Oh, the Tangled Webs We Weave

1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2 and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3 And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5 David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6 And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters. But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. – 1 Samuel 30:1-6  ESV

In his epic poem, Marmion, Sir Walter Scott first penned the now-famous words: “Oh! What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” No other story reflects the veracity of those words quite like the one recorded in 1 Samuel 30. In this chapter, David and his men return to their home base at Ziklag after having been sent home by King Achish. Undoubtedly, David felt relieved after having narrowly escaped going to war against his own people as an ally of the Philistines. For over a year, David had managed to convince the Philistine king that he and his men had been occupying their time in Ziklag by attacking the enemies of the Philistines. In reality, they had been raiding the enemies of Israel.

David never should have been in Philistia in the first place. He had received no direction from God to take his two wives along with all his men and their families and seek refuge among the dreaded Philistines. But he had, and now his life of deception came back to haunt him as he encountered a less-than-happy reception on his return home.

David and his men discovered that their town had been raided by Amalekites while they were away. Believing that their wives and children would be safe, David and his men had mustered for battle, under the pretense of aiding the Philistines in their war against the Israelites. It is doubtful that David would have raised his sword against Saul or his kindred. More likely, he and his men would have turned against the Philistines as soon as the battle started, but his presence on the battlefield would have exposed him to the wrath of Saul, his mortal enemy.

David’s rejection by the Philistines had been a godsend. He was given a divine reprieve by God and allowed to go home without having to risk his life and reputation in a battle between Israel and the Philistines. But what he found when he arrived home was devastating. Ziklag had been burned to the ground and every person in it had been taken captive by the Amalekites, including David’s two wives. But David was not the only one to suffer loss. Each of his men returned to find their families had been taken captive and they blamed David. It was all his fault.

It’s likely that these loyal servants of David had questioned the wisdom of his plan to hide among the Philistines. When David mustered them to join the Philistines in a battle against their own people, these same men must have grumbled and complained about David’s poor decision-making. But upon returning home and finding their loved ones missing, their frustration reached a breaking point. We’re told that “they wept until they could weep no more” (1 Samuel 30:4 NLT). Then their sadness turned to anger.

David was now in great danger because all his men were very bitter about losing their sons and daughters, and they began to talk of stoning him. – 1 Samuel 30:6 NLT

David had been in difficult circumstances before, but nothing quite like this. His two wives were gone, and his men wanted to stone him. Things could not have gotten much worse, and all of it was David’s doing. He had been the architect behind this fiasco. It had been his decision to seek refuge among the Philistines. It had been his idea to use his base in Ziklag to launch raids against the enemies of Israel. He may have fooled King Achish, but he obviously had not fooled the Amalekites. When they saw David and his men march off to battle, they took the opportunity to raid and sack Ziglag. This was payback for all the deadly raids conducted by David’s men in Amalekite territory. Chapter 27 records how David and his 600 fighting men had left a wake of destruction and death as they raided the villages of their enemies, including the Amalekites.

Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. – 1 Samuel 27:8-9 ESV

In attacking the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, David had been carrying out the will of God. He was doing the very thing God had commanded the Israelites to do when He gave them the land of Canaan. Upon their entrance into the land God had promised as their inheritance, they were to completely destroy all the existing inhabitants. But why? Because God knew that if they failed to do so, the Israelites would succumb to the influence of these pagan nations. The inhabitants of Canaan were not only idolatrous and immoral but they were powerful. Their continued presence in the land would become a constant threat to Israel’s physical safety and spiritual purity. God’s command to eradicate them was to keep the Israelites from becoming like them. However, the Israelites failed to do what God commanded them to do.

But while David’s attacks against the Amalekites had been in line with God’s earlier command to cleanse the land of its pagan occupants, there is no indication that God commanded David to carry out his raids from the safety of his headquarters in Ziklag. David was attempting to do God’s will his own way. He had been trying to remain faithful to God while, at the same time, failing to trust God to keep him safe in the land of Judah. Like Abraham seeking relief from the famine by seeking refuge in Egypt, David discovered that making plans apart from God’s input always produces unsatisfactory and uncomfortable consequences.

Facing the loss of his two wives and the wrath of his 600 men, David could have allowed his emotions to get the best of him and marched off in an anger-infused search for the Amalekites. As a man of action, David must have been tempted to assuage his men’s anger by ordering an attack against their enemies but instead, it states that “David found strength in the Lord his God (1 Samuel 30:6 NLT).

