Back to Grace“What Have I Done?”
1 Samuel 29
David is caught in a situation outside of his control. He is standing between the army of the Philistines and Saul. God is working, and His mercy preserves David.
Because God is great in His mercy, you can trust Him when everything else is unsure.
1. God’s mercy is greater than your past.
God’s mercy works on behalf of David to overcome the failures of others. Enemies for centuries, the Philistines discriminate against David because he is a Hebrew even though Achish defends him (1 Sam. 29:3-5). God uses this discrimination for His purposes.
The Philistines are gathered in Aphek. In 1 Samuel 4, Israel battled the Philistines here before having Saul as king. At that time, Israel lost several thousand men, and in desperation, they mishandled the Ark of the Covenant. This led to Israel losing the ark and going into exile. Later in 1 Samuel 9, God told King Saul to remove the Philistines from the land for He would deliver Israel. Unfortunately, Saul failed to drive out the Philistines because he failed to trust God as his Deliverer.
God’s mercy uses the discrimination of the Philistine lords to shield David from Saul’s dereliction of duty and to keep him from taking part in Saul’s death.
“Is this not David?” is repeated by the Philistines (1 Sam. 29:3-5). David, the servant of Saul the king of Israel, is where he should not be. David should not be sheltered by the Philistines, nor serving Achish. He is on the wrong side by his own wrong choice, having believed his outcome would be better in the hands of his enemies (1 Sam. 27:1-3). Now, the impossible choice of fighting with the Philistines or against them confronts David.
God’s mercy works on behalf of David to overcome his own past failures.
2. God’s mercy is greater than your position.
David could not change his position under Saul. He flees Saul’s wrath and the danger to his life. In 1 Samuel 29:2, David goes from exiled to exalted as he travels at the rear of the Philistine army with Achish. Persecuted, David runs from Saul, and by God’s mercy, he is preserved in the Philistine camp.
David’s life shows us that God’s mercy can sustain us under any authority in any position.
3. God’s mercy is greater than your purpose.
The Philistine lords do not trust David and want him elsewhere. Though Achish recognizes the benefit of having David, who is ‘like an angel of God’, close to him, he orders David and his men to leave at first light.
David fails to see the mercy of God at work in his life, drawing him from a battle he should not fight, from a people with whom he should not identify, and from a nation that is not his home.
David did not understand that God in His mercy was unfolding something greater. God’s mercy spared David from fighting against his own people. God’s mercy prepared David to rescue those in Ziklag and have the victory over the Amalekites (1 Samuel 30), setting him apart as the anointed, the king of Israel.
It was nothing David had done but all that God in His mercy did through David to accomplish His purposes.
Application Points
How do you respond to God’s mercy in your life? Are you explaining away your sin? God only extends His mercy for so long. Run to a merciful God who has provided a way of repentance through Jesus Christ.
Tools for Further Study
Cross References to Explore
Genesis 26; Judges 3; 1 Samuel 2; Psalm 23
A Hymn to Encourage: “What a Friend We have in Jesus”
What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer! Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!