1S27-6: David’s Dark Deeds – Understanding His Flawed Humanity

“Akhish would ask, ‘Where were you raiding today?’ and David would answer, ‘Against the Negev of Y’hudah,’ or ‘Against the Negev of the Yerachme’eli,’ or ‘Against the Negev of the Keni.’  The reason David spared neither men nor women to be brought to Gat is that he thought, ‘We don’t want them telling on us, saying, ‘David did so-and-so.’’ That’s how he conducted his raids for as long as he lived in the country of the P’lishtim.”-1 Samuel 27:10-11

It appears David had been given complete freedom to raid as he pleased in Ziklag.

Achish didn’t even seem to care who David pillaged and plundered.

He just asked him “So David, who did you raid today?”

And David would say “I raided the Negev of Judah” or the “Negev of the Kenites” and so on.

The phrasing of the “Negev of…” is interesting here.

Today, the Negev refers to a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel.

But that’s not what it meant in David’s day.

In David’s day, it simply meant the south or southern regions.

Today, these areas would be around Beersheba and further south, closer to the Arabian Peninsula.

Since David operated far from Saul’s control in northern Canaan, Saul could’ve cared less about David’s activities and didn’t pursue him.

Onward.

So verse 11 informs us that after slaughtering all of the Amalekites and Geshurites he spared reporting the details to Achish.

This tells us ONE thing.

The reason for David mercilessly killing all of these people had NOTHING to do with God’s original command to utterly wipe Amalek off the face of the earth.

David’s only objective was that he wanted to keep his activities secret.

Here’s the thing.

The King of Gath was only aware of the booty David decided to report…

Just like the IRS is only aware of the earnings you report (until they find out later lol)…

Behind the scenes, David was probably collecting weapons and wealth without Achish knowing.

Remember, the Philistines were not primitive cavemen-like barbarians.

If they caught wind of what David was doing in the Negev, I doubt they would’ve approved of his barbaric activities.

Ya feel me here?

Alrighty, let’s switch over to the takeaway.

It is simply this, and it’s something I said yesterday.

The Scripture unashamedly shows David as a ruthless warrior who killed thousands and likely did many sleazy things behind Achish’s back, revealing his flaws like any other human.

So yes, he was anointed by God to be Israel’s next king…

And yes, he is a foreshadowing and type of Messiah to come…

But he was far from perfect…

David needed God’s saving grace to be redeemed…

Just as we all do.

Done.

P.S. The photo above is me standing next to a statue of King David when I visited Jerusalem in the summer of 2017.  A trip that changed my life forever.