Friendly Enemies

Prov. 16:7  When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.

         In 1 Samuel 27, we see that David is just such a man. This statement may seem controversial to you given what takes place in this chapter. But I do not  mean to positively affirm everything David does. I think we have room to question some aspects of his behavior in this chapter, particularly not being forthright with his friend Achish. I say friend because Ashish certainly assumes that David is a friend and one loyal to his person.

         One might argue that David really is an enemy to Achish and is therefore justified in lying to him. But David is not an open enemy to Achish. I think it were better to condemn this portion of his actions in this chapter while still asserting God’s favor upon him. 

         David has repeatedly shown himself loyal to God and to Saul. He could have killed Saul but refused to do so. He almost committed an outrage in Israel by slaying Nabal and all of his men but he listened to lady wisdom and turned away from that evil. For these ways, the favor of the Lord rested upon David and we find David in the land of the Philistines with friendly enemies.

         Let this be a lesson of hope to us that even when we feel compelled to flee into the land of the enemy, God has not forsaken us. We may think this is our only option but God, who is our strength, has a limitless number of options. As long as we are in Him, we need not despair, nor retreat to the enemy for shelter.

         David seems to think that he has no other options left to him but to escape to Achish. He has already tried this once and was turned away. He resorts to Achish again now and is received. But David had many options. There were limitless because He served an infinite God.