1 Samuel 27:4
And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
Sermons
David's Residence Among the PhilistinesB. Dale 1 Samuel 27:3-12














1 Samuel 27:3-12. (GATH, ZIKLAG.)
David had taken the decisive step, crossed the border, and passed with his 600 men and their families ("a little ambulant kingdom") into the Philistine territory. His position was very different now from what it had been five or six years before, when he came to Gath as a lonely fugitive (1 Samuel 21:10); and he was gladly received by Achish, who regarded him as in open revolt against Saul and Israel, and expected to obtain from him valuable assistance in his future conflicts with them. And here and at Ziklag he continued sixteen months (ver. 7). His condition (like that of other good men who enter into intimate association with the ungodly, voluntarily, unnecessarily, and for the sake of worldly advantage; see 1 Samuel 15:6) was marked by -

I. TEMPORARY SECURITY (ver. 4). By placing himself under the protection of Achish, David gained his end; for Saul dared not follow him lest he should excite another Philistine war, and (physically restrained, though.still retaining an evil will) "sought no more again for him." His outward circumstances were completely. changed. Instead of the uncertain, anxious, hazardous, and despised life which he had led in the wilderness, he enjoyed repose, comfort, safety, and respect in a royal city. To obtain advantages such as these men often swerve from the appointed path of duty, especially in times of persecution, not considering at what a cost they are obtained, how brief is their duration, or how great the trouble by which they may be followed.

II. CONSCIOUS INCONSISTENCY (vers. 5-7). In open alliance with the enemies of Israel, silently witnessing their idolatrous practices, looked upon as a traitor to his country, and ready to aid them against it, David must have felt what a contradiction there was between his apparent and real character. Yet he might not declare himself by a single word or act, for thousands of watchful eyes were always on him. He did not feel at home, and requested (under the plea of the unsuitableness and expensiveness of his residence with his large retinue at Gath) that the king would give him "a place in some town in the country," his real motive being that he might be "out of the way of observation, so as to play the part of Saul's enemy without acting against him." At Ziklag he would be less under restraint, and his real sentiments less likely to be discovered, though even there he might still be suspected. No outward advantages that good men may gain by their alliance with the ungodly can afford adequate compensation for the insincerity, distraction, restlessness, and vexation of soul which it involves (2 Peter 2:8).

III. SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE (vers. 8, 9). As soon as he was settled at Ziklag he made warlike expeditions against the Amalekites, Geshurites, and Gezrites, "of old the inhabitants of the land" (unlike the Philistines); and from the rich booty which lie procured he supplied the wants of his men, and gave valuable presents to Achish (ver. 9). His setting forth on these expeditions, and the cruel severity with which he executed them, must be judged of in the light of "the circumstances of those times, and the constant practices of nations one to another, especially of the neighbouring nations towards the Hebrews" (Chandler), and of the ban under which some of them had been placed (see 1 Samuel 15:1, 32, 33). He was doubtless animated therein by public spirit and religious zeal (1 Samuel 30:26), but his motives were not altogether unmixed, and his successes brought him a doubtful honour (ver. 12).

IV. CRAFTY POLICY (vers. 10, 11). To retain the confidence of Achish, he gave him the impression that his expeditions were directed against his own countrymen and their allies, instead of against Amalek and other neighbouring tribes; and he was thus, through distrust of God, again guilty of deceit (1 Samuel 21:1, 10). "If a man will put himself among Philistines, he cannot promise to come forth innocent" (Hall). "David might perhaps seek in some way to justify himself by the thought that in his ambiguous manner of speech he made use only of an allowable stratagem, and that he was a heathen to whom he veiled the truth. But he will yet be made to experience that God will weigh those who would be his in the balances of the sanctuary, in which, among others, that inviolable word is found as one of the weights, 'Thou shalt not bear false witness'" (Krummacher).

