding in a cave in En Gedi, and David had a chance to kill Saul, but he does not. But, it’s a super high-stress event, and David has to control his 600 militiamen who disagreed with his choice.
And then, in Chapter 25, we see a crack in David’s mental state as he flies into a rage and almost kills an entire household over a relatively minor incident, and that’s when we can see the pressure beginning to take its toll on David. Crisis after crisis – back-to-back. Then, 1 Samuel Chapter 26, David spares Saul’s life again, and again it is a super high-stress emotional event.
From Chapter 21 to 26 of 1 Samuel, there are five highly charged emotional events back-to-back-to-back. And then (Chapter 27) David is going to snap. Do you know what it looks like? When the pressure brings you to a place that you start doing stuff that you never would do, you start reacting in a way that you never would react.
After the long-term compounded stress of trying to live right in God’s eyes and trying to stay alive and trying to provide for his 600 men (and their families), King David is going to snap. He is going to fall headlong into depression, and that is going to lead him into deep compromise in his life.
J. Vernon McGee sums up 1 Samuel Chapter 27 like this: there is nothing in this chapter that would reveal that David is a man of God - not one word . . .
Here’s how it happened for Israel’s greatest King.
1 Samuel 27:1(a) (ESV)
1 Then David said in his heart . . .
The Hebrew is more literally – David said TO his heart
The NASB says – “David said to himself”
And that is exactly where our problems often begin. When we’re in trouble emotionally, when we’re struggling with depression or difficulty, the very last person in the world we should be listening to – is ourselves. When we start listening to ourselves in times of emotional difficulty, we are on a very slippery slope, and it can easily lead to compromise.
David is about to say to himself the exact opposite of the truth God has already made abundantly clear to him, and when we are depressed, we tend to do the same thing. David knew what God had promised, he trusted God, but right now he’s going to tell himself the opposite of what God has said, and he’s going to believe it.
And when we’re depressed, guys, we do the same thing. We’ve got to watch for it in our own lives.
Continuing in 1 Samuel 27:1(b).
1 Samuel 27:1(b) (ESV)
1 . . . “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul . . .
David, how many dozens of times, has God proven to you that you are going to be what God has made you to be? Dozens of times, God had proven that he was bringing David through this difficult time to be Israel’s King.
But in our crisis-to-crisis-to-crisis state, we cannot see God’s hand in our lives. And we cannot see God’s plan in our lives. And so, we should not be giving ourselves counsel. And we should not believe anything we say to ourselves. We need to understand the depression talk comes from a deep and dark place. And it’s almost a hundred percent (I would say always), but certainly almost always, in direct contradiction to God, and to God’s plan.
But in his crisis-to-crisis-to-crisis state, David could not see God’s hand or God’s plan, and so David comes to his own depression-induced conclusion.
1 Samuel 27:1(c) (ESV)
1 . . . There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines . . .
The Land of the Philistines is enemy territory. This is the big enemy. This is the enemy that had already stolen the Ark of the Covenant once some chapters back in 1 Samuel. And David’s saying there’s nothing better for me than that I should leave this hard “God’s path” and I should probably re-join those that are enemies of God. I should probably go back to the world. I should go back to the world to take a break from this struggle of serving God, of following God.
This is like us saying – There is nothing better for me than to give up this whole following God thing and go back into the world.
And then at the end of 1 Samuel 27:1, David decides – through his depression filter – that this will end all his troubles.
1 Samuel 27:1(d) (ESV)
1 . . . Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”
In his depression, David is done doing things God’s way. It’s not working – so he’s gong back over to the enemy’s side so that the daily grind would ease up a little.
This collapse of faith is coming from David’s distress and depression, and even more so – it is coming from David “listening to himself” instead of “listening to God.”
Do you listen to yourself more than you listen to God? Do you say these words to yourself? “Here’s what I think.” And if when you say, “here’s what I think,” if that’s contrary to God’s Word, are you prone to take your opinion over God’s? If you are, then you are a natural-born sinner, and you need to crucify that – and I need to crucify that. And we need to believe God more than ourselves; we need to put God at a higher place of priority in our lives and in our hearing than ourselves.
