God made men to be protectors. God put Adam in the Garden to keep it. This Hebrew word, SHAMAR is used of soldiers who watch over others to protect them. Every guy reading this blog would take a bullet for his family. But many of us haven’t thought much about protecting our families, not just physically but emotionally. Feelings of depression, worry, bitterness, worthlessness, and fear can devastate our loved ones. One of the most eye-opening questions a husband can ask his wife is, “Are their fears that sometimes grip your heart?”
This episode is designed to help us know how to cope with our own fears and know how to help our kids and wives deal with theirs. We will sit at the feet of David and see what he learned when terror filled his heart because he was captured and taken to the king of Gath—the ruler of the hometown of Goliath whose head David had cut off.
One of the most reassuring promises of Scripture is from 1 Corinthians 10:13. No trial has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your ability, but with the trial he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. The word for trial, PEIRASMOS is often translated temptation. It is used for trials designed to lead to sin, i.e. temptations, but also for trials with a beneficial purpose and effect. The story we come to in I Samuel 21 is not only the story of David’s trial of being terrified by falling into the hands of his Philistine enemy wanting revenge for killing Goliath; it is also the story of God providing a path of escape. 1 Samuel 21:10-15.
And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?” David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam.
DAVID IS TERRIFIED
The ESV study notes say: “David apparently had the idea of serving Achish as an anonymous mercenary.” But his high-risk plan, which presumably required him to disguise himself, backfired. He was discovered and seized by some of Achish’s men who pointed out that this was the famous killer of Goliath about whom the Israelite women sang. David was then terrified. The always wooden Hebrew puts it this way: David took these words to heart and was much afraid.
I’m sure I have never faced a situation that invoked such terror. David had humiliated the Philistines—as a teenage boy—by defeating their champion, Goliath and leading a route of their army. Now he was in the hands of Goliath’s hometown soldiers, who had to be salivating with plans to torture David in revenge. Our fears and those of our loved ones may not be as severe, but the lessons we can learn from David’s example are powerful.
DAVID TAKES HIS FEAR TO GOD
We are fortunate to have a first-hand account of how David dealt with the terror that seized him because he wrote Psalm 56, while in captivity, which shows us. The subscript of this Psalm reveals, “A Miktam (probably a musical term) of David, when the Philistines seized him in Gath.” David takes his situation to God. Psalm 56 provides a great pattern to follow when overwhelmed by negative emotions.
A. He seeks the mercy of God in sharp contrast to the treatment of him by his enemies. Psalm 56 begins, Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly (vs 1-2).
B. David then directly takes his fear to God choosing to trust God for help. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? (vs 3-4).
C. David next takes the injustice of his situation to God. All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil. They stir up strife, they lurk; they watch my steps, as they have waited for my life. For their crime will they escape? In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! (vs 5-7).
D. David then finds enormous comfort knowing that his suffering matters to God. Don’t miss the wisdom of this step. You have taken account of the misery of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? (vs-8).
E. David next reaffirms that God is worthy of his trust. This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me? (vs 9-11). I wonder if this Psalm led to Paul writing in Romans 8, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Despite David’s numerous failures throughout his life, when fear, anxiety, or discouragement pressed hard on him, David knew to take that pressure to God. Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Mission modeled the same pattern. He wrote: “It doesn’t matter really how great the pressure is; it only matters where the pressure lies. See that it never comes between you and the Lord. Then the greater the pressure, the more it presses you to His breast.”
GOD PROVIDES A WAY FOR DAVID TO ESCAPE
So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. We have no idea why Achish did not put David to the sword for cutting off Goliath’s head. Perhaps in that culture it was considered cruel to execute an insane person. In any event, it appears that due to God’s intervention, the hostility of Achish was directed more at his servants than at David. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence?” God does what Paul will later promise the Corinthians he will do when he sends trials—provide a way of escape.
Perhaps, because believers face similar tough trials that easily overwhelm us, Scripture provides much detail in this story of David facing overpowering fear from his life being threatened. Not only does Psalm 56 reveal David's actual words of trust in God, Psalm 34, written after he had escaped to the cave of Addulam, records how this faith-testing trial had renewed and strengthened his faith.
PSALM 34: A PICTURE OF DAVID GROWING FROM THIS TRIAL
A. DAVID RENEWS HIS CONFIDENCE IN GOD’S FAITHFULNESS. In verses 1-3, he sings, I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! To “bless” means to speak well of. It is a foundational component of loyalty. Its opposite is to complain. David had every reason to complain of God’s treatment of him. He had been minding his own business when he got sent by his father to the front lines in the battle with the Philistines and took down Goliath. He wasn’t asking for fame, but God prospered him in battle to such an extent that the young women were singing, "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." He was completely innocent of the charge of trying in any way to usurp Saul’s throne. It was Saul’s evil envy, not anything David did, that was ruining David’s life. And yet, while hiding in a cave, David sings, “I will bless the Lord at all times.” What incredible loyalty to God.
Despite the severe terror of being captured by Achish, in these verses David returns to his calling, “his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Praise is telling God which of his characteristics we think are awesome and why. Celebrating who God is not only gives God a gift, it also fills our own emotional tanks, generating more confidence in God’s nature as we face life’s challenges. The author to the Hebrews challenges Christ-followers, Through (Jesus) then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name (13:15).
