1 & 2 Samuel

1 Samuel Chapter 27

David Flees to the Philistines

1Samuel 27:1 And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.

Here we see something we all go through. Doubt and unbelief. David fearing that Saul would return to his unrepentant ways, forgot God's power of deliverance and fled to the Philistines. This causes much loss of life and makes it look like David was siding with the enemies of Israel instead of his own people. It was a mistake but lest we accuse him badly, we must remember that we too have occasions of unbelief and look to the world for help instead of God. These things were written not for us to condemn David but for us to learn from them and not do likewise. We that were born after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and the mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit have the power to overcome unbelief if we yield to that power and not to our fleshly instincts. God is faithful to give us help but we still have the power to choose good from evil.

1Samuel 27:2 And David arose, and he passed over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
3 And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.
4 And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him.

Saul didn't go after David any longer showing us that David's fear was unfounded. Even in this time of weakness for David though, God does not abandon him and replace him as the future king of Israel. In the New Testament when Jesus speaks about David, there is no mention of his failures or mistakes. This shows us truly that when we come to God with genuine repentance, He does forgive and remembers our sins no more. Oh the marvelous grace of God that comes to us through faith in Jesus. It is even powerful enough that those that believed in God before Jesus came to die for sins were also able to be saved by grace. God sees genuine repentance as opposed to outward religious rituals done as routine and not from the heart.

Looks like someone was still trying to cause trouble for David and tried to stir up Saul against him again but this time it didn't work. Saul didn't seek to harm David after this. Even though Saul dies in battle later, I think he was able to be forgiven also. Who knows?

Abigail was the former wife of Nabal an evil man who died of what looked like a heart attack after he found out his wife went to David and his men seeking forgiveness for the way Nabal treated his men when they came asking for help. This account of the life of Abigail and Nabal is told in 1 Samuel Chapter 25.

1Samuel 27:5 And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
6 Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: wherefore Ziklag pertaineth unto the kings of Judah unto this day.
7 And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months.

It kind of puzzles me why the Philistines were now friendly to David. Ziklag was given to Judah then to Simeon originally but later it was taken over by the Philistines. This act of the Philistines gave the city back to the tribe of Judah.

1Samuel 27:8 And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt.
9 And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish.
10 And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites.
11 And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines.
12 And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant for ever.

This is where many bible theologians disagree. Some say David killed innocent people and should not have done this but did it out of fear that they would tell Saul where he was. Other scholars believe this to be justified.

These were the old Canaanites and Amalekites that were originally not to be spared. Saul failed in this causing him to lose the kingdom to David. The story of Saul's failure is in 1 Samuel chapter 15. Notice however, that Saul was to destroy even the cattle and not take spoils because the people were so evil. David did destroy them but also kept the spoils as Saul did and took the cattle and such to give to his own people. Saul was under God's direct commandment given through Samuel but David took it upon himself here probably because his people were in need.

I have no opinion myself on this, I leave that to the Lord, but whatever interpretation we put on it, that didn't cause God to change His mind that David was to be king. God no doubt saw that David when he failed and did wrong always genuinely repented. DC

1 Samuel Chapter 28