There’s no faith here; there’s no prayer. David’s not pulling out one of the psalms that he himself has written, and he’s not seeking or waiting on God. He is drowning in his own pessimistic thinking and in his “depression logic.” And David’s “depression logic” is going to lead him into deep compromise.
(NLT) 1 Samuel 27:2 (NLT)
2 So David took his 600 men and went over and joined Achish son of Maoch, the King of Gath.
This is the same Gath where Goliath was from this is full enemy territory, and the crazy thing is, this is the second time David’s been here. He was here in 1 Samuel Chapter 21, pretending that he was insane to escape Saul back then.
Maybe you have friends in the world that treat you better than your friends in the church. And maybe you think, man, I’m going to go hang out with those guys – again. They were easier on me than fighting this battle for the Lord every day.
That’s where David was. But now, he’s going to move in and compromise awhile.
And not only do David and his men go back to live with the enemy, but they take their families with them.
1 Samuel 27:3 (NLT)
3 David and his men and their families settled there with Achish at Gath. David brought his two wives along with him . . .
Listen, guys, this has to be a motivating warning. If we allow depression to start making the decisions in our lives, it will have an impact on our families. Too often – to some extent – we take our families where we go. This is why we’ve got to be careful to recognize and respond to the signs of depression in our lives. And so, if you see yourself starting to make crazy decisions or you hear yourself suggest crazy things in your head, wake up. You’re at depression alley. Don’t go down there.
And so now we see David’s choice to live outside of God’s plan for his life initially provides some relief.
1 Samuel 27:4 (NLT)
4 Word soon reached Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he stopped hunting for him.
A temporary relief from the constant spiritual battle. A temporary relief from the battle of serving the Lord in the midst of a world set against him.
I think we get that same “temporary relief” when we give up. If I could just “throw in the towel,” just tap out of “serving the Lord,” there would be some respite; there would be some relief.
But… there’s always a next step. The initial moment of relief is always followed by the next step, and David’s next step got pretty ugly.
1 Samuel 27:5–7 (NLT)
5 One day David said to Achish, “If it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.”
6 So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day),
7 and they lived there among the Philistines for a year and four months.
For sixteen months, David lived in compromise with the enemy. How about you? If you’re in compromise with the enemy right now, maybe because of the stress of finances or family, or homeschooling or being quarantined; if there’s compromise in your life right now, this is when you need to listen.
For sixteen months, David was taken out of God’s plan. For sixteen months, there’s not one psalm written by David. For sixteen months, David is living among the enemy and acting like the enemy.
David is showing this enemy king that he is no longer part of God’s people. He’s showing the enemy that he wants to move in and live permanently with them, and we know he’s doing it to just try to escape from Saul. But he is not doing it God’s way, and he’s sliding into deep compromise with the enemy, and God does save him – in it. But there are deep consequences from it in his life.
David’s problem here is the enemy king thinks David is going to start attacking the Israelites. If he’s joining the enemy, then he’s going to turn on God’s people. And this is the same thing that your spiritual enemy hopes with you. If he can get you to compromise into his world, then his next goal is to get you to turn on God’s people.
David’s problem here is the enemy king thinks David is going to start raiding the towns of Israel to provide for his 600 men and their families, and the enemy king thinks when David does that, it’s going to make him his loyal servant forever. Just like your enemy king thinks if he can get you to compromise and join him that you’ll become his servant forever.
And so, we read the following in 1 Samuel 27:8.
1 Samuel 27:8 (NLT)
8 David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times.
These were all tribes that Joshua had told Israel to remove when they first came into the land, but they hadn’t. And these were tribes that were not friends or allies of the Philistines so the enemy king wouldn’t know that’s where David was going. But, there was a price to pay.
1 Samuel 27:9 (NLT)
9 David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish.
In response to his depression – David compromised. In response to his compromise – David lied to the King. In response to his lies, David had to kill entire villages of people.
I know this doesn’t sound very encouraging. The encouraging part comes next message (Part 2). This is the gentle warning part.
