Psalm 56:1-4 [David Feigned Madness Before King Achish... Was This God’s Grace?]

[Things to Meditate On]

1. The above Psalm 56 is said to have been written by David when he was taken by the Philistines in Gath. At that time, David was greatly afraid of Achish king of Gath, so he changed his behavior before them, pretended to be mad, scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. This situation is recorded in 1 Samuel 21:10-15 below.

1 Samuel 21:10-15 “10And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath. 11And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 12And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13And 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. 14Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? 15Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?”

2. David was surely a man who had received grace from God (Isaiah 55:3). God loved David, and long afterward He caused Jesus Christ to be born of the seed of David (Romans 1:3). Nevertheless, David had to pretend to be mad before Achish king of Gath, with spittle falling down upon his beard. Besides this event, the Bible also testifies that he went through many trials and afflictions. In fact, according to our ordinary way of thinking, it may be hard to understand how David, who had received such great love and grace from God, could have gone through so many wars, sufferings, and hardships. Was David truly a man who had received grace from God?

3. As we can see in David’s case, the grace of God does not necessarily mean that everything goes well and prospers in a fleshly way. David had many afflictions and sufferings, yet because of those things, he did not complain against God, despair over his circumstances, or depart from faith in God. Rather, through those hard and difficult situations, he trusted in God even more by faith (verses 3-4), and he earnestly sought God’s help all the more (Psalm 71:10-14). This too is the grace of God.

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 “8For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life: 9But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.”

[Decision and Application]

Are we perhaps doubting the existence of Jesus because of our present hard, difficult, and fearful situations? Or are we thinking that there is no grace of Jesus, or that the grace of Jesus has departed from us? If we misunderstand the grace of Jesus, we may think this way. However, as we see in David’s case, the Bible teaches us that the hard and difficult situations we face now can actually become the grace of Jesus to us. Therefore, like David who said, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee” (verse 3), when worry, anxiety, and fear come upon us, we must believe in Jesus and trust in Him all the more.

2 Corinthians 12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.”

And we must also know that in times of affliction, relying on our own strength, on the abundance of riches, or on those in power can never be the solution to our problems (Psalm 52:5-8, Psalm 146:3-5).

Psalm 52:7-8 “7Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength; but trusted in the abundance of his riches, and strengthened himself in his wickedness. 8But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever.”

Psalm 146:3-5 “3Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. 4His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. 5Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God.”

Because our Savior is Jesus alone, as these words teach us, the harder and more difficult our situation becomes, the more we must believe in Jesus and earnestly pray to Jesus in the name of Jesus (Psalm 50:15, John 14:13-14). Our God, who helped David, will surely hear our prayers also (Psalm 6:9), and just as He did for David, God will also become our salvation and fortress, our refuge and stronghold (Psalm 18:2).

If we are able to rely on Jesus, that is, the word of God, all the more in the midst of suffering, then we are the very ones who have received the grace of God!

Psalm 55:16-18 “16As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. 17Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. 18He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.”

Psalm 62:1-2, 5-7 “1Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. 2He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved. 5My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him. 6He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.”

Amen.