I Samuel 28:1 And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David, Know thou assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.
We are living in a small world with increasingly little privacy. Because of this, authenticity has become a buzzword, a good business practice. But there is a real problem if authenticity is a fad or merely a business strategy. The truth is that if I belong to God my life needs to be consistent. None of us lives as consistently as we would like to, but I believe most of us want to be consistent, authentic, and people of integrity. There should only be one me. There shouldn’t be the me that goes to church, the me that goes to work, the me that is at home, and the me that is on vacation. There are three questions that can help me judge my consistency, and they are illustrated by the story of Saul and David, both of whom, because of the conflict between them, were living lives that were not consistent.
One question is, “Whom do I fight?” In I Samuel 28:1 it says, “And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. And Achish said unto David… thou shalt go out with me to battle, thou and thy men.” At this time, David had feigned an allegiance with Achish. David is fighting a friend and partnering with an enemy. One can certainly understand David’s dilemma. Saul had treated him like an enemy.
Saul was a king who could not even govern himself. It’s important to note that I’m never on the right side when I am driven by pride, jealousy, or insecurity. These were all true of Saul. Fighting a friend means being open to an enemy. Am I consistent? To whom am I in opposition? It wasn’t consistent for Saul to go after David or for David to pretend he was fighting for Philistia.
Another question is “Whom do I ask?” In verse 6 the Bible says, “And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD answered him not….” Saul was not getting an answer from God. I can’t live for God and at the same time ask the world for advice. You may recall that Saul ended up going to a witch to try to get some guidance through Samuel, who had died. It is not consistent for me to ask guidance of God when I won’t accept it and to ask guidance of the world when that’s not who I should be living for.
Lastly, “How do I live?” Verse 9 says, “The woman said unto him, Behold thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he hath cut off all those that have familiar spirits… wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to die?” She feared to help this unknown man, who turned out to be Saul in disguise, because Saul had made it against the law to do what she was doing. In other words, Saul was doing what so many parents do. He was saying, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
All of us want to live in consistency, and all of us want to live in harmony with the truth. All of us can. One thing that can help us is to ask ourselves these three questions each day that God gives us opportunity.