Living in Ziklag - Part 4 - Escalation

By John Dubois - January 23, 2012

I’ve come to regard the phrase “Living in Ziklag” as a symbolic reference to living a dark and deceptive two-faced life. 

Thing is, it gets worse.

Sin is never static.  It is dynamic.  It grows.  Our enemy is never content to let us stay at a given level of evil - he pushes us farther and farther in to trouble.  It’s like weeds in a garden - we’re either constantly fighting to tear them out or they spread and over take us entirely.

The same was true for David.  His double agent life appeared to be working - he was safe from King Saul’s attacks at home, and Achish, the king of his enemies the Philistines, trusted him more and more - convinced that he was indeed loyal.

But now, a battle is forming.  The Philistine armies are gathering to fight against Saul and the armies of Israel.  And, Achish has included David and his men in his army, assuming that they were loyal to his cause and would be more than willing and able to fight against David’s own nation, Israel.  After all, why wouldn’t he?  David had been raiding and killing his fellow Israelites for over a year now - at least that was the lie. 

The stakes are higher now.  The double and deceptive life has escalated.  Sin never stands still.

They’re all arrayed for battle and en route to the lines.  There’s no way to escape now. 

Is he now going to actually participate in a war against the very nation over whom God anointed him as King?  Is David going to be found out?  More lies aren’t going to cover it anymore. 

What is David to do?