”Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel. And the Lords of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish. Then the princes of the Philistines said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me.”“ I Samuel 29:1-3 NKJV
a. Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies: The battle lines were drawn in the previous chapter when the Philistines made a deep incursion into Israelite territory. The Philistines intended to deliver a death-blow to Israel and the two armies squared off in anticipation of battle.
b. The lords of the Philistines passed in review…David and his men passed in review at the rear: David is among the Philistines because when he was discouraged, he left the people of God and the land of Israel and cast his lot with the Philistines instead (1 Samuel 27). David now finds himself in a place he thought he would never be: among the ungodly, ready to fight against God’s people.
c. What are these Hebrews doing here? Leaders among the Philistines looked at David and his men and said, “They don’t belong with us. They are Hebrews. They worship another god. They shouldn’t fight with us.”
i. The Philistine leaders could see what David was blind to. David started to think and act like a Philistine and was ready to fight with them against the people of God. But the Philistine leaders could see that this wasn’t right, even when David couldn’t.
ii. The Philistine leaders knew who David really was – that is, a Hebrew, one of God’s people. David seems to have forgotten this, but the Philistine leaders knew. David would have never slipped into this sinful place if he remembered who he really was and what his destiny was.
iii. F.B. Meyer made this observation based on the King James wording of these verses: “It is very terrible when the children of the world have a higher sense of Christian propriety and fitness than Christians themselves, and say to one another, ‘What do these Hebrews here?’”
d. Is this not David…who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me: It is a sad thing that a Philistine ruler defended David so confidently. David identified himself so much with the ungodly that Achish knew he had David in his pocket.
i. Hearing these words from Achish should have grieved David. To hear an ungodly ruler say, “David has been with me” and “I have found no fault in him” and “he defected to me” should have been a great wake-up call to David. It is as if an ungodly coworker insisted to others that you really weren’t a Christian after all because they saw how you lived.
ii. It is also important to see that Achish wasn’t just making this up. David said as much in 1 Samuel 28:1-2 and Achish had reason to believe that David would fight with him. (Guzik)
“What do these Hebrews here?”
This quote from the King James didn’t make sense to me and I spent time searching F. B. Meyer quotes trying to find it when I should have just looked at the KJ Bible version! But some of his quotes are very interesting!
http://christian-quotes.ochristian.com/F.B.-Meyer-Quotes/
“It is very terrible when the children of the world have a higher sense of Christian propriety and fitness than Christians themselves, and say to one another, ‘What do these Hebrews here?’” F. B. Meyer
You see “the children of the world” are watching and waiting for the chance to call us a hypocrite!
It’s if they have more knowledge on how we should act under the banner of Christianity when we are “passed in review” in front of them than we do!
If the children of the world are watching you, what will they say?
Blessings
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