June 03, 2024 | Be God's Light
David Escapes
to the Philistines
Scripture: 1 Samuel 27 (NIV)
1 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”
6 So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months.
8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) 9 Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.
10 When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” 11 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
Devotional
After David spared King Saul’s life in a cave (1 Samuel 24) and in a camp (1 Samuel 26), he knew he still wasn’t safe from the king’s wrath. So, he and his six hundred men escaped into enemy territory. Among these six hundred refugees were his brothers and other family members, along with “those who were in distress or in debt or discontented” (1 Samuel 22:1-2). Misery loves company. The plan worked. David joined up with the Philistine leader named Achish, and Saul stopped searching for him.
David and his six hundred misfits became an effective raiding party, strengthening the reign of the Philistines. While David and his men really raided people who were enemies of his own people (v. 6), he duped Achish by saying he had defeated fellow Israelites and those who were friendly to them (v. 10). He didn’t leave any survivors, fearing that his deceptive actions would be discovered (v. 11). Again, it worked. Verse 12 tells us that Achish trusted David saying, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.”
Did David do the right thing by covering up his actual activities? He knew that he couldn’t go home and simply rejoin Saul’s army, where he had been commissioned to do battle against the very people he was now vanquishing. He knew that he would be Israel’s king one day, and that those who were being defeated now would not be a threat to their borders later. He knew that Achish would never allow him to stay in Philistine territory if he was only defeating the enemies of Israel.
We return to the question: did David do the right thing?
Poem
Where Can I Go?
Where can I go when the enemies come?
Can I hide in the mountains? Call troops with my drum?
Shall I stir up the souls of my comrades with pipes?
Shall I pull out my armaments ready for strife?
Where can I go when the enemy comes?
Run to the shelter of God
Where can I go when attacked by a friend?
A brother? A sister? A family rend?
A violent sunder with edges all shredded?
When family reunions become something dreaded
Where can I go when allies turn on me?
Under God’s sheltering wing
Where can I go when I feel all alone?
When grief all consuming turns tears into stone?
When heart is so broken, its parts are all scattered
When treasures of earth seem to no longer matter?
Where can I go when in ashes or pit?
Close to the Master do sit
