Saved by grouches and nay-sayers

King Saul was disobedient and the Lord said he was going to be replaced by David.

But Saul thought he could out-smart God, and kept trying to kill David. This is like when a bank robber is being chased by 3 or 4 cops and thinks he can outrun them -- only worse.

David kept running from Saul, and eventually he went to live and work for the Philistines. Now the Philistines were Israel's enemies, so David found himself working for the king of the Bad Guys. Sure enough, the day came when the Philistine army was going to attack Israel. What would David do?

Achish said to David, "You must understand that you and your men will accompany me in the army."

David said, "Then you will see for yourself what your servant can do."

1 Samuel 27.1-2

I'm sure David was either anxious or praying real hard or both.

Because when Achish ordered him to attack some Israelite town, what would he do?

But then the grouches spoke up.

The commanders of the Philistines asked, "What about these Hebrews? .... Send the man back, that he may return to the plaace you assigned him. He must not go with us into battle, or he will turn against us during the fighting. How better could he regain his master's favor than by taking the heads of our own men? Isn't this the David they sang about in their dances:

'Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his tens of thousands'?"

from 1 Samuel 29.2-5

Whew! So he didn't have to fight against his own people. The text doesn't say so, but I am sure that God's hand was in this.

Sometimes people that are actually our enemies can do things that benefit us, or get us out of a jam, and sometimes that's because God is helping us out. Something to think about when I feel like I've gotten a raw deal at work or whatever...