God's Sabbath

D AVID E NTANGLED

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loyal to God’s cause and interests. Although he could never go and fight against his own people, he could not tell this to the king, who had been given a very different impression. David had been caught by the net of his own construction. All he could do was play for time, in the hope that some deliverance would manifest itself. So he an swered Achish evasively, but in a way that left the king with the im pression that he agreed to go to war with him against the Israelites. “David said, ‘Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do.’ Achish replied, ‘Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life.’” 1Samuel 28:2. “Achish understood these words as a promise of assistance in the approaching war, and pledged his word to bestow upon Da vid great honor, and give him a high position at the Philistine court.” Patriarchs and Prophets , 674.1. What a dilemma David was now in! If he refused to go to war, the monarch would quickly perceive the deceptive nature of his course. A proven deceiver is a dangerous man. Achish, who, like all the ancient potentates, retained his power by the ruthless elimination of anyone who threatened him, would possibly have executed David on the spot, and decreed the slaughter of all his followers and family as well. On the other hand, if he did go to war and if Saul were slain in the engagement, his death would be charged upon David, who would be looked upon as a traitor to God and his country. As a result, he would be debarred forever from the promised throne and branded as the enemy of God and his people. This would cost him the greatest prize of all—eternal life. Without a doubt, Israel’s prospective king, the architect of his own troubles, was now faced with the greatest crisis of his career.

God’s Response

If David had remained in Judah where God had placed him, neither Saul nor Achish would have required him to go to war. He would have been a fascinated spectator on the sidelines, watching God work out His plan to place him on the throne. He would never have found himself obliged to deceive Achish, who would not then have been led to hold false expectations of him.