Safe and Dry

Safe and Dry
Words of Faith 12-16-24
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2024
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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1 Samuel 27:1-12
[1] But David thought to himself, "One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand." [2] So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maoch king of Gath. [3] David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. [4] When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him. [5] Then David said to Achish, "If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?" [6] So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. [7] David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months. [8] Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) [9] Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish. [10] 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." [11] He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, "They might inform on us and say, 'This is what David did.'" And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. [12] Achish trusted David and said to himself, "He has become so odious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant forever."

This was a time for David that was safe... but dry.
David had been a fugitive for a long time, running from the king. He determined it would be better to settle down in Philistine territory, away from the people of God than to keep being chased about in the land of Judah. David led his immediate family and the 600 men who followed him to Ziklag, a small town in the south between Gaza and Beersheba.
This was no resort. But it was safe. David was more trusted by Achish, the Philistine ruler than Saul. David pledged loyalty to Achish in return for a tiny fiefdom. For sixteen months, David and his followers lived in this area, safe from the pursuits of Saul. David didn't know that Saul was determined to stop pursuing him! So here they were. David and his men pillaged and raided the people in the area known today as the Gaza Strip. When asked by Achish, David reported that his raids were only against the people of Judah and to the north in Jezreel... the people of Israel.
Hmm. Some try to be positive and point out that this was a time when David was able to hone and develop his combat and leadership skills. Okay. One writer notes that David "needed this time to stabilize himself given what he knew must be the soon end of Saul's dynasty and the beginning of his own." So, David needed to "get his act together" in a foreign land?
But what was wrong with this picture?
If you read carefully, you will note that God is not mentioned even once in this entire chapter. The guidance of the Lord was not sought by David or anyone else. David moved his whole family into a pagan area because of his own thoughts and reasoning. David thought to himself, "One of these days, I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand."
We see a time in David's life that was "safe" but also spiritually dry. He did not trust in the Lord for his deliverance and protection. Surely, this was a confusing time because the anointed king of Israel, Saul, had behaved so terribly, pursuing David across the land and murdering whole villages of priests.
But we might ask-- Who is this... David? What happened to David, who was a "man after God's own heart"? Where is the David who declared-- The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine" (1 Sam 17:37)? Where was the David who had declared to Goliath-- This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel (1 Sam 17:46).
He is the same guy, but at a very different time in his life. This was a season in which David was "safe," but he was also "dry" in terms of his relationship with God. He did not pray. He did not write songs. He did not commune with the Lord as he once did as a shepherd. He did not play music as he once did to calm the troubled soul of the king. Instead, he raided desert people and pillaged them for a living. He lived like a pirate, putting whole villages to the sword and then lying about it to the Philistine king, Achish.
This was a horrible way to live, not a time of honing skills. Certainly, the Lord used this time in David's life. He always does. But it was a time of David's own making when he trusted in his own sword for provision rather than trusting that the Lord would "make me lie down in green pastures" and "restore my soul." Fortunately, this dry season would last only sixteen months. One has to wonder if it had to take place at all.
Have you ever gone through a dry season? Probably not like this one. But a dry season is any time when we decide what we will do rather than consulting God. We may feel we have been driven away from the people of God by a bad leader, even if that is not true, and find things more comfortable in the "world" away from God. It is a place that feels safe, but it is exceedingly dry. In a dry season, you may reason to yourself a solution rather than simply talking to God. You isolate yourself from the places of God and the people of God, perhaps out of fear. You may even break the ways of God or do things you never dreamed you would do to survive.
The good news here is that David came back from the dry place-- the desert of the soul-- to serve the Lord and fulfill his destiny as the anointed king of Israel. The desert of the soul is not forever; it just seems like forever.
Are you in a desert of the soul right now? A dry place where you have sought safety away from the Lord and away from the people of God? The Gospel declares that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Word of God declares that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). The Lord says to you-- "I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).
The one good thing about a dry season is that we return to God, thirsting for Him. Another is that our roots grow deep during the season without rain.

Lord God, let's keep talking. I will consult you about everything, and I will listen. And even when I don't hear immediately, I will wait for You. I choose to be where You want me to be even if things are difficult. I choose to be with the people of God, even if they are difficult. I will wait upon You and find my strength in You, not in my own reasoning. I choose to connect. I choose to walk with You and Your people. Keep me from the desert region and the dry season. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2024
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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