1S29-2: Why You Feel Like You Don’t Belong Anywhere

“The leaders of the P’lishtim were passing by with their hundreds and thousands; David and his men were bringing up the rear with Akhish.  The chiefs of the P’lishtim asked, ‘What are these Hebrews doing here?’ Akhish answered the chiefs of the P’lishtim, ‘This is David, who was a servant of Sha’ul, king of Isra’el. He’s been with me now for well over a year, and I haven’t found anything wrong with him between the time he deserted to me and now.’”-1 Samuel 29:2-3

Do you ever feel like there are some places or groups of people where you don’t belong?

As for me, I never really felt at home in the Christian churches…and I’ve attended more than quite a few in my time.

Why?

It’s hard to describe but the word that pops into my mind is “superficial.”

I couldn’t see much difference between them and the world’s standards.

The same ego-driven fleshly lusts, pride, and posturing were just as present in the church as they were out in secular society.

Don’t get me wrong.

I’ve met some awesome people and made great friends with Christians.

And there are some great Christian preachers like Derek Prince who I love to listen to sometimes.

But they are the exceptions.

On a deep level, I feel divided from the gentile church.

It’s a spiritual thing.

It’s their weird trinitarian theology.

And their lawlessness drives the wedge of separation between me and them even further apart.

It makes me wonder if the rabbinic theory that Christianity is the religion of Esau is true after all.

On the other hand, when I visited the Holy Land, I never felt so at home.

I have a theory about this.

When you are born again, I believe the Lord puts a Spirit in you that makes you incompatible with the world.

I bring this point up because it ties in with David’s situation when he and his men showed up at Afek just as the five Philistine Kings arrived to battle against Israel.

Four of the Philistine Kings weren’t too thrilled to see David there.

Of course, they were aware David had allied with Achish.

And that Achish was comfortable with David and his men and their families living in his territory.

But practically speaking, they knew it was dangerous for David and his men to participate in a war against his fellow Hebrews…

EVEN IF political difficulties with Saul had forced David to flee Israel.

It was way too risky to allow.

On the other hand, Achish was convinced David could be trusted.

He was convinced he had severed all loyalties with Israel, as evidenced by David’s raids on Judah settlements in the Negev.

So he defended David.

He said he had been dealing with David for close to a year and a half and could vouch for his trustworthiness.

But the four Philistine Kings weren’t having any of it.

They told Achish to send David back to Ziklag because they were sure that once the fighting started David would betray them as a way to get re-accepted by his countrymen.