V. INCREASING POWER and importance. While at Ziklag he received large reinforcements (1 Samuel 22:1, 2; 1 Chronicles 12:1-22), some of whom were "of Saul's brethren of Benjamin" - evidently from dissatisfaction with the turn which things had taken (see also 2 Samuel 15:16-23). "As a matter of fact, David in this city laid the foundation of all his kingdom. Here he could already rule with greater freedom and independence, collect fugitives and deserters around him in larger and larger numbers, send or receive embassies like a prince (1 Samuel 30:26-31), and, as a ruler over soldiers and over peaceable citizens, rehearse, on a small scale, those arts by which he afterwards acquired and maintained his great kingdom" (Ewald). Notwithstanding all this, his condition was one of -

VI. SPIRITUAL DISADVANTAGE, and even spiritual deterioration. That which he had dreaded as the worst of evils (1 Samuel 26:19) had come about by his own voluntary act. Although he was not forbidden the exercise of his religion under Achish (1 Samuel 29:6), yet his circumstances were unfavourable to it; he was absent from the land and the sanctuary where God manifested his gracious presence to his people (1 Samuel 26:20; Psalm 42:2, 3), and his whole course of life is indicative of a lower tone of piety than before. "Being a genuine poet and lover of art, he took advantage of all his opportunities in this direction, and exercised himself as a musician in the Gittite and the Philistine style (Psalm 8., inscription), which he afterwards transferred from there to Jerusalem" (Ewald); but not a single psalm of his can be referred to this period.

VII. DANGEROUS ENTANGLEMENTS, intense suffering, and probably also serious delay in the attainment of his high destiny (1 Samuel 28:1, 2; 1 Samuel 30:3). The evils that sprang from his want of faith and patience were truly great. "His presence in Judah would have given an opportunity which Saul could hardly have refused, for calling him forth as the champion of Israel. At all events he would have been at hand to relieve the disaster, and would doubtless have been hailed as king by the united voice of Israel. As it was, his nation suffered a terrible defeat, which, instead of doing his best to avert, he narrowly escaped taking a share in inflicting; his recognition as king of Israel was postponed for seven years and a half at the cost of a civil war and a permanent alienation of Judah from the rest of Israel; and meanwhile he was involved in a course of pitiable deceit" (Smith, 'Old Testament Hist.'). Nevertheless the overruling hand of God must be recognised in all, and by Divine mercy he was delivered "out of all tribulation."

"Ay me, how many perils do unfold
The righteous man, to make him daily fall,
Were not that heavenly grace doth him uphold,
And steadfast truth acquit him out of all!
Her love is firm, her care continual,
So oft as he, through his own foolish pride
Or weakness, is to sinful bands made thrall"


(Spenser) = - D.

And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.
I. THE GLOOM AND DESPONDENCY OF DAVID'S HEART. How variable is the Christian's experience! Few pass on long without changes; the more equable Christians are generally those of the slightest attainment. The little tree is but moved by the breeze, the ponderous oak with its outstretching branches feels ice full weight; the tiny lake then only presents a small surface is but rippled, the sea is heaved and lashed into a fury. The powerful passion is generally allied to the corresponding intellect and acts as a counterbalancing power. David was a large-souled and large-hearted man, his experience is ever-varying, the slightest circumstance stirs him to the depths.

II. THE CAUSES OF THIS DESPONDENCY. God never willeth that we should be cast down; it is attributable to ourselves. Some men exclude themselves from the rays of the sun; it shines nevertheless.

1. The first cause here is his regarding man as a primary instead of a secondary agent. "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul." Why? Is there anything in Saul that came not from God? Is he a man? God made him. A king? God appointed him. Has he power? It also belongs to God, and when His arm is removed, Saul at once becomes the helpless child. Another cause is found: —

2. In communing with his heart instead of with God. "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man," is as much true of ourselves as others. The earth kept by the centripetal and centrifugal forces never wanders too far from, or goes too near, the sun; let them cease but for one moment and we should with lightning speed rush into collision, or be lost in endless space. So man's heart under Heavenly guidance is, and must be right. Die by the enemy, go into the land of the Philistines. The enemy within suggested it.

III. DAVID ERRED IN COMPARING HIS OWN WITH HIS ENEMY'S FORCES. Compare the suggestions of sense and faith. Sense says, what can six hundred with a valiant captain do against the army of Saul? Sense sees the host of Satan's emissaries encamped before the solitary soul and says, Fly, for thy life fly, ere they overtake. Faith goes beyond, stoops not to count the opposing forces, and gives assurance of the victory. Sense says, "I shall one day fetish by the hand of Saul." Faith says, Greater is be that is for me titan all that can be against me. "Stand still and see the salvation of God."

IV. ANOTHER CAUSE OF HIS DESPONDENCY WAS HIS FORGETFULNESS OF THE DIVINE PROMISES. Had not Samuel, the prophet of the Lord, visited his father's house and anointed him king? Had not this choice again and again been ratified? Had not Saul, his enemy, been forced to acknowledge him as his successor? Yet Saul is to kill him.

