United

Unity is a good thing, right? Everybody says we need more unity. The culture does. Churches talk about unity all the time. Nobody ever stands up and says, “You know what? I’m against unity. I think everyone should just fight each other.” But here’s the question you almost never hear asked: United around what?

Because…hear me…not all unity is good. People can be moving in the same direction, all together, and be completely outside of God’s will. You can be united and still be wrong. You can be unified and be drifting away from God. And that’s exactly what we see in 1 Samuel 27 today. Think about it like a pee wee football team that’s finally playing as a team, but they’re all running the wrong direction down the field, toward the wrong goalpost. Their unity doesn’t make them right or pursuing what’s good.

Here is a summary really of what we’re going to see this morning: Not all unity is blessed by God.True unity flows from trust in God, not from fear, compromise, or self-preservation.

If you’ve been walking through David’s life with us in this series, it feels like something starts to change in this chapter, at least to me. There’s no obvious instance where everything’s coming crashing down all of a sudden. But something changes. This is the same David who, just earlier, refused to take Saul’s life even when his own men were literally begging him to do it. This is the same David who looked at Abishai in 1 Samuel 26:10 and said, “The Lord will strike [Saul], or his day will come to die.” He's been trusting God completely with every aspect of his life. But now we get to verse 1, and the text says, “Then David said in his heart…”

That little phrase right there shows where the change is. It’s in his heart. He’s not seeking the Lord. In his heart. That’s where the shift always happens. For us too.

Let’s walk through this passage together and watch what happens to David following this shift. I think we’ll see it looks like us in more ways than we would probably like to admit. Throughout this, we’ll look at some aspects of false unity and true unity. First, we’ll see that David was driven by fear, and it caused him to be united with his enemies.

Fear-driven unity leads us to forget God’s promises. (27:1–4)

Look again at verse 1: “Then David said in his heart, ‘Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines.’”

Y’all, that doesn’t sound like the David we’ve been watching. Just one chapter earlier he was convinced that God would take care of Saul in His own timing. He was resting in the sovereignty of God. Now he’s convinced Saul’s going to kill him. Nothing about Saul changed. The thing that changed is David’s heart. He allowed fear to take it over.

That’s what fear does. It doesn’t just sit quietly in the background. It sits on our shoulder and talks to us like one of those little devils you see in a Looney Tunes cartoon. And it says everything with panic and puts tons of pressure on your shoulders. And if you listen to it long enough…hear me…fear will start to sound more logical than faith. Actually, fear always sounds more logical than faith. David stops talking to God and starts talking to himself. He’s already decided what’s best without ever bringing it before God.

And we do the same thing. We start reasoning in our own hearts. “This situation is never going to get better. I have got to do something to fix this myself.” Fear has a way of making compromise feel reasonable.

Then, in verses 2-3, David gets up and goes to Gath. Think about that. Gath. That’s the hometown of Goliath. He is uniting himself with Israel’s enemies. And he doesn’t just go by himself. He takes six hundred men with him AND all of their families. One fearful heart pulls an entire community into moral compromise. That’s how unity that’s driven by fear usually works. It spreads like a virus. Fear hardly ever stays isolated to one person. One discouraged church member can spread disunity and distrust through an entire congregation.

And here’s what makes it even more deceptive. Verse 4 shows us David’s plan works. Saul stops chasing him. David finally gets rest from his running. And because of that, it would have been very easy for David to convince himself that he made the right decision. But immediate relief isn’t always evidence of God’s blessing. Sometimes the wrong decision is easier. But being comfortable isn’t the same thing as being faithful to God.

When I read this verse the first time, my immediate thought, and I wrote it out next to it, was this: “At what cost?” Saul no longer sought him. At what cost? because that’s really the question here. Yes, Saul stopped chasing David. Yes, the pressure stopped. But at what cost spiritually? “We have no record of any Psalms that David wrote during this time. This was not a high point in his spiritual life.”[1] Sometimes we are so desperate for relief or ease that we stop asking whether it’s actually drawing us closer to God and His will or further away from Him.

Compromise can feel safe while slowly pulling us away from obedience to God.  (27:5–7)

When David gets to Gath, he asks Achish for somewhere to stay. Verse 5 says, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there.” Achish gives him Ziklag. And it’s this point now that David is settled into this weird kinda middle ground. He’s not fully with Israel anymore, but he’s not fully siding with the Philistines either. Here’s what he’s doing…He’s living a compromised life.

You know where compromise starts? Compromise starts in gray areas. It doesn’t start big. It’s not always outright rejection of God, at least at first. We slowly drift from depending on God. Verse 7 says David stayed at Ziklag for a year and four months. Think about that. What started for him as a fearful decision become a normal way of life.

And here’s something interesting. During this period, many more men actually come to join David’s group from different tribes, including Benjamin and Manasseh according to 1 Chronicles 12:1-7, 20-22.

1 Now these are the men who came to David at Ziklag, while he could not move about freely because of Saul the son of Kish. And they were among the mighty men who helped him in war. 2 They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjaminites, Saul's kinsmen. 3 The chief was Ahiezer, then Joash, both sons of Shemaah of Gibeah; also Jeziel and Pelet, the sons of Azmaveth; Beracah, Jehu of Anathoth, 4 Ishmaiah of Gibeon, a mighty man among the thirty and a leader over the thirty; Jeremiah, Jahaziel, Johanan, Jozabad of Gederah, 5 Eluzai, Jerimoth, Bealiah, Shemariah, Shephatiah the Haruphite; 6 Elkanah, Isshiah, Azarel, Joezer, and Jashobeam, the Korahites; 7 And Joelah and Zebadiah, the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.

