David lied to the priest, Ahimelech, in order to get supplies without raising any suspicion. He deceived Achish, the king of Gath, by pretending to be mad, in order to preserve his own life. He cut off a piece of Saul's robe without killing him to prove that he was innocent of any conspiracy against the king. 

While the last incident might be considered an act of faith and righteousness, the first two certainly would not. In the first incident, his lying indirectly led to the death of Ahimelech and his entire clan. In the second incident, feigning madness may have been ingenious but was no demonstration of great faith.

But we often lay these aside to focus on the last incident, where David declared that he would not kill Saul because he was "the LORD's anointed." Now, here's the problem. Saul had already been twice rejected by God, and God had even sent an evil spirit to torment him. What is more God had anointed a new king, namely David, through the very prophet, Samuel, who had initially anointed Saul to be king. Saul was no longer God's anointed servant to rule over Israel. Saul was in disobedience to God, even moreso because he was pursuing the life of David, God's true anointed king. 

Another way to look at David's words and actions may be to see him using the same cunning that he employed in lying to Ahimelech and feigning madness before Achish. Consider this. If he had killed Saul, it would soon be patently evident to Saul's men, who were right outside the cave of Adullum, that something was amiss. They would have found David trapped in the cave and killed him and his men instantly for treachery. What is more, killing Saul would not have guaranteed that he would be king, for Saul had more than one successor. One of his sons would simply take Saul's place as king. No, it would have made David a lifelong fugitive, but with this difference, he would have been guilty of killing the king, even if it was in self-defense. 

Therefore, David's reason for not killing Saul may not have been based on a godly motive as much as a strategic one. Even so, God certainly preserved his life through all of these incidents in order to fulfill His purposes through him. 

A parallel to this might be found in how God preserved Jacob, whose life was filled with lies, deceptions and strategems. He stole Esau's birthright with a bowl of soup and conspired with his mother to steal Esau's blessing. While he served his uncle Laban for Rachel and Leah, it was not without strategem and deception that he in the end left with a wealth of livestock.

What I'm trying to say is that we should not be too quick to ascribe nobility and godliness to our heroes in the Bible. While they had moments of great faith, they could be just as flawed as any of those that God did not choose to fulfill His purposes. What I'm left with once again is the same conclusion that Jesus declared to Nicodemus:

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil (John 3:19).

I'm left with the verdict that Paul declared in the first chapters of his letter to the Romans:

There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands;
    there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away,
    they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
    not even one" (Romans 3:10-12).

I'm left silent before God, acknowledging that only He is good. I know that every hero in the Bible, just as every believer who has ever lived, has nothing of which to boast save in the grace of a sovereign God. And if there is one or another that seems to shine in their own righteousness, it is likely because their whole story has not yet been told. To God alone be all the glory!

Then Doeg the Edomite, who was standing by the servants of Saul, said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub... Then the king said to Doeg, “You turn around and attack the priests.” And Doeg the Edomite turned around and attacked the priests, and he killed that day eighty-five men who wore the linen ephod. And he struck Nob the city of the priests with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and infants; also oxen, donkeys, and sheep he struck with the edge of the sword (1 Samuel 22:9,18-19).

We know very little about Doeg the Edomite, except what is given to us in 1 Samuel 21-22. But there is a psalm of David, Psalm 52, in which the superscription reveals that it was written on the occasion of Doeg the Edomite's treachery.

For the director of music. A maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”

Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” (1 Samuel 23:7 TNIV)

I find it interesting that even though Saul is aware that God has removed the kingdom from him and that His Spirit is no longer with him, Saul still believes that God is somehow with him and for him. He continues to invoke the Name of the LORD, even while he is disobeying Him, going against God's will, even murdering an innocent priest, his family and the people of Nob. And in the passage above, Saul believes that God is delivering David into his hands. If you're like me, you're thinking that there is something not right here.

The last time I sensed this was just recently in our study of the last chapters of Judges, where we read that the people did what was right in their own eyes. They had a warped sense of what pleased God, and they felt they were worshipping God when they were, in fact, engaging in blatant idolatry. There, as well as here, I sensed sincerity. Micah really felt God was pleased that he hired a Levite to help him worship his idols in Judges 17. Saul really felt God had given David over to him.

Friends, today, we have a lot of sincere people in the church. We have many sincere leaders. But many of them are sincerely wrong. I am reminded of the foreboding words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23 TNIV)

How is it possible that so many have so sincerely given their lives to the Lord, even their eternal destinies, but know so little of the Lord's Word? And people dutifully pay thousands of dollars year after year to a church or ministry, yet do they really understand what they are giving to or whether this is really what God desires?

I recently heard of a pastor that was kicked out of a church because he operated a business in addition to pastoring. He took no salary for himself and so preached the Gospel for free, but the people believed that a pastor should have no other work other than pastoring. Where do they get this false notion?

Recently, Harold Camping, who predicted Jesus' coming twice last year, admitted that he was mistaken. I listened to his reasoning for his second prediction. He began sensibly in the Word, but then at some point he spoke of his analysis of history and spoke of hidden meanings and other things that went beyond the biblical text. That was where he went wrong. Friends, that is where the danger is. Many begin in the Word, but then they are not content to stay there. Cults are dangerous because they go beyond the Scriptures and add their own sacred texts. The neo-charismatics, along with those who claim to be modern-day "apostles" today, are dangerous because they go beyond the Word, adding all kinds of experiences and "revelations" foreign to the text. Yet, the Scriptures are clear: "Do not go beyond what is written" (1 Corinthians 4:6).

It is clear that Saul, Israel's first king, did not follow the prescription for kings written in the Law:

When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. (Deuteronomy 17:18-20 TNIV)

Today, lay people, those in the pews, don't know the Word. Preachers, though very sincere, often have a distorted view of the Word. People give without really knowing why or where the money goes to. People pray as if they can say anything to God and request anything of Him. People fast without having a good, biblical reason to do so. And they often do it contrary to the way the Lord prescribes. And week after week churchgoers and church leaders engage in one church activity after another, thinking that they are "serving the Lord" or "serving the Lord's people" when there is no instruction in Scripture to do any or most of the things that they do. Is this much different than the people of Israel in Judges, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes?

I am more convinced than ever that the people of God must be daily in the Word for themselves. They must read, meditate, and study God's Word. They must not rely on pastors or teachers or scholars to unfold the biblical text to them. We can rely on "professionals" with respect to finance, politics, culture, etc. But with life and eternity hanging in the balance, we cannot entrust the obligation of knowing God's Word to anyone else but ourselves. Hear me, my friends, and take God's solemn warning to heart. This was Paul's assessment of the failure of Israel:

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. (Romans 10:1, 2 TNIV)

I know many of you are zealous, but make sure that your zeal is based on a right knowledge. Otherwise, in the last days, Jesus may say to you, "I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!"