“The fear of man brings a snare,” and David almost snared himself right in enemy territory! David had to pretend to be out of his mind before he could escape.”
[The Books of 1st and 2nd Samuel by Chuck Missler]
1 Samuel 21:10, “And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.”
The man who was to be the greatest king second only to Jesus debased himself through fear. First in fear of King Saul, David had sought refuge with the Philistine king Achish of Gath. The people of Gath knew of the praise David had received, “Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” David went from the frying pan into the fire of the camp of the enemies of Israel. In fear he played a madman.
"Oh! What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive"
[Sir Walter Scott]
1 Samuel 21:13, “And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard.”
“1 Samuel 21:10-15 Then David left Israel and fled to the city of Gath, Goliath's hometown. Here he, the anointed king of Israel, sought refuge among the enemies of God's people. When the Philistines became suspicious of him, he was forced to act the madman to save his life. De Rothschild notes that David knew well "that the insane were held inviolable, as smitten but protected by the Deity." And so the psalmist of Israel stood drooling in his beard as he scribbled on the doors of the gate. Because of the callousness of God's people and David's own lapse of faith, he was reduced to this disgraceful behavior.”
[Believer’s Bible Commentary]
Playing the madman worked. King Achish let David go and he escaped to the cave of Adullam. David composed Psalm 34 there, Psalm 34:20-22, “20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. 22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.”
Verse 20 is Messianic; the bones of Jesus were not broken while hanging on the cross.
The fear of man really doesn’t cause a snare in my life. I place my life in God’s hands, nevertheless, I listen to that small still voice. I have two inexpensive homes in Arizona. I winter in a cozy RV park and summer way off the power grid in the higher elevations of northeastern Arizona. For the last few years I’ve felt a push to live year-round at my summer home and I’ve become a bit of a prepper. It’s not fear so much as an awareness of world events. Our power grid could be taken down by an EMP. As for my solar array, batteries, and electronics hard to say if they would survive. I know that I’ll be where I’m supposed to be all in God’s timing.
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