V. SEE THE CONSEQUENCE OF ACTING ON SUCH CONVICTIONS. It may be that some of us have found our way into the land of the Philistines, have gone for peace and found war, gone for safety and have been more exposed. Why? Because we have acted against the Spirit and the Word. Take David's experience as confirmatory of such results. Listen no more to such misleading assertions. Die! yes, you will, as far as a separation of the body from the spirit is concerned; but by the hand of the enemy, never, no, never.

(J. H. Snell.)

1. This incident in David's life is most instructive. It shows us the folly of endeavouring to remove evils under which we labour, by unlawful means; and especially of resorting to such expedients in our moments of discouragement; and may further teach us, that under all circumstances, the path of duty is the path of safety.

2. This lesson is one which we greatly need. Under the pressure of trials we naturally seek relief; and if no lawful means present themselves, we are tempted to use those which are unlawful; and by a delusive reasoning satisfy ourselves that that is right, which under other circumstances we should ourselves condemn as wrong. We often have cause to repent of resolutions taken, like David's, under the pressure of trials and the influence of discouraged feeling. The fact is that despondency borders on insanity. "It makes a man his own executioner, and leads to suicidal acts." Everything, therefore, we do under the influence of such feeling will be pretty sure to be wrong, and to give us work for after repentance.

3. Again, our subject may be applied to another class of hearers. There are those who have made many efforts to gain the hope of the Christian, but have failed in all. They say, "that they have sought most earnestly to believe and feel as the people of God do: that they have prayed, inquired, and done all that they knew ought to be done, but still do not enjoy a 'hope of acceptance;'" and now they are discouraged, and that discouragement leads them into a very sinful resolution. This is a very common case, and one with which ministers and Christians do not sympathize as they ought! We are disposed, when we see one lingering in neglect of religion, to condemn him as if nothing but obstinacy and rebellion prevented his surrender of himself to God. We bear down harshly upon him with the terrors of the law, when the man needs encouragement. Such severity only tends to exasperate and harden. The Jews in Jeremiah's time said "There is no hope," and added, "we will walk after our own devices." "The beggar will sometimes knock at a door until he finds that no notice is likely to be taken of his application, and then rail at those who live within; and so let the sinner fear that God's heart is hardened against him, and his own heart will soon be hardened against God." Let Christians, then, beware of taking away hope from the inquiring soul, by condemning all delay as obstinacy and obduracy, for it may arise from discouraged feeling; and the sinner may lie in the mire of sin, because be has made many efforts to get out, only to fall back again into the ditch.

4. And let the inquirer beware of yielding to discouragement, and thence to sin. "He may say, "I have sought, and prayed so many times, and found no relief; must I still continue to seek?" Even so, for what better can you do? If you finally and entirely cease from all effort, you are certainly lost; if you persevere you may be saved, and certainly will be in the end. Rise, discouraged soul, renew thy prayers, and if a lifetime of blind perplexed inquiries and in thine everlasting salvation, count the blessing cheaply won.

5. The same advice may apply to the backslidden Christian or to those who sometimes hope they are accepted in Christ, but lack the clear evidence of it.

(W. H. Lewis, D. D.)

I. OBSERVE HIS FEAR. It was the language, not, of his lips, but of his feelings — he "said in his heart, I shall now one day perish by the hand of Saul." If a man hawks about his trouble from door to door, we may be assured be will never die of grief. Profound sorrow, like the deep river, flows noiseless; the man wounded at heart, like the smitten deer, leaves the herd for the shade. "I shall one day perish by the hand of Saul." And suppose be had? This was all the injury he could have done him: and we are forbidden to fear those that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. He must have died, according to the course of nature, in a few years: and what is death, in any form, to a good man, but falling asleep or going home? He ought then, you say, to have risen above the fear of death. But David was in no danger of perishing by the hand of Saul. Saul was indeed a malicious and powerful enemy; but he was chained, and could do nothing against him except it was given him from above. And the Lord was on David's side: And he had the promise of the throne, which implied his preservation. And he had already experienced many wonderful deliverances. You would do well to take the advice of an old writer. "Never," says he, "converse with your difficulties alone."

