The Sough of Despair

People have weaknesses, strengths, failures, successes, defeats, and triumphs. David had all of these. He is the shepherd boy we love and the one with enough courage to fight a monster giant named Goliath and win with a slingshot. However, other moments, such as when David experienced explosive anger against Nabal and his impulsive decision to take vengeance against him, were not so impressive. He didn’t do it only because of Abigail’s courageous intervention.

In chapter 27, David falls into what John Bunyan called the “Slough of Despond.” Now, we are shown another episode in David’s life that is not impressive. For the next 16 months, David will not write any psalms. There are no recorded prayers. During this time, David makes his decisions from a humanistic viewpoint. This is one of the darkest periods in David’s life.

Here, David chose to live under the protection of the Philistines and even collaborate with them. How puzzling since the Philistines were the archenemies of Israel. We all talk to ourselves, but when we lie to ourselves, we are on dangerous ground. This is David talking to himself and ignoring God’s promises and God’s track record of providential care. “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.” (1 Sam 27:1).

What is so odd about David’s action is that he chooses what he says he does not want. He abandons what he says he does not want to lose. He embraces what he says he does not want. He forfeits his “share in the heritage of the LORD” by fleeing (1 Sam 26:19-20). Was David looking for a ship to Tarsus like Jonah? It appears so.

Incredibly, we often do the opposite of what we really want when discouraged. That is why it is perilous to make crucial decisions when disheartened. Our conclusions will be inaccurate, and our actions will take us where we do not want to go. Psychologist Rollo May has said, “Man is the only animal that runs faster when he has lost his way.

David experienced the kind of crushing doubt that overcame Elijah many years later in the aftermath of his great day of triumph. Elijah, who had undergone the supernatural power of the Lord in marvelous ways, then faced a battle of doubt and fear. Both Elijah and David do the very thing they have feared—the very thing they have been protected from experiencing. Discouragement can drive us away from God and from his path for us. Fear, doubt, and emptiness cause us to make impulsive decisions like David and Elijah.

The gifted David was a man with a sinful nature like all of us. The only difference between David and Saul was David’s commitment to the Lord, which is wavering now. It doesn’t matter who we are. We are in trouble when we stop trusting God for our deliverance and start figuring it out on our own.

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