Havasu Christian Church
January 26, 2025
I Samuel 28:1-2, I Samuel 29:1-11,
I Samuel 30:1-25
Part 2:“The end of the End!”
INTRO: In “part 1,” “The beginning of the end” last week, We saw King Saul letting his fear get the best of him. It leads him to do all sorts of evil things. Finally, we saw all this end in his shamefully running away and his death by suicide.
This week, we see the same time frame, but from the other side. Let’s see what happened with David and his men. Let’s explore one last exciting story from the book of I Samuel!!
I Samuel 28: 1-2 Now it came about in those days that the Philistines gathered their armed camps for war, to fight against Israel. And Achish said to David, “Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the camp, you and your men.” David said to Achish, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do.” So Achish said to David, “Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.”
- David has been given Achish’s absolute trust!
- “We’re going to war with Israel and you are going to be my bodyguard!”
- Why on earth would Achish want David and his men to be his bodyguards?
- He thinks David and his men have burned their bridges.
- He believes they have been attacking cities in Israel.
I Samuel 27:12 So Achish believed David, saying, “He has surely made himself odious among his people Israel; therefore he will become my servant forever.”
- As “men without a country,” they would be loyal to him because they have no where else to go.
- Men of his own nation might decide they want to take over his kingdom.
- They might find other disgruntled men who will go along with them.
- They might decide to turn on him and kill him to take over.
- This is MUCH less likely when the guards are not Philistines… The people are much less likely to go along with these foreigners.
- Did David deserve the trust he was given?
- ABSOLUTLY NOT!!!
- He’s been dishonest from the very beginning.
- He pretended to be crazy.
- He pretended to be raiding Israel.
- Now he’s saying “Sure, I’d love the job!”
- The “Lords of the Philistines aren’t so gullible!
1 Samuel 29:1–5 Now the Philistines gathered together all their armies to Aphek, while the Israelites were camping by the spring which is in Jezreel.
2 And the lords of the Philistines were proceeding on by hundreds and by thousands, and David and his men were proceeding on in the rear with Achish.
3 Then 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 the king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or rather these years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?”
4 But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him, and the commanders of the Philistines said to him, “Make the man go back, that he may return to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may become an adversary to us. For with what could this man make himself acceptable to his lord? Would it not be with the heads of these men?
5 “Is this not David, of whom they sing in the dances, saying,
‘Saul has slain his thousands,
And David his ten thousands’?”
- The lords of the Philistines have a good point!
- He has been our enemy in the past!
- He could turn on us during the battle, kill you, and attack our army from the rear.
- By doing this, he could get back in Saul’s good graces.
- SEND HIM HOME!!!
- Achish reluctantly agrees.
- David argues that he should stay.
I Samuel 29:6-8 Then Achish called David and said to him, “As the LORD lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day. Nevertheless, you are not pleasing in the sight of the lords.
7 “Now therefore return and go in peace, that you may not displease the lords of the Philistines.”
8 David said to Achish, “But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day when I came before you to this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?”
- Why did David argue?
- Perhaps it was to keep up the lie that he was faithful to Achish.
- Achish has believed everything David has told him so far.
- David has done some awful things in order to keep up this pretense.
- David likes having his own city for he and his men to live in.
- Maybe it was because he genuinely wanted to fight against Israel and for Achish.
- This seems pretty doubtful.
- David has gone out of his way so far NOT to “become odious” to his people.
- Perhaps the Philistine leaders are right; David wants to be able to attack them from the rear and save the day for Israel.
- In spite of his arguing, David and his troops are sent home.
I Samuel 29:9-11 But Achish replied to David, “I know that you are pleasing in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’
10 “Now then arise early in the morning with the servants of your lord who have come with you, and as soon as you have arisen early in the morning and have light, depart.”
11 So David arose early, he and his men, to depart in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines. And the Philistines went up to Jezreel.
- It’s a providential thing that they go home when they do!
- Surprise! Someone has done to you what you’ve been doing to them!
- David and his men get a taste of their own medicine!
1 Samuel 30:1–4 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire;
2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way.
3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive.
4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.
- The raiders have now been raided.
- At least their families have not been killed.
- They have, however, been taken captive.
- To use as slaves, or sell as slaves.
- The men of the army are mortified!
- Their city has been burned.
- Their families have been taken.
- Their possessions have been taken as well.
- The men cry till they can cry no more.
- David finds his fitness for leadership questioned.