And so, we read in 1 Samuel 27:10,
1 Samuel 27:10 (NLT)
10 “Where did you make your raid today?” Achish would ask. And David would reply, “Against the south of Judah, the Jerahmeelites, and the Kenites.”
Now, these are tribes (clans) of Israel. David had to lie to the enemy king. But he had to have proof that he was killing somebody. And so, 1 Samuel 27:11 says,
1 Samuel 27:11 says (NLT)
11 No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines.
This is the downward spiral from depression to compromise. Dave reached emotional and mental overload, and he snapped… and this is the result. This is why I’m saying as gently as I can, let’s be careful with our emotional and mental health during this difficult time, okay?
And so, finally, we read,
1 Samuel 27:12 (NLT)
12 Achish believed David and thought to himself, “By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!”
The enemy king thinks that this compromise had made David his servant forever, and our enemy king in our spiritual battle is trying to get us into this same place. He wants to get us into a place where we are working on his behalf and doing the Kingdom of God no good at all.
Next message, we’ll see David fight out this compromise, and he will fight into victory. So, don’t miss it next week. But for today, please, let’s hear the warning. Depression can very easily lead to spiritual compromise. Compromise leads to consequences. As it was in the time of David – so it is today.
So, let’s commit today to recognize depression when it begins to take hold and to do something about it – right away. Next message, we’ll talk about what to do to fight back to victory. But for today, let’s pray that we would see it when it begins to raise its head, and let’s pray that we would recognize that we’re snapping, that we’re not thinking right, that we’re making poor choices and we’re listening more to ourselves than to God. And let’s pray that God’s Holy Spirit would still have a voice in our lives when we get to that place, that we would hear the Spirit, and that we would respond and do something God’s way and right away.
During this time, he wrote, “I am now the most miserable man living. Whether I shall ever be better, I cannot tell. I (dreadfully fear) I shall not (be).”
But somehow, Abraham Lincoln fought through it, and his life thoroughly vindicates his battle with discouragement and depression.
We are in the thick of the Covid-19 Stay-At-Home/Self-Quarantine/Don’t-Go-Near-Anyone – crisis. And a lot of us are dealing with increased levels of emotional strain and stress – to say the least. This past week, I have personally dealt with my own struggle with discouragement and depression.
Last Sunday was Resurrection Sunday. And the stress and intensity leading up to last weekend drove me to a difficult place of discouragement and depression. I’m committed to learning what it looks like when I (personally) get into this kind of place, and I’m committed to learning what to do about it when I get there. But neither of those things – “recognizing it” or “knowing what to do about it” are easily learned or easily done.
But this is not a personal therapy session. Because I’ve seen and heard about a lot of emotional and mental health concerns in other people these past few weeks, and this subject is a substantial concern in our society as we battle the shutdowns and the lock-ins.
So, this is a part one message of a two-part message today. I want to talk about one of the dangers of depression today, and then next message, we’ll talk about how to fight back for victory over depression.
Let me start today (as I always do) with this disclaimer. There are varying levels of varying causes of depression, and it’s critically important that you do not think that I am trying to deal with all levels and all causes (of depression) in these messages. My strong encouragement for those who struggle at deeper levels of depression is to take hold of all that God has provided for you – including the fact that God may bring some healing through the professional and medical community.
So today, I just want to send up a flare for you. I want to show you an event in the Bible that graphically illustrates why we need to be so careful when we start heading down “depression alley.”
And I don’t think there’s any better place in the Bible to look at the dangers of depression than the life of King David, Israel’s greatest King, with a massive amount of scripture written about him along with being the writer of most of the Psalms.
The life of David encompasses so much it’s hard to know where to jump in, but let me try.
Israel picked their first king by a popularity contest like we pick a homecoming king in high school. His name was Saul, and he kind of reminds me of some homecoming kings I’ve known. And so, after Saul had made a mess of things, God had the Prophet Samuel anoint young David as the next King of Israel. But – God didn’t remove Saul from being King of Israel. Instead, after David’s meet-up with Goliath, which made David a national hero – God allowed Saul to try to kill David for eight long years.