Seeing God faithfully deliver him from Achish seems to have returned David to the most foundational of all attributes required to walk with God—humility. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. God is not our genie in a bottle to serve us; we were created for his glory. The WCF first catechism question reminds us, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” Jeremiah reveals to us exactly which human heart attitude delights God:
Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord” (9:23-24).
As Psalm 34 continues, David reclaims the passion that should grip all who know God. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together (vs 3)!
B. DAVID CELEBRATES THE EXAMPLE OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS HE JUST WITNESSED. I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them (vs 4-7). Notice that God not only delivered David from Achish; he delivered David from his fear. God can just as easily deliver us and our loved ones from ours:
- Fear of failure to raise our kids correctly
- Fear of failure on the job or losing our means to support our family
- Fear of physical harm
- Fear of losing a spouse or of never getting married
- Fear of making a terrible mistake that harms others
- Fear of pain.
- Fear of death
Fear is not sinful unbelief. It is the God-given emotional response to what the mind sees as a threat that can harm us. But if we, or our loved ones, allow it to remain, its nature is to grow stronger until it controls us, just as jealousy, resentment, and anger can simmer, grow, and overpower us. But as we saw in Psalm 56, David took the situation that created terror in him to God. And David gives us the result. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. David testifies that when God empowered David to trust him, even his face radiated confidence because God will never shame one who trusts in him. God will never let you crawl out on a limb of trust in him and saw it off. Believe me, it can feel like it. David’s faith was put to the severest of tests when captured by enemies who by every measure would have been expected to run him through with a sword.
David finishes recounting his story of God’s faithfulness by contrasting his lack of resources to the powerful resources of God to protect him. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. "How foolish, it would have been," argues David, "to trust myself when the angel of the Lord is on call to protect his beloved." That is a great reminder for us!
C. DAVID URGES OTHERS TO TRUST GOD’S FAITHFULNESS. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. It strikes me that this invitation to test the Lord’s goodness in your own experience may be the best of all approaches to evangelism. John the Baptizer and Jesus were God’s prophets. They began their ministries, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But so often Jesus did not start gospel conversations with his hearer’s sin. He started with the subtle invitation to taste and see that the Lord is good.
- Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst (Jn 6:35).
- Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jn 4:13-14).
- The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (Jn 10:10).
During twenty minutes of silence at a Young Life Camp named Hilltop, in response to Jesus’ words in John 10:10, I told Jesus I was all in with him. It is worth noting that when Peter issues the most direct command to share our faith, he essentially says, “Be ready to share with others how you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.” I say this because Peter’s actual words are, “always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” The Greek word “hope” (ELPIS) means anticipation and expectation of what is certain. The Christian’s hope DOES include deliverance from punishment for our sins; but it means so much more. It is restoration to the rich life of fellowship with God and rich wholesome relationships with each other—to God’s original GOOD design. To come to Christ is to taste this future restoration that the cross has inaugurated and see that the Lord IS good. Christ-followers expderience of foretaste in this life of the full restoration of the life to come.
D. DAVID URGES OBEDIENCE BECAUSE OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS. As Psalm 34 continues, David addresses the widespread loss of perspective that trials always bring—that God has designed life so that keeping his ways leads to prosperity but violating them leads to death. We see this often-repeated truth in Psalm 1.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Knowing that what you spiritually sow you shall reap is the biblical concept called the fear of the Lord. It means knowing that God is such a heavyweight that you never get away with breaking his law. Notice some of the ways David emphasis this in Psalm 34: He pictures himself as a tutor, saying, Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. He then appeals to every person’s desire for a prosperous life. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? He then urges obedience to God’s commands and trusting God even though we must endure hard times.
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (vs 13-18).
Don't let trials make you doubt that God's face is always towards those seeking to obey him and away from those in rebellion against him.
E. DAVID URGES: DON’T LET AFFLICTION MAKE YOU DOUBT GOD’S FAITHFULNESS/
David wants his experience to impact us. His deliverance from Achish proves God’s faithfulness to his people in this life. David knows that our trials can easily cause us to look at the lives of those who are not following Jesus, feel like they have it easy, and wonder if it is worthwhile. Through this Psalm and David’s deliverance from Achish, David is shouting that walking with God is the path to a rich, satisfying life in this temporal world. But this world isn't all that matters. David closes, with the same lesson that Asaph learned in Psalm 73. He reported “For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked… until I discerned their end.” Similarly, David closes Psalm 34:19-22. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones, not one of them is broken. Affliction will slay the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be condemned. The Lord redeems the life of his servants; none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
It is about as counter cultural as it can be to think about eternity. But last time I checked it was a long time. Don’t ever forget Paul’s perspective. This life is full of trials and afflictions. But we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. (2 Cor 4:16-17).
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- Although the pressure point you have faced may not be fear but another strong emotion, what can you learn from the first Psalm we studied, Psalm 56 about trusting God with the situation, the emotion in order to rest in God?
- Notice that as David pens Psalm 34, which looks back on the terrifying experience of being captured by the Philistines, he voices intense determination in the very first verse, to bless the Lord at all times. How do you think his experience of being captured and rescued from Achish strengthened this determination?
- What do you think of the idea that David’s invitation to everyone in Psalm 34, “taste and see that the Lord is good” is an excellent approach to evangelism. How might this idea shape our efforts to share Christ with those around us?