1 Samuel 30:5-6 Now David’s two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
- The men are so upset they are contemplating stoning David to death.
- But in all that, David turns to God for the knowledge of what to do, and the strength to do what needs to be done.
I Samuel 30:7-8 Then David said to Abiathar the priest, the son of Ahimelech, “Please bring me the ephod.” So Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
8 David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?” And He said to him, “Pursue, for you will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.”
- David asks for God’s guidance!
- God tells David to go rescue his people.
I Samuel 30:9-10 So David went, he and the six hundred men who were with him, and came to the brook Besor, where those left behind remained.
10 But David pursued, he and four hundred men, for two hundred who were too exhausted to cross the brook Besor remained behind.
- David and his men follow God’s orders.
- 200 exhausted men are left behind, 400 continue on.
- God, as always, proves to be trustworthy!
I Samuel 30:11-15 Now they found an Egyptian in the field and brought him to David, and gave him bread and he ate, and they provided him water to drink.
12 They gave him a piece of fig cake and two clusters of raisins, and he ate; then his spirit revived. For he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.
13 David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” And he said, “I am a young man of Egypt, a servant of an Amalekite; and my master left me behind when I fell sick three days ago.
14 “We made a raid on the Negev of the Cherethites, and on that which belongs to Judah, and on the Negev of Caleb, and we burned Ziklag with fire.”
15 Then David said to him, “Will you bring me down to this band?” And he said, “Swear to me by God that you will not kill me or deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring you down to this band.”
- God leads them to a man who can give them the information they need.
- He is a slave
- He was left behind because he was sick by his “loving master.”
- David and his men give the man food and water, and revive him.
- He leads David and company to where the Amalekites are.
I Samuel 30:16 When he had brought him down, behold, they were spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the land of Judah.
- David and his 400 men attack!
I Samuel 30:17-20 David slaughtered them from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.
- It’s not a battle, it’s a slaughter.
- David’s army kills all of the invaders except 400 young guys riding camels.
18 So David recovered all that the Amalekites had taken, and rescued his two wives.
19 But nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back.
20 So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s spoil.”
- David and his men get everyone and everything back!
- Not only their own stuff, but the other things that the Amalekites had taken from others.
- Perhaps they had other prisoners besides the families of David and his men?
- The aftermath of the battle.
I Samuel 30:21-25 When David came to the two hundred men who were too exhausted to follow David, who had also been left at the brook Besor, and they went out to meet David and to meet the people who were with him, then David approached the people and greeted them.
22 Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.”
23 Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us.
24 “And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.”
25 So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.
- Everyone and everything is returning safely.
- The soldiers
- The families
- The “stuff”
- The livestock
- The group comes to the men who were too exhausted to continue…
- “All they get are their wives and children!”
- David says “NO!”
- Share and share alike!
- WHY? God gave us the victory, we can share in the spoils!
- This became a law!
- THE REST OF THE STORY IS FOUND IN II SAMUEL.
WHAT SHOULD I TAKE HOME WITH ME TODAY?
- First off, we should learn something from the Lords of the Philistines.
- They weren’t as gullible as Achish!
- They thought things through.
- They weren’t going to “go along” just because Achish said so.
The Apostle Paul had some things to say about “being deceived” and “Wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
We need to check what people teach, and what they do to see if it goes with Scripture. If it doesn’t, back away, quickly!
- Throughout this ordeal, David is suffering consequences for not trusting God like he should have.
- He didn’t give God time to work.
- David took matters into his own hands and really messed things up!
- He did some awful things in the name of “fixing” the problem he was in.
Don’t we sometimes do the same?
We don’t trust God like we should and we get ourselves into all kinds of trouble!
- Throughout this ordeal, David is suffering consequences for lying!
- Things would have been VERY different if David hadn’t lied.
- God would have fulfilled His promise to David in a very different way!
- Again, it’s about trust, but it’s also about doing what’s right. DON’T LIE!
Again, we need to take being truthful VERY seriously!
When we lie, terrible harm is done.
To those we lie to, to us as well!
- When David followed God’s direction, things went AMAZINGLY WELL!
- Victory is won.
- Families are returned.
- Livestock and possessions are brought home.
- Even more than what was lost comes to them.
When we follow God’s instructions, he takes care of our needs… and often, our wants!
- Finally, David gave credit to God for the victory… and the spoils gained from it.
- He insisted that they share with their fellow soldiers.
God supplies all our wants and our needs. We need to be willing to share what we have with others; particularly our brothers & sisters!