And those eight years of being hunted by Saul was a big part of what made David into Israel’s greatest King. So, if you’re in a difficult place right now, understand God uses it to refine and mature and perfect you for what he has for you. But those eight years also overwhelmed him and discouraged him and led him into depression – more than once.
In fact, many of the Psalms of David, when he was crying out to God to save him, came from these eight years of running for his life. David knew depression, and he shared his depression with us throughout the Psalms.
Psalm 13:2 (NLT)
2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? . . .
Psalm 109:22 (NLT)
22 For I am poor and needy, and my heart is full of pain.
Psalm 69:1–3 (NLT)
1 Save me, O God, for the floodwaters are up to my neck.
2 Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire; I can’t find a foothold. I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me.
3 I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched. My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me.
Psalm 69:29 (NLT)
29 I am suffering and in pain. Rescue me, O God, by your saving power.
Psalm 102:7 & 9 (NLT)
7 I lie awake, lonely as a solitary bird on the roof . . .
9 I eat ashes for food. My tears run down into my drink
Listen, if you’ve been depressed, you can relate to those words. If you’re struggling with words that come like that right now, it may be because you are struggling with the beginnings of depression, maybe you’re deep in right now. I want you to know God has an answer for you.
I want you to know first, today, David knew depression, and after the events in 1 Samuel Chapter 27, David knew that his depression had led him into deep spiritual compromise.
Here’s how it builds up to the breaking point (you write these down – read this week).
In 1 Samuel 21, David is running from Saul, and he asks one priest in the Tabernacle for help. In 1 Samuel 22, Saul kills 85 priests because one helped David, and this news reaches David. In Samuel 24, David and his men are hiding in a cave in En Gedi, and David had a chance to kill Saul, but he does not. But, it’s a super high-stress event, and David has to control his 600 militiamen who disagreed with his choice.
And then, in Chapter 25, we see a crack in David’s mental state as he flies into a rage and almost kills an entire household over a relatively minor incident, and that’s when we can see the pressure beginning to take its toll on David. Crisis after crisis – back-to-back. Then, 1 Samuel Chapter 26, David spares Saul’s life again, and again it is a super high-stress emotional event.
From Chapter 21 to 26 of 1 Samuel, there are five highly charged emotional events back-to-back-to-back. And then (Chapter 27) David is going to snap. Do you know what it looks like? When the pressure brings you to a place that you start doing stuff that you never would do, you start reacting in a way that you never would react.
After the long-term compounded stress of trying to live right in God’s eyes and trying to stay alive and trying to provide for his 600 men (and their families), King David is going to snap. He is going to fall headlong into depression, and that is going to lead him into deep compromise in his life.
J. Vernon McGee sums up 1 Samuel Chapter 27 like this: there is nothing in this chapter that would reveal that David is a man of God - not one word . . .
Here’s how it happened for Israel’s greatest King.
1 Samuel 27:1(a) (ESV)
1 Then David said in his heart . . .
The Hebrew is more literally – David said TO his heart
The NASB says – “David said to himself”
And that is exactly where our problems often begin. When we’re in trouble emotionally, when we’re struggling with depression or difficulty, the very last person in the world we should be listening to – is ourselves. When we start listening to ourselves in times of emotional difficulty, we are on a very slippery slope, and it can easily lead to compromise.
David is about to say to himself the exact opposite of the truth God has already made abundantly clear to him, and when we are depressed, we tend to do the same thing. David knew what God had promised, he trusted God, but right now he’s going to tell himself the opposite of what God has said, and he’s going to believe it.
And when we’re depressed, guys, we do the same thing. We’ve got to watch for it in our own lives.
Continuing in 1 Samuel 27:1(b).
1 Samuel 27:1(b) (ESV)
1 . . . “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul . . .
David, how many dozens of times, has God proven to you that you are going to be what God has made you to be? Dozens of times, God had proven that he was bringing David through this difficult time to be Israel’s King.