20 As he went to Ziklag, these men of Manasseh deserted to him: Adnah, Jozabad, Jediael, Michael, Jozabad, Elihu, and Zillethai, chiefs of thousands in Manasseh. 21 They helped David against the band of raiders, for they were all mighty men of valor and were commanders in the army. 22 For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like an army of God.

Eugene Peterson says, “A completely unexpected and most improbable “best” that occurred in David’s wilderness years was the formation of a people of God—a community" of the sort that we now call a church. As usual, though, were dealing not with a generalized “best” but with something particular, something with its own personal name. Adullam to begin with, and then Ziklag.”[2] In his chapter he even keeps referring to it as David’s “church.” These whose gathered while he was at Ziklag started gathered around him even when he was living in enemy territory. That’s important because it shows us something about unity. You can have people gathering around you while still siding with the enemy. Just because you have people on your side doesn’t mean you’re pursuing what’s right. Numbers aren’t always evidence of God’s approval.

Y’all, compromise is so dangerous. It looks manageable and practical and even wise. We justify it because it makes things easier for us. But before long, a spiritual coldness in our hearts, on our faces, in how we treat people, how we talk to people, how we pursue the Lord, or how we don’t pursue the Lord…all that starts to feel normal to us. It becomes part of who we are. We don’t live by faith. We live by the spreadsheet, not by faith. Or we live by our emotions, not by faith. Or we live by our desires, not by faith. Y’all, that’s compromise. That’s coldness of heart that has replaced faith-filled, costly obedience.

Compromise slowly reshapes what feels normal to us. David is living among the enemies of God’s people, and after sixteen months, it no longer shocks him. That’s what sin does. The things that once would have bothered your conscience start feeling acceptable the longer you sit in them.

Sinful unity often requires ongoing deception to sustain itself. (27:8–12)

As the chapter continues in verses 8-9, the situation becomes even more tangled up. David and his men start raiding enemies of Israel, which sounds like a good thing, right? It is! But then Achish asks him in verse 10, “Where have you made a raid today?” and David lies to him. He has to in order to cover his skin. Why? Because he’s living united with the enemy. He tells Achish that he attacked Judah and groups connected to Israel. He makes him think that he’s turned against his own people.

Then comes one of the darkest details, I think, in the whole chapter. Verse 11 says David left “neither man nor woman alive” so nobody could go back to Gath and tell them what really happened. Think about how far this has gone. The snowball effect of sin is on full display. David is having to kill to cover up his lies. Does that foreshadow a little bit of what you know about King David and Bathsheba in the future? You see that in his heart right now.

But this is what sin does. Sin demands maintenance to keep it going. One lie requires another lie. One compromise requires deeper compromise. David has to keep the deception going because if the truth comes out, all of his so-called “safety” falls apart. Achish completely buys into it too. Verse 12 says, “Achish trusted David.” That word should hurt us a little. Think about it in terms of the unity we’re talking about. David is trusted by the enemy while becoming increasingly disconnected from the people of God. David is now stuck maintaining something he was never meant to be in the first place. But even here, God is still at work.

Eugene Peterson says something really helpful about this season in David’s life. He writes, “God is faithfully working out our salvation even when every time we lift a finger it seems to contribute to the wrong side, the Philistine side.”[3] That doesn’t excuse David’s compromise, but it does magnify God’s faithfulness. Aren’t you thankful God’s purposes aren’t destroyed by our compromise? Because if they were, none of us would have hope.

True unity is found in shared submission to God. (Psalm 133)

That is why I think we need to look at Psalm 133 here. Though we don’t have any Psalms from David during this period, this one gives us the contrast from later in David’s life. This is written after he becomes king. It’s a psalm celebrating the unity of all the tribes. It’s a "Song of Ascents" (often sung by pilgrims going up to Jerusalem) that celebrated the end of national division. Verse 1 says, “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” This isn’t some generic togetherness unity. This isn’t people just surviving together. This is covenant unity rooted in the presence of God.

David actually experiences some blessings there. Men gather to him. There’s a shared mission. And really, there’s an important reminder in that for us. Just like there are battles in the promised land, there can also be blessings while in exile. God’s grace still shows up in our brokenness.

Verse 2 says it’s like oil running down Aaron’s beard. That’s priestly, set-apart-for-God imagery. Then verse 3 says it’s like the dew of Hermon falling on Zion, bringing life and refreshment. And then comes, I think the ultimate line: “For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”

That changes it all. Not all unity carries God’s blessing. David had unity in Ziklag. He had six hundred men. They were together. They were surviving together. But it wasn’t the kind of unity Psalm 133 describes because it was rooted in fear and compromise instead of submission to God and faith in God.

Hear me…when you’re fighting a common enemy, unity matters. That’s true in battle, and it’s true spiritually. Church, we must not fight each other. We must fight the true enemy, Satan. Ephesians 6:12 says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” The enemy would love nothing more than to keep Christians distracted fighting each other while he destroys the world around us.

True unity comes from trusting in the Lord together. It comes from together surrendering to Jesus. The deepest unity in the church isn’t based on personality or shared preferences. It’s based on Jesus Christ. We are united because we belong to the same King. Not King David. King Jesus! We submit to the same Lord. We trust the same Savior.

The question we need to ask this morning isn’t just whether we are united. We need to ask what we are united around. Ask yourself what is shaping the decisions in your heart right now? Is it fear? Convenience? Are you just trying to survive? Or are you seeking to live by faith in the God that you know is with you?

Because whatever is shaping your heart will eventually shape the direction of your life. Fear will lead you away from trusting God. Compromise will slowly distort your obedience to God. But unity rooted in Christ leads to life, because “there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.”

[1] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-samuel-27

[2] Eugene H. Peterson, Leap Over a Wall: Earthy Spirituality for Everyday Christians (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1997), 93.

[3] Peterson, 99.