When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” – 1 Samuel 27:10

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 12, 2016): 1 Samuel 27

Jewish Author Yehuda Berg noted that “If falling into desperation worked to make things better, then I would say, 'Let's all jump into despair.' But it doesn't help. The only way to truly find meaning and fulfillment is to look at the disaster, the pain, the difficulty, and know with complete certainty that good can come from this” (Yehuda Berg – Certainty: A Principle of Kabbalah). The beleaguered scholar is right, but unfortunately part of what makes desperation so dangerous is that it blinds us from the ability to see that good could ultimately be the result, even from the current troubling situation. Desperation only seems to set in when we have lost touch with any possibility that good could result from what is happening right now in our lives. And because desperation blinds us, it also changes our behavior.

It is almost hard to recognize David as he makes his move into Philistine territory. There is no doubt that the shepherd warrior has become very desperate. He has lost his ability to trust in God. Now everything depends only on him and his own ability to survive. And what he is able to do is very minimal.

So David becomes a ruthless warrior. He can’t allow any witnesses to survive his raids. And the reasoning is clear. David is lying to Achish of the Philistines. The reality is that from his outpost in Philistia, David and his men are conducting raids against the enemies of Israel. And he might have been using the instructions found in the book of Joshua as a roadmap describing where to hit next. But that isn’t what he is telling Achish he is doing. His words to Achish tell exactly the reverse story. As far as Achish knows, David is attacking Israel and her allies. And because of that, Achish is happy – because David has become a servant of his.

There is really no way to put a positive spin on the activity of David during this point in his life. He had fallen into desperation and was resorting to actions that seem natural in the world, but are opposed to the ways of God. David’s desperation had blinded him to the impossible things that his God could accomplish. This might be one of the counterpoint moments of David’s public life. His public life began with the shepherd boy’s defeat of the giant – a victory that was fueled by his faith in God. But now desperation has removed the faith from the boy – and he no longer realizes the truth; that the God who was with him in the field protecting the sheep and in the valley facing down the giant is still with him, even as Saul seeks him and as a foreign king threatens him.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 28