But in our crisis-to-crisis-to-crisis state, we cannot see God’s hand in our lives. And we cannot see God’s plan in our lives. And so, we should not be giving ourselves counsel. And we should not believe anything we say to ourselves. We need to understand the depression talk comes from a deep and dark place. And it’s almost a hundred percent (I would say always), but certainly almost always, in direct contradiction to God, and to God’s plan.
But in his crisis-to-crisis-to-crisis state, David could not see God’s hand or God’s plan, and so David comes to his own depression-induced conclusion.
1 Samuel 27:1(c) (ESV)
1 . . . There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines . . .
The Land of the Philistines is enemy territory. This is the big enemy. This is the enemy that had already stolen the Ark of the Covenant once some chapters back in 1 Samuel. And David’s saying there’s nothing better for me than that I should leave this hard “God’s path” and I should probably re-join those that are enemies of God. I should probably go back to the world. I should go back to the world to take a break from this struggle of serving God, of following God.
This is like us saying – There is nothing better for me than to give up this whole following God thing and go back into the world.
And then at the end of 1 Samuel 27:1, David decides – through his depression filter – that this will end all his troubles.
1 Samuel 27:1(d) (ESV)
1 . . . Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.”
In his depression, David is done doing things God’s way. It’s not working – so he’s gong back over to the enemy’s side so that the daily grind would ease up a little.
This collapse of faith is coming from David’s distress and depression, and even more so – it is coming from David “listening to himself” instead of “listening to God.”
Do you listen to yourself more than you listen to God? Do you say these words to yourself? “Here’s what I think.” And if when you say, “here’s what I think,” if that’s contrary to God’s Word, are you prone to take your opinion over God’s? If you are, then you are a natural-born sinner, and you need to crucify that – and I need to crucify that. And we need to believe God more than ourselves; we need to put God at a higher place of priority in our lives and in our hearing than ourselves.
There’s no faith here; there’s no prayer. David’s not pulling out one of the psalms that he himself has written, and he’s not seeking or waiting on God. He is drowning in his own pessimistic thinking and in his “depression logic.” And David’s “depression logic” is going to lead him into deep compromise.
(NLT) 1 Samuel 27:2 (NLT)
2 So David took his 600 men and went over and joined Achish son of Maoch, the King of Gath.
This is the same Gath where Goliath was from this is full enemy territory, and the crazy thing is, this is the second time David’s been here. He was here in 1 Samuel Chapter 21, pretending that he was insane to escape Saul back then.
Maybe you have friends in the world that treat you better than your friends in the church. And maybe you think, man, I’m going to go hang out with those guys – again. They were easier on me than fighting this battle for the Lord every day.
That’s where David was. But now, he’s going to move in and compromise awhile.
And not only do David and his men go back to live with the enemy, but they take their families with them.
1 Samuel 27:3 (NLT)
3 David and his men and their families settled there with Achish at Gath. David brought his two wives along with him . . .
Listen, guys, this has to be a motivating warning. If we allow depression to start making the decisions in our lives, it will have an impact on our families. Too often – to some extent – we take our families where we go. This is why we’ve got to be careful to recognize and respond to the signs of depression in our lives. And so, if you see yourself starting to make crazy decisions or you hear yourself suggest crazy things in your head, wake up. You’re at depression alley. Don’t go down there.
And so now we see David’s choice to live outside of God’s plan for his life initially provides some relief.
1 Samuel 27:4 (NLT)
4 Word soon reached Saul that David had fled to Gath, so he stopped hunting for him.
A temporary relief from the constant spiritual battle. A temporary relief from the battle of serving the Lord in the midst of a world set against him.
I think we get that same “temporary relief” when we give up. If I could just “throw in the towel,” just tap out of “serving the Lord,” there would be some respite; there would be some relief.
But… there’s always a next step. The initial moment of relief is always followed by the next step, and David’s next step got pretty ugly.
1 Samuel 27:5–7 (NLT)
5 One day David said to Achish, “If it is all right with you, we would rather live in one of the country towns instead of here in the royal city.”
