Deceit Spoils Righteousness Every Time: 1 Samuel 27:5-12
Standing upon the truth is never accomplished by telling lies. God desires us to be honest and trustworthy. Actions may speak louder than words, but our words still matter.
David goes to Achish and asks for a place where he and his people can dwell safely in the land. Achish gives David Ziklag, a town on the border between Philistines and Hebrew territory. Roughly twenty-five miles from Gath, it was close enough for comfort but far enough away to keep separation.
Some people accuse David of deception with Achish but I personally find no fault with David’s reasoning. There are many good reasons for David and Achish to both desire separation between their people. David brought many people with him; David’s people put a strain on the water and grazing resources available in Gath. David and his people worship a different God; why upset Dagon and the other Canaanite gods by having David live in Gath? David’s people had different social customs and cleanliness rituals; why upset the populations by mixing them? David functioned as a mercenary; do you want mercenaries too close to your leadership network? Giving Ziklag to David makes perfect sense from both sides of the decision. There is no reason to read deception into this part of the story.
There is plenty of cause to read deception into David’s raiding policies, however. David raided communities of people outside of the Hebrew lands and lied about it. These raids were against the allies of the Philistines. This is why David kills all the men, women, and children in the raids. If there are no witnesses left behind, then he cannot be held accountable.
Since David cannot be held accountable, it opens the door for him to deceive Achish. David has no trouble lying to Achish about his behavior, especially because his Hebrew people would be celebrating the attacks against their enemies. David’s deceit with Achish increases his popularity among his own kind. It is still deceit, however. David is still lying.
David’s actual raids have Biblical justification. When the Hebrew people came into the land after the Exodus, God told Joshua to eliminate all the people in the land. Joshua was unable to eliminate them, and some of those residual Canaanites are the areas David attacks. From David’s perspective, all he is doing is making good on God’s directive which Joshua was unable to fulfill. The problem isn’t David’s raids; the problem is David’s deceit about the raids.
It is hard to be righteous in every choice. It is even harder to be righteous when we are comfortable covering righteousness with deceit. David is in this situation because of Saul’s irrational behavior, but that doesn’t excuse David’s desire to cover up his actions with lies. Standing upon the truth is never accomplished by telling lies.
