So he pretended to be out of his mind when he was with them. As long as he was in Gath, he acted like a crazy person. He made marks on the doors of the city gate. He let spit run down his beard. – 1 Samuel 21:13
Between David being anointed King at age in 1 Samuel 16, and David being appointed King at age 30…was a moment when he had to appear severely mentally ill.
Realising that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”, David was hiding among the Philistines from Saul who was trying to kill him, when suddenly he was recognised and exposed as the one who had killed tens of thousands of Philistines.
Captured and surrounded, David’s deliverance came not from an angel emerging from the Heaven realms (2 Kings 19:35), or even Samson-like strength from the Spirit which was upon him (1 Samuel 16:13). Instead, it came from him taking on the identity of a mentally unstable man.
He did this so convincingly that even though he was in the hands of his enemy, the enemy was compelled by his performance to let him go and send him away…because he had embraced a form of extreme vulnerability, irrationality and mental weakness.
There are many tactical and strategic insights to be found in this e.g fake it till you make it…if you want to escape from Gath (winepress – place of pressing and crushing), you’ve got to act like a crazy person…understand what your enemy fears and then become that…
But the big encouragement is that if you’re on a journey between your anointing and your appointment as king, and people around you are accusing you of being crazy/mentally unstable/weird/foolish for walking the path that you know God’s called you to, then take courage.
You’re not alone. Your mighty army is waiting to gather around you in just 4 verses time (1 Samuel 22:2). And instead of calming down, join the Giant-killers who have gone before you in saying, “Yes and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes!” (2 Samuel 6:22)
Act like a crazy person, and you’ll get to live to be King.