II. REMINDED OF DAVID'S FOLLY. "There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines." But nothing could have been worse. For by this step — he would alienate the affections of the Israelites from him — be would justify the reproaches of the enemy — he would deprive himself of the means of grace and the ordinances of religion — he would grieve his soul with the vice and idolatry of the heathen — he would put himself out of the warrant of Divine protection — and lay himself under peculiar obligation to those whom he could not serve without betraying the cause of God.

1. How much depends on one improper step. The effects may be remediless, and give a complexion to all our future days. Our reputation, our comfort, our usefulness, our religion, our very salvation, may binge upon it.

2. Let us learn how incompetent we are to judge for ourselves.

(W. Jay.)

The Psalms, which, with more or less probability, may be assigned to this period of David's life, are marked with growing sadness and depression. Amongst them may be reckoned the 10, 12, 17, 22, 25, 64, and perhaps 11 and 69.

I. LET US EXAMINE THIS SUDDEN RESOLUTION.

1. It was the suggestion of worldly policy. "David said in his heart." Never act in a panic; nor allow man to dictate to thee; calm thyself and be still; force thyself into the quiet of thy closet until the pulse beats normally and the scare has ceased to perturb. When thou art most eager to act is the time when thou wilt make the most pitiable mistakes.

2. It was very dishonouring to God. Surely, then, it, was unworthy of David to say, in effect: "I am beginning to fear that God has undertaken more than He can carry through. True, He has kept me hitherto; but I question if He can make me surmount the growing difficulties of my situation. Saul will. sooner or later, accomplish his designs against me; it is a mistake to attempt the impossible. I have waited till I am tired; it is time to use my own wits, and extricate myself while I can from the nets that are being drawn over my path." How much easier it is to indicate a true course to others in hours of comparative security, than to stand to it under a squall of wind!

3. It was highly injurious. Philistia was full of idol temples and idolatrous priests (2 Samuel 5:21). What fellowship could David look for with the Divine Spirit who had chosen Israel for his people and Jacob for the lot of his inheritance? How could he sing the Lord's songs in a strange land?

4. It was the entrance on a course that demanded the perpetual practice of deceit. The whole behaviour of David at this time was utterly unworthy of his high character as God's anointed servant.

5. It was also a barren time in his religious experience. No psalms are credited to this period. The sweet singer was mute.

(F. B. Meyer, B. A.)

I. THE THOUGHT OF DAVID'S HEART WAS FALSE. He said, "I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul."

1. We might conclude it to be false upon the very face of it, because there certainly was no evidence to prove it. On no one occasion had the Lord deserted his servant. Now, mark. When you and I doubt God's Word there is this to be said of it, we mistrust it without a cause.

2. But, again, what David said in his heart was not only without evidence, but it was contrary to evidence. What reason had he to believe that God would leave him? Rather, how many evidences had he to conclude that the Lord neither could nor would leave him?

3. This exclamation of David was contrary to God's promises. Samuel had poured the anointing oil on David's head — God's earnest and promise that David should be king. Let David die by the hand of Saul, how can the promise be fulfilled?

4. But further, this wicked exclamation of David was contrary to what he himself had often said. Yet once more, this exclamation of David was contrary to the facts. I mean not merely contrary to the facts that were in evidence, but contrary to the facts that were transpiring at that very moment. Where was Saul?

II. HOW WAS IT THAT DAVID CAME TO THINK THUS OF HIS GOD?

1. The first answer I give is, because he was a man. The best of men are men at the best; and man at the best, is such a creature that well might David himself say, "Lord, what is man?"

2. But again, you must consider that David had been exposed to a very long trial; not for one week, but for month after month, he had been hunted like a partridge upon the mountains. Now, a man could bear one trial, but a perpetuity of tribulation is very hard to bear.

3. Then again, you must remember, David had passed through some strong excitements of mind.

III. WHAT WERE THE ILL-EFFECTS OF DAVID'S UNBELIEF?

1. It made him do a foolish thing, the same foolish thing which he had rued once before. He goes to the same Achish again! Yes, and mark ye, although you and I know the bitterness of sin, yet if we are left to our own unbelief, we shall fall into the same sin again.

2. But next: for the beginning of sin is like the letting out of water, and we go from bad to worse, he went over to the Lord's enemies. He that killed Goliath sought a refuge in Goliath's land; he who smote the Philistines trusts in the Philistines; nay, more, he who was Israel's champion, becomes the chamberlain to Achish.

