I Samuel 27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
Have you ever found yourself on the wrong side of an issue because the “bad guys” were nice guys? I use that term “bad guys” a little tongue in cheek, but you may have found yourself on the wrong side of an issue at some time because the people who held the right position had a cantankerous attitude or were lacking integrity. Unfortunately, that is often the case, because personality sometimes trumps principle. Someone is so stuck on themselves that they are more important than the truth they promulgate. Sometimes personality represents principle. You might have someone who is in the right, but they are misrepresenting the truth by their own personality.
That was the case of Saul and David. David once again had the drop on Saul. He could have killed Saul, but he did what was right because he realized that Saul, as imperfect as he was, was God’s anointed to be the king at that time. Saul again says, “Blessed be thou David. I was wrong. You were right. Go in peace.” Both times, something like this happened. Saul went his way and David went into hiding because he did not trust Saul; rightly so.
I Samuel 27:1 says, “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines.” Absurd as it is, he ended up taking refuge with the king of Gath, the very place where Goliath was from. David is taking refuge with an enemy to escape an ally. Sometimes a rogue ally is more damaging than an honest enemy.
First of all, here is a word to people of authority or people with some age: don’t sour good people with bad actions. Don’t turn away young people by representing the truth in the wrong way. Saul was self-centered and Saul lacked integrity. In I Samuel 26:25, Saul tells David that David would do great things and prevail, but David went away and hid from Saul. He didn’t trust Saul. David did not harm Saul because he recognized the authority that God had invested into Saul, but that did not make Saul a good man. It made David a good man for doing right by authority even though Saul was doing wrong. So, if you have any kind of leadership, don’t sour good people with bad actions.
Here is a word to the young: don’t turn from the right because someone misrepresents it. Sometimes someone may have the right position and the truth, but be a person who is stuck on themselves or lacks integrity or some other grace. Don’t turn away from the right simply because you’ve seen it misrepresented by someone who is wrong in their spirit and attitude. Pray and don’t despair. David went right into the arms of the king of Gath, which was not right. He did something he never would have normally done because someone who was an ally was acting in a way that didn’t represent the truth.
I remember when I was a college student talking to a friend about how much I loved my parents. Now they had always been my parents, but I was getting older and I felt like they were treating me as an adult. I told my friend, “My parents really trust me.” My friend, who never took a statement and let it idle in the air said, “Like what? How do they trust you?” I stammered a minute then said, “Well, back at Christmas they let me drive into town in their car all by myself.” He began to laugh and I began to laugh. I realized how ridiculous it sounded.
It sounded ridiculous because of my comparison to a lot of other parents. My parents had structure in our home and some people would have considered them strict. Yet, I realized that there were thousands of students at my college who had a lot more liberties than I did but who felt that their parents were stricter than I felt my parents to be. The reason was not the structure they put around me, but the attitude with which they had done it. So, don’t turn from the right because someone who is wrong is misrepresenting it.
Finally, a word to the wise: two wrongs don’t make a right. Now David was the one who lacked integrity. He lied to the king of Gath. He was believed by the king of Gath, but he was telling and living a lie. Only David’s scenery had changed. Now David was acting with the lack of integrity that had pushed him from Saul in the first place.
The bottom line is that a rogue ally is more damaging than an honest enemy, but truth transcends any personality, any authority, or any person. Don’t be turned from the right because of someone who misrepresents it, and don’t be the person who misrepresents it.