Daily Devotional Saturday 27th November 2021
by William Moody
1 Samuel 27
David Flees to the Philistines
27:1 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” 2 So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. 4 And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.
5 Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. 7 And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.
8 Now David and his men went up and made raids against the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. 9 And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. 10 When Achish asked, “Where have you made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of the Kenites.” 11 And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. 12 And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”
(ESV)
David has been on the run from Saul for some time and there appears to be a growing sense of weariness in him (v1). It is sad that he feels he will be more secure among God’s enemies the Philistines than among God’s people (v2-4).
We need to be careful that we have such a love and concern for all of god’s people that they feel safe and welcome in our presence. We need to remember that this division between Saul and David came as an evil spirit sowed wrong thoughts in Saul’s mind. The forces of evil will seek to that in our minds as well but we must resist.
David came to live in the Philistine town of Ziklag with his men and their families for one year and four months (v5-7).
David and his men raided and killed the enemies of God’s people (v8-9), but he told Achish the Philistine king that he was attacking the Israelites and their allies (v10-12).
David knew what side he was on and even though he had much ground for grievance against Saul, he remained loyal to the people of God. We need to be careful that we always remain loyal to God and His people.
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