3. That not only thus did David become numbered with God's enemies, but that he actually went into open sin. David did two very evil things. He acted the part of a liar and deceiver. He went out and slew the Geshurites, and sundry other tribes, and this he did often. When he came back, Achish asked him where he had been, and he said he had been to the south of Judah — that is to say, he made Achish believe that his incursions were made against his own people, instead of being made against the allies of Philistia. This he kept up for a long time; and then, as one sin never goes without a companion, for the devil's hounds always hunt in couples, he was guilty of bloodshed, for into whatsoever town he went he put all the inhabitants to death; he spared neither man, nor woman, nor child, lest they should tell the king of Philistia where he had been. So that one sin led him on to another. And this is a very sorrowful part of David's life. He that believes God, and acts in faith, acts with dignity, and other men will stoop before him and pay him reverence; but he who disbelieves his God, and begins to act in his own carnal wisdom, will soon be this, and that, and the other, and the enemy will say, "Aha, aha, so would we have it," while the godly will say, "How are the mighty fallen! how hath the strong man been given up unto his adversary!"

4. Furthermore, not only was David guilty of all this, but he was on the verge of being guilty of still worse sin — of covert acts of warfare against the Lord's people; for David having become the friend of Achish, when Achish went to the battle against Israel, David professed his willingness to go. We believe it was only a feigned willingness; but then, you see, we convict him again of falsehood.

5. The last effect of David's sin — and here it blessedly came to close — was this: it brought him into great trial. While David was away with king Achish, the Amalekites invaded the south, and attacked Ziklag, which was David's town. For some reason or other they did not put to death any of the inhabitants, but they took away the whole of the men, the few who were left, the women and children, all their household goods, and stuff, and treasures; and when David came back to Ziklag, there were the bare walls and empty houses, and Ahinoam and Abigail, his two wives, were gone, and all the mighty men who were with him had lost their wives and little ones; and as soon as they saw it, they lifted up their voice and wept. It was not that they had lost their gold and silver, but they had lost everything. That exiled band had lost their own flesh and blood, the partners of their lives. Then they mutinied against their captain, and they said, "Let us stone David." And here is David, a penniless beggar, a leader deserted by his own men, suspected by them probably of having traitorously given up the town to the foe. And then it is written — and O how blessed is that line! — "And David encouraged himself in the Lord his God." Ah! now David is right; now he has come back to his proper anchorage. Sin and smart go together; the child of God cannot sin with impunity. Other men may. Ye that fear not God may go add sin as ye like, and often meet with very little trouble in this world as the consequence of it; but a child of God cannot do that.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

People
Abigail, Achish, Ahinoam, Amalekites, Carmelitess, David, Gerzites, Geshurites, Gezrites, Girzites, Gizrites, Israelites, Jerahmeel, Jerahmeelites, Jezreel, Jezreelitess, Jizreelitess, Kenites, Maoch, Nabal, Saul
Places
Carmel, Egypt, Gath, Hebron, Negeb, Shur Desert, Ziklag, Ziph
Topics
Added, David, Declared, Fled, Gath, Hearing, Longer, Saul, Searched, Seek, Sought
Outline
1. Saul, hearing David to be in Gath, seeks no more for him
5. David begs Ziklag of Achish
8. He, invading other countries, persuades Achish he fought against Judah.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
1 Samuel 27:1-6

     5086   David, rise of

1 Samuel 27:1-12

     8830   suspicion

Library
Early Days
The life of David is naturally divided into epochs, of which we may avail ourselves for the more ready arrangement of our material. These are--his early years up to his escape from the court of Saul, his exile, the prosperous beginning of his reign, his sin and penitence, his flight before Absalom's rebellion, and the darkened end. We have but faint incidental traces of his life up to his anointing by Samuel, with which the narrative in the historical books opens. But perhaps the fact that the story
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

The Exile --Continued.
As our purpose in this volume is not a complete biography, it will not be necessary to dwell on the subsequent portions of the exile, inasmuch as there is little reference to these in the psalms. We must pass over even that exquisite episode of Abigail, whose graceful presence and "most subtle flow of silver-paced counsel" soothed David's ruffled spirit, and led him captive at once as in a silken leash. The glimpse of old-world ways in the story, the rough mirth of the shearers, the hint of the kind
Alexander Maclaren—The Life of David

Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate,
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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