This is a key moment in David’s life. During one of the most difficult moments of his life, David turned to God. The Hebrew word translated “strength” is chazaq and it carries the idea of encouragement or finding courage. Devastated by the news of his wives’ capture and facing a mutiny among his men, David found courage by turning to God. He had made a mess of his life, but he knew he could turn to God for strength, support, and the boldness he would need to handle the situation. With his men seeking to stone him, David sought solace and strength in God, and he would learn a valuable, life-changing lesson from this experience. This watershed moment in David’s life would have a lasting impact and instill in him a growing dependence upon God. Years later, that same Hebrew word, chazaq, would appear in some of David’s psalms.

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong [chazaq], and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord! – Psalm 27:14 ESV

Be strong [chazaq], and let your heart take courage,
    all you who wait for the Lord! – Psalm 31:24 ESV

We can weave some very tangled webs in our lives. Like David, we have the unique capacity to get ourselves in all kinds of predicaments, through disobedience to God’s will or our stubborn insistence on self-sufficiency. It is so easy to leave God out of our decision-making and then wonder how things got so screwed up. But in those moments of confusion and weakness, we must follow David’s example. Rather than making matters worse by taking matters into our own hands, we must turn to God. We must recognize Him as our sole source of strength, comfort, encouragement, and courage.

David could have easily followed up one bad decision with another one. He could have begun scheming and planning, trying to figure out how to get himself out of the jam he had created. But instead, he turned to God. He found strength in the Lord his God. Despite all David’s mistakes and miscues, he knew he could depend upon God. David was confident that God would come through and prove Himself faithful yet again. Only God could untangle the web that David had weaved. David had chosen to rely upon deceit and deception rather than divine guidance and, yet, God would graciously clean up his mess and provide him with the courage he needed to face his fears and fight the battles ahead.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

You Call This a Plan?

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him. – 1 Samuel 16:14-23 ESV

David, the youngest son of Jesse, was eventually brought before the prophet, Samuel. While the passage describes David as being ruddy in color, with beautiful eyes and a handsome exterior, those outer characteristics had nothing to do with his selection by Samuel. Regarding Eliab’s king-like exterior, God told Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV).

But while David’s outer appearance had nothing to do with his selection by God, it’s interesting to note that he is described as “ruddy.” The Hebrew word is 'admoniy and it can refer to someone who is red-headed or who has a reddish complexion. It is the same word used to describe Esau at his birth (Genesis 25:25).

David was a young, handsome, redheaded Hebrew boy who also served as a shepherd over his family’s flocks. When he walked into the presence of Samuel, Jesse, and his seven brothers that day, he would have stood out like a sore thumb. There was Eliab, who by Samuel’s own admission, had the look of a king, but David would have impressed no one with his adolescent physique and ruddy complexion.

Each of his brothers had heard the prophet say of them, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one” (1 Samuel 16:8 ESV). Now they were forced to stand and watch as Samuel took the oil and poured it over David’s head. There is no indication that anyone but Samuel knew the significance of his actions. Samuel had not told Jesse why he had come to Bethlehem or indicated the reason for wanting to meet each of his sons. Even when David arrived, Samuel was the only one to whom God said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he” (1 Samuel 16:12 ESV).

What is missing in this scene are any signs of celebration or trepidation. Had they realized that David had just been anointed the next king of Israel, you would have thought that Jesse and his sons would have reacted with either joy or fear. Joy, because it was not every day that one of your own family members was anointed to be the king of Israel. Fear, because they would have realized that King Saul was probably not going to take the news all that well.

Had they recognized the significance of what had just happened, it seems they would have displayed a more pronounced reaction. But all that we’re told is that the Spirit of God rushed upon David. Even this somewhat dramatic-sounding event is treated rather flippantly with no details provided to explain what this experience was like for David. Did his father and brothers even notice what had happened? Did David display any visible signs of this divine anointing?

The text simply states that after the anointing ceremony, Samuel abruptly left and, according to verse 19, David simply returned to tending sheep. No party was thrown and David received no celebratory pats on the back. But while it may appear that everything remained the same, one thing was radically different.

God had placed His Spirit upon this young shepherd boy, radically altering the trajectory of his life. But this experience was not unique to David; God had done the same thing with Saul. After his anointing by Samuel, Saul was given specific instructions to follow.

“…this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.” – 1 Samuel 10:1 ESV

The prophet sent Saul on what can best be described as a scavenger hunt, where he would encounter a variety of people along the way and receive various clues that would eventually lead him to the city of Gibeath-elohim.

“And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.” – 1 Samuel 10:5-6 ESV

Saul had received the Spirit of God as well but with David’s anointing as his replacement, Saul had the Spirit of God removed from him.

Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. – 1 Samuel 16:14 ESV

Saul retained the crown, the symbol of his reign, but He lost the power and authority to rule as God’s chosen servant. With the removal of the Spirit of God, he “turned into another man” again, but this time, not for the better. Without the presence and power of God’s Spirit, Saul was left to his own fleshly, sinful self, and exposed to the influence of Satan. We’re not told the nature or source of the “harmful spirit” that tormented Saul, but it is clear that God, in His sovereign plan, allowed this spirit to come upon Saul.