6 So Achish gave him the town of Ziklag (which still belongs to the kings of Judah to this day),
7 and they lived there among the Philistines for a year and four months.
For sixteen months, David lived in compromise with the enemy. How about you? If you’re in compromise with the enemy right now, maybe because of the stress of finances or family, or homeschooling or being quarantined; if there’s compromise in your life right now, this is when you need to listen.
For sixteen months, David was taken out of God’s plan. For sixteen months, there’s not one psalm written by David. For sixteen months, David is living among the enemy and acting like the enemy.
David is showing this enemy king that he is no longer part of God’s people. He’s showing the enemy that he wants to move in and live permanently with them, and we know he’s doing it to just try to escape from Saul. But he is not doing it God’s way, and he’s sliding into deep compromise with the enemy, and God does save him – in it. But there are deep consequences from it in his life.
David’s problem here is the enemy king thinks David is going to start attacking the Israelites. If he’s joining the enemy, then he’s going to turn on God’s people. And this is the same thing that your spiritual enemy hopes with you. If he can get you to compromise into his world, then his next goal is to get you to turn on God’s people.
David’s problem here is the enemy king thinks David is going to start raiding the towns of Israel to provide for his 600 men and their families, and the enemy king thinks when David does that, it’s going to make him his loyal servant forever. Just like your enemy king thinks if he can get you to compromise and join him that you’ll become his servant forever.
And so, we read the following in 1 Samuel 27:8.
1 Samuel 27:8 (NLT)
8 David and his men spent their time raiding the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites—people who had lived near Shur, toward the land of Egypt, since ancient times.
These were all tribes that Joshua had told Israel to remove when they first came into the land, but they hadn’t. And these were tribes that were not friends or allies of the Philistines so the enemy king wouldn’t know that’s where David was going. But, there was a price to pay.
1 Samuel 27:9 (NLT)
9 David did not leave one person alive in the villages he attacked. He took the sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, and clothing before returning home to see King Achish.
In response to his depression – David compromised. In response to his compromise – David lied to the King. In response to his lies, David had to kill entire villages of people.
I know this doesn’t sound very encouraging. The encouraging part comes next message (Part 2). This is the gentle warning part.
And so, we read in 1 Samuel 27:10,
1 Samuel 27:10 (NLT)
10 “Where did you make your raid today?” Achish would ask. And David would reply, “Against the south of Judah, the Jerahmeelites, and the Kenites.”
Now, these are tribes (clans) of Israel. David had to lie to the enemy king. But he had to have proof that he was killing somebody. And so, 1 Samuel 27:11 says,
1 Samuel 27:11 says (NLT)
11 No one was left alive to come to Gath and tell where he had really been. This happened again and again while he was living among the Philistines.
This is the downward spiral from depression to compromise. Dave reached emotional and mental overload, and he snapped… and this is the result. This is why I’m saying as gently as I can, let’s be careful with our emotional and mental health during this difficult time, okay?
And so, finally, we read,
1 Samuel 27:12 (NLT)
12 Achish believed David and thought to himself, “By now the people of Israel must hate him bitterly. Now he will have to stay here and serve me forever!”
The enemy king thinks that this compromise had made David his servant forever, and our enemy king in our spiritual battle is trying to get us into this same place. He wants to get us into a place where we are working on his behalf and doing the Kingdom of God no good at all.
Next message, we’ll see David fight out this compromise, and he will fight into victory. So, don’t miss it next week. But for today, please, let’s hear the warning. Depression can very easily lead to spiritual compromise. Compromise leads to consequences. As it was in the time of David – so it is today.
So, let’s commit today to recognize depression when it begins to take hold and to do something about it – right away. Next message, we’ll talk about what to do to fight back to victory. But for today, let’s pray that we would see it when it begins to raise its head, and let’s pray that we would recognize that we’re snapping, that we’re not thinking right, that we’re making poor choices and we’re listening more to ourselves than to God. And let’s pray that God’s Holy Spirit would still have a voice in our lives when we get to that place, that we would hear the Spirit, and that we would respond and do something God’s way and right away.