QT 22 Nov 13, The known will of God are the commands of God

1 Sam 27:1, 7-12 (ESV) 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. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand."

. . .

7 And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

8 Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. 10 When Achish asked, "Where have you made a raid today?" David would say, "Against the Negeb of Judah," or, "Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites," or, "Against the Negeb of the Kenites." 11 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, "Lest they should tell about us and say, 'So David has done.'" Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12 And Achish trusted David, thinking, "He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant."

NOTE: Scripture tells us truthfully and accurately what happened. That does not mean the decisions were correct, but they are correctly recorded. David was a man after God's own heart, but that does not mean all of his decisions were godly. His decision to live among the Philistines may have no moral dimensions, it was just that, a decision to get away from Saul. And we cannot determine whether his lying to a Philistine ruler was right or wrong since there is no commentary from God. We do know from scripture, that lying is wrong, but I'm not so sure it is always black and white. Sometimes we might lie in love for the individual, for example, sparing someone news that would not help a situation. Maybe David's lies were to save the lives of those who followed him. But did he really have to lie? Probably not. And, David's actions against Israel's enemies, the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, are also of an ambiguous nature. They were enemies that God had told Joshua to completely destroy, so his killing all of the inhabitants could be justified based on the original command. Still, the whole passage shows a lot of "scheming" on David's part, and one wonders if David had taken things into his hands rather than continuing to wait upon God in the wilderness. He did not know at the time, but he was only 18 months away from returning to Israel as King of Judah. It is hard to wait sometimes. And it is hard to find the balance between trust and action. When does prudent action become "scheming?" I suppose the moral answer is the best measure. The known will of God are the commands of God. If we have to violate those commands to achieve our objectives, then we are scheming. Lord, help me to see when I am overstepping your boundaries. I don't want to sin to achieve things. Open my eyes to my sin.