Gospel Reflections #1013: God will surely Intervene

1 Samuel 28:1 At that time, the Philistines mustered their forces to fight against Israel. Achish said to David, ‘You must understand clearly that you and your men are to join me in battle.’

This is the scene in which David faced the ‘greatest dilemma’ of having to fight against his fellow Israelites as part of the army of the enemy nation, the Philistines. 

David had taken refuge with Achish, King of Gath in the enemy land of Philistia, to escape the relentless pursuit of King Saul, who sought to kill him.

David had completely deceived Achish with false information, leading him to blindly believe that ‘he had become entirely my subordinate’.

The Philistines sought to destroy Israel and had mustered their entire army to wage a large-scale war. 

Akish commanded David, ‘You too must go out to battle and fight alongside me.’

This drove David into a desperate predicament.

If he obeyed, he would be killing his fellow Israelites and would forfeit his eligibility to become the future King of Israel.

If he refused, he would be betraying Akish and would be immediately executed or punished in Philistine territory. 

To escape from Saul, David had relied on human wisdom (a stratagem) to ‘seek refuge in an enemy country’, but as a result, he found himself caught in an even deeper trap.

This desperate dilemma could not be resolved by human strength alone. Subsequently, David was spared from participating in the battle not by his own wisdom, but by God’s mysterious providence (the opposition of the other Philistine leaders). 

We, too, sometimes drive ourselves into difficult situations by failing to seek God’s guidance.

But this is not the end of the story.

God intervenes on our behalf right up to the very last moment.

We are the sort of people who will not truly turn back to God unless we are driven into such a situation.

God knows all this, and He prepares what is best for us.

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.