DELIVERED FROM FEAR

It was not David’s finest moment. Escaping from Saul, he sought refuge with King Achish of Gath. Life on the run seemed to be sapping David’s courage.

He “was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard” (1 Samuel 21:12, 13).

The hero of Israel and its future king was being hunted by the current king of Israel as a traitor and was reduced to a laughingstock by his fear of the enemies of God’s people. Perhaps it was in the comparative safety of the Cave of Adullum (see 1 Samuel 22:1) that David had the opportunity to reflect on his fear and the fool that it had made of him.

But it seems he had also had time to pray—and he received an answer from God that renewed his courage. “This poor man called, and the LORD heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6). David still had the prospect of Saul and his army coming after him; he had been denied refuge in the enemy kingdom of Gath, and he and his men were hiding in a cave, but God heard David’s prayer and delivered him from his fears.

Psalm 34 is the song David wrote as a testimony to a God who sees and hears the helpless and afraid. “I will boast only in the LORD; let all who are helpless take heart” (Psalm 34:2, NLT). Probably remembering his feigned insanity with some embarrassment, he emphasized that those who trust in God need never be ashamed and affirmed that “the Lord will rescue his servants; no one who takes refuge in him will be condemned” (Psalm 34:22).