Chapter 27
David despairs of things getting better, and decides he should go to the Philistines. At least there he can have some kind of life, free of always running and hiding from Saul.
2021 - 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." [1Sa 27:1 ESV]
You might think that after Saul turns away and goes home, David would be optimistic. But it doesn't go this way. David has more than a little experience with Saul's "promises", and does not for one moment believe what Saul says. A good lesson in "forgive but never forget". The past matters. Plans should reflect reality. Expectations should be rational.
Possible FB post.
He goes to Achish, in Gath. He and his men and all their families live in Gath for a while.
2022 - It turns out that this strategy goes as David anticipated. Vs 4 says that once Saul learns that David has fled to Gath, he stops looking for him. No diplomatic attempts to have David extradited. Sure seems like Saul would have tried that, rather than risk David raising a full army right across the border and then invading in force.
David requests a different place to live, and Achish gives Ziklag to him. It is still there, not too far East of Gaza, almost straight south of Ashkelon Far SW of Jerusalem. David lives with the Philistines a year and four months.
During that time, David raids the surrounding towns - which are in the land of promise but were never cleared out. He kills every man, woman, and child on these raids, but takes the spoil for himself and his men. He lies to Achish and tells him he is raiding into Judah, against his own people. Achish is impressed.
I sure have a hard time justifying what David was doing. But apparently God did not, so I will keep my mouth shut.
2022 - After the recent post I made on how horrible Saul was, it seems there should also be one on this story. David is also killing men, women and babies, and then stealing all that they have. This rather than raise is own livestock and crops in Ziklag. For 16 months, David survives by murder and theft. By killing those who are in the land promised Israel, but who were never evicted. Yet...they'd done nothing to either David OR Saul. They were just there, minding their own business, and David thought it acceptable to kill them all. There are some pretty terrible stories in the Bible, and sometimes it is difficult to distinguish the good guys from the bad...unless it tells you which is which.