“Saul’s evil bent was by the permission and plan of God. We must realize that in the last analysis, all penal consequences come from God, as the Author of the moral law and the one who always does what is right.” – Gleason L. Archer Jr., Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, p. 180.

It was the presence of this evil spirit that set up David’s transition from the pasture to the palace. In time, he would go from shepherding sheep to serving as the king’s personal servant. David, the young shepherd boy would find him serving in the palace of the very man he was destined to replace. Tormented by an evil spirit, Saul would experience fits of uncontrolled rage. These periodic episodes frightened Saul’s servants and caused them to seek a remedy. Providentially, their search led them to David, the young shepherd boy who also happened to be proficient with the lyre. David began his employment as a court musician but eventually was promoted to be the king’s armor-bearer.

The text states that King Saul loved David. What an ironic scene. Here was David, the newly anointed king of Israel, serving as the personal valet to the man whose job he was supposed to fill. At this point, Saul had no clue as to what happened in Bethlehem. He was unaware of David’s anointing by Samuel, and David seemed to be ignorant of the fact that he might be in any kind of danger. This might suggest that David had no clue that Samuel’s anointing had been to make him the next king of Israel. At no point in the anointing ceremony did Samuel explain his actions to Jesse or David.

But David’s awareness of what God was doing would grow over time. He would gradually put the pieces together and recognize that he had been chosen by God to be the next king. But in the meantime, he appears to be an unknowing passenger on a life-transformative journey that will all the thrills and chills of a roller-coaster ride. Little did David know that his life would never be the same again.

During his short tenure on Saul’s staff, David and the king develop a love-hate relationship. There would be moments of genuine affection coupled with inexplicable periods of unbridled and life-threatening anger. Saul’s temperament would be all over the map. As David’s popularity and fame increased, Saul’s psychological condition grew progressively worse. Yet all of this was part of God’s plan for David’s life.

God could have simply removed Saul and replaced him with David. He could have made this an immediate and hassle-free transition plan but, instead, He chose to forestall David’s coronation. This inexperienced young man was going to discover that his road to the throne would be a rocky one. His anointing by God, whether he understood the full import of it or not, did not guarantee him an easy or trouble-free life. Had the prophet sat down with David and given him a full description of what the next years of his life would entail, he might have decided to return to the sheep for good.

God’s calling of a man never comes with the guarantee of the “good life.” Abraham’s calling by God was accompanied by years of disappointment, countless setbacks, and the constant requirement to live by faith, not sight. Moses was called by God but faced constant danger, rejection, doubt, and questions about his leadership ability. Jesus called the 12 disciples but He also told them, “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles” (Matthew 10:17-18 ESV). Jesus went on to tell them, “…you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 10:22 ESV).

David was in for a wild ride. He had the anointing of God, but now he was to receive the equipping of God. He had the Spirit of God, but the Spirit was out to have all of him. He was a man after God’s own heart, but God was out to give David a heart like His own.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Rejection Notice

1 And Samuel said to all Israel, “Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you. 2 And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. 3 Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” 5 And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.”

6 And Samuel said to the people, “The Lord is witness, who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers. 8 When Jacob went into Egypt, and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place. 9 But they forgot the Lord their God. And he sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them. 10 And they cried out to the Lord and said, ‘We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you.’ 11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king. 13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. – 1 Samuel 12:1-13 ESV

Samuel had never gotten over his anger at the people’s rejection of him as their judge. While he had faithfully followed God’s directions and anointed Saul as their king, he was still miffed at having been kicked to the curb and discarded like an old, worn-out coat. The Israelites had even rejected his plan to have his two sons succeed him as judge. All in all, Samuel was not a happy camper and he was determined to share his frustration with the ungrateful people of Israel.

With Saul’s resounding defeat of the Ammonites, Samuel knew his days were numbered. Not only was he advanced in years and nearing death, but his influence over the Israelites had just been greatly diminished by Saul’s success. Now that the Israelites had a king, they would have little need for the services of an elderly judge who was the last living vestige of a dying breed and a former era. So, he took this opportunity to state his peace with the people of Israel.

You can sense Samuel’s personal animus at having been passed over by the Israelites. He had been a good and faithful judge for a very long time but when the people demanded a king instead, he complied. Yet, he fails to disclose his initial reaction to their request.

…Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance. “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you.” – 1 Samuel 8:6-7 NLT

It’s interesting to note that Samuel makes it sound as if he had complied with their demand.

“Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you.” – 1 Samuel 12:1 ESV

But in actuality, he had been obeying the command of God.

“Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you…” – 1 Samuel 8:7 ESV

“Now then, obey their voice…” – 1 Samuel 8:9 ESV

Everything Samuel did had been God’s will but he makes it sound as if it had all been his idea. It’s almost as if he’s trying to take some credit for the successful outcome of Saul’s installment as king. In fact, he flatly states, “I…have made a king over you” (1 Samuel 12:1 ESV). This statement oozes with pride and bears a hint of lingering resentment. Samuel is seeking a bit of recognition and gratitude from those who have rejected him. With Saul having successfully defeated the Ammonites, Samuel knows he will soon be a distant memory in the minds of the people. His exploits as a judge will soon be forgotten, so he wants to ensure that he goes down in the history books as the one who gave Israel their first king.

Next, Samuel plays the sympathy card, reminding the people of his old age and long years of service.

“I am old and gray; and behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day…” – 1 Samuel 12:2 ESV

Then, in a rather bizarre display of self-aggrandizement, Samuel attempts to tout his own personal integrity.

“Here I am; testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.” – 1 Samuel 12:3 ESV

He seems to be demanding an explanation for why they rejected him as their judge. But his words are nothing more than a thinly veiled claim of innocence and a stinging indictment of their poor treatment of him. Samuel was playing the victim card and he got the response for which he was looking. The people validated his claim of innocence. 

“You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand.” – 1 Samuel 12:4 ESV

But dissatisfied with their response, Samuel makes them swear an oath vindicating his faithful tenure as their judge. He wanted them to admit that he had done nothing to deserve their treatment of him and, once again, he got what he was looking for.

And he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they said, “He is witness.” – 1 Samuel 12:5 ESV

It seems as if Samuel wanted credit for giving them a king, but if this whole experiment were to go south, he wanted to be exonerated from any blame. He was washing his hands from any responsibility if things didn’t turn out as expected. 

After belaboring his own significance, Samuel finally directs the people’s attention back to God. He knew the real source of their problem was spiritual infidelity and they came by it honestly. They were merely the byproduct of their unfaithful ancestors, who had also turned their back on God. At this point in his “farewell speech,” Samuel gives his audience a brief history lesson.

“When the Israelites were in Egypt and cried out to the Lord, he sent Moses and Aaron to rescue them from Egypt and to bring them into this land. But the people soon forgot about the Lord their God, so he handed them over to Sisera, the commander of Hazor’s army, and also to the Philistines and to the king of Moab, who fought against them.” – 1 Samuel 12:8-9 NLT

In a very truncated version of the Exodus story, Samuel recounts the Israelite’s rescue from captivity in Egypt, their journey to the promised land, its ultimate conquest, and their subsequent disobedience and discipline by God. He collapses centuries of history to fast-forward to the recent past. Samuel’s goal was to remind the people of Israel about the period of the judges and how he came to power in the first place.

When their ancestors forgot Yahweh and worshiped the false gods of Canaan, He punished them. But when they repented and called out to Him for help, God raised up a judge to deliver them.

“Then they cried to the Lord again and confessed, ‘We have sinned by turning away from the Lord and worshiping the images of Baal and Ashtoreth. But we will worship you and you alone if you will rescue us from our enemies.’ Then the Lord sent Gideon, Bedan, Jephthah, and Samuel to save you, and you lived in safety.” – 1 Samuel 12:10-11 NLT

Notice that Samuel includes his name in the list of God-appointed judges. This not-so-subtle reminder was meant to remind the Israelites that he was a member of a well-respected league of extraordinary men and women. In fact, he was the last living judge of Israel.

But when the current people of Israel found themselves confronted by Nahash and the Ammonites, they didn’t call on God, confessing their sins and asking for deliverance. Instead, they demanded a king and completely jettisoned the idea of Samuel serving as their deliverer. But Samuel makes it clear that, in making this fateful decision, they had actually rejected God. For centuries, God had successfully delivered His people from their enemies. Yet, when the Ammonites showed up at Jabesh-gilead, the Israelites suddenly decided they needed a king, not Yahweh. They wanted a human king, not a divine one. And Samuel reminds them that got exactly what they asked for.

“All right, here is the king you have chosen. You asked for him, and the Lord has granted your request.” – 1 Samuel 12:13 NLT

For better or worse, Saul was their king and, in essence, Samuel was about to tell them, “You made your bed, now sleep in it.” They may have rejected God as their king but God had not abdicated His throne or given up His right to rule and reign over His people. They were still obligated to obey and worship Him. They had gotten their wish but that had done nothing to alter God’s will for them. He was still their God and they remained His chosen people, and that privileged relationship came with non-negotiable obligations.  

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.