1 Samuel 29:6-7 – Be a team player

The apprehension of the commanders of the Philistines was not baseless. Who would want to have people of the nation they were fighting with to be at their rear? What’s worst was the fact that these people were not led by an incompetent man but David who had slain Goliath and was touted as better than Saul. So they had every right to be angry with Achish who brought David and his men along and would even try to justify and defend him. They all wanted David and his men to return. Since most of them felt that way, Achish couldn’t help but had to send them back.   

What’s astonishing was that Achish was on David’s side even in such a time. He felt awkward to explain to David. So he began diplomatically. Calling David, he said, “As the Lord lives, you have been upright, and your going out and your coming in with me in the army are pleasing in my sight; for I have not found evil in you from the day of your coming to me to this day….” He told David in no uncertain term that he trusted him completely and felt that he was upright. This tells us how capable David was at his game. He had acted so astutely that Achish was completely sold to him. He did not even detect a hint of disloyalty in David. Notice how Achish even swore by David’s God. He only saw in David total integrity since the day he came to him. Now comes the difficult part of broaching the issue with David. He said it was the other lords who disapproved of David fighting along with them. His excuse was that he had to submit to the voice of the majority and urge David to return to Ziklag.

From a spiritual perspective, we know that God was helping David. From the leadership point of view, Achish was a weak leader. He would not be in such a predicament had he been more discerning. He should have questioned David’s intention. But he did not and instead allow David and his men, people from the opposite camp, to live among them and now to fight alongside them. A strong and discerning leader would have been more cautious. Achish was also gullible. He took David’s words hook, line and sinker. He probably was too laid back to care about checking the facts to find out what David and his men were doing. He did not and only took David in his words. We also see in Achish that he was not a team player. He could have told David to return to Ziklag without implicating his fellow lords. If he were a good team player, he would have communicated the corporate decision without betraying the rest of the decision-makers. Achish should have been seen standing as one with the Philistine lords in their decision. But he was not a team player. He tried to make himself look good to David at the expense of the rest of the Philistine lords. A non-team player tends to act this way. They have no regard for corporate decisions. Such a leader would communicate a hard corporate decision as if he was not part of the decision making. To have such a leader is dangerous to the organization. The overall plan of the organization could be sabotaged. We are disciples of the Lord and working in His kingdom. We must stand as one. Once we have agreed with the corporate decision of the church, we must live by it and run with it. Let’s not agree on a thing corporately then communicate as if we are not with the decision just to gain acceptance and popularity. This shows a lack of integrity.