“Akhish said to his servants, ‘Here, you see that the man is meshugga; why bring him to me? Am I short of meshugga‘im? Is that why you’ve brought this one to go crazy on me? Must I have this one in my house?'”-1 Samuel 21:15
When David fled to Philistine territory, he was hoping to be seen as a traitor from Saul’s government.
Maybe Achish would see him as a strategic weapon he could use against Saul.
However, the king didn’t seem too happy this Israelite had suddenly shown up on his doorstep.
David realized he made a mistake by going there.
So he quickly switched up his strategy and began acting like a madman.
He started drooling on his beard and scratching the door with his nails.
Now why didn’t King Achish kill David at this point?
Did he pity David and think it would be cold-hearted to kill a crazy person?
That wasn’t the case.
In those days, folks believed madness was the same as demon possession.
If they killed a crazy person, it would cause the evil spirits to depart from the body and invade the city.
So the last thing they wanted to do was kill David.
We see this thinking reflected in the King’s dialogue with his men when they brought David to his palace.
“Here, you see that the
man is meshugga;
why bring him to me?
Am I short of meshugga‘im?
Is that why you’ve brought
this one to go crazy on me?
Must I have this one
in my house?”
Meshugga means “crazy”, “insane”, or “mad” in Hebrew.
I find it funny how King Achish even ridicules his men telling them “Don’t I have enough nuts running around in my palace already?”
Luckily, for David, his quick maneuver worked.
He saved his life for the time being.
But, we’re gonna discover in the next chapter that from God’s perspective, it wasn’t cool for David to leave his homeland Israel, and seek a gentile nation for protection.
David should have trusted God to be his shield and protection.
And that’s your takeaway for today.
When things are tough or seem hopeless, who are you gonna trust?
In times of desperation, I’ve seen so many people run to everything but God to soothe their insecurities or fears.
They’ll turn to porno, drugs, or alcohol.
Or they’ll turn to New Age teachings or manifestation life coaches to save them.
So this is not the most flattering picture of the future King of Israel.
Instead, we should recall when David was a small shepherd.
When armed with nothing but a sling and a couple of tiny stones…
He stood before the enormous Goliath…
And despite the sheer impossibility of victory from a human perspective…
He shouted out…
“You’re coming at me with a sword,
a spear and a javelin.
But I’m coming at you in the name
of ADONAI-Tzva’ot,
the God of the armies of Israel,
whom you have challenged.”
-1 Samuel 17:45
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