David and his men find refuge in the land of the Philistines. It is an unusual request, but David is the known enemy of Saul so he asks in 1 Samuel 27:5–6 Then David said to Achish, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let them give me a place in one of the country towns that I can live there”. Saul sees the Philistines preparing against him and in 1 Samuel 28:6 And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets. So Saul goes to a medium who brings up Samuel for him to speak to. Samuel responds in 1 Samuel 28:17–19 Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David. 18 Because you did not obey Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his wrath against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today”. Then Samuel pronounces Saul’s death at the hand of the Philistines. David and his men are not part of this battle with Saul, but the Amalekites have burned their city and taken their families captive. David inquires of the Lord and they go after the Amalekites and recover all and in 1 Samuel 30:17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped”.
If I Have Found Favor in Your Eyes
1 Samuel 27:1-12
David and his men have been fugitives from Saul for years, maybe ten, and David seeks refuge for himself and his men and their households in the land of the Philistines in
1 Samuel 27:5–6 Then David said to Achish, “Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let them give me a place in one of the country towns that I can live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” 6 So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this day.)
David has tried this once before on his own “in 1 Sam 21:10–15, where David escapes from Saul and seeks refuge with King Achish of Gath … David fears for his own safety and deceives Achish by feigning insanity … (now) In 1 Sam 27:1–12 and 28:1–2, David again seeks refuge with Achish and the Philistines—this time accompanied by 600 men—and Achish permits David and his men to settle in Ziklag (1 Sam 27:1–12; 1 Sam 28:1–2)”.1
Now, David had his own army. Now, David was an enemy of Saul, the king of Israel. And, now, “Achish stood to gain from having David’s army to protect his southern territory; he may also have hoped to have won the support of Judah against Saul, which might have enabled him to take the whole land, as he very nearly did in the battle of Mount Gilboa (1 Sam. 31:7).2
1 Samuel 27:2–3 So David got up and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, the king of Gath. 3 David settled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his household. David took along his two wives Ahinoam from Jezreel and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.
Why Are You Setting a Trap for my Life
Why Have You Disturbed Me?
1 Samuel 28:13-25
Saul has killed the priests of Nob, now Samuel has died and David has taken his men, with Abiathar the surviving priest to Gath, the land of the Philistines. David had a way to inquire of the Lord as in
1 Samuel 23:9 When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.”
but Saul now finds himself, not only cut-off from the spirit of the Lord, but without anyone that could inquire of the Lord for him as it says in
1 Samuel 28:6 And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets.
So, Saul sought out a medium and said in 1 Samuel 28:8 “Please consult a spirit for me through the ritual pit, and bring up for me the one whom I tell you.” and she brought up a man and in 1 Samuel 28:14 “it was Samuel”. Samuel asks in 1 Samuel 28:15 “why have you disturbed me?” And Saul said, “I am in distress! For the Philistines are about to make war against me, but God has turned away from me”. Samuel begins with the same message he has already given Saul in
1 Samuel 28:17–19 Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David. 18 Because you did not obey Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his wrath against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today”.
Samuel is saying to Saul, you didn’t need to rouse me to hear this, you already knew it. Then, since Saul has roused Samuel, he goes on to say in
1 Samuel 28:19 And Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and Yahweh will also give the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.”
This is the end of the long-suffering of the Lord. Saul is about to die.
He Will Not Go Down With us Into the Battle
Their wives, Sons, and Daughters Had Been Taken Captive
1 Samuel 30:1-10
The Philistines were arrayed against Saul and his army and refused to allow David and his men to fight with them. So, in
1 Samuel 30:1 Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had raided the Negev and Ziklag. When they attacked Ziklag, they burned it with fire.
and in
1 Samuel 30:3 When David and his men came to the city, they saw, and it was burned with fire, and their wives, their sons, and their daughters had been taken captive.
So, in 1 Samuel 30:4 “David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept” and in 1 Samuel 30:6 “the souls of all the people were bitter … But David strengthened himself in Yahweh his God.” and David called for Abiathar to inquire of the Lord in
1 Samuel 30:8 And David inquired of Yahweh, saying, “Should I pursue after this band of raiders? Will I overtake them?” He said to him, “Pursue them, for you will certainly overtake them, and you will certainly rescue them.”
And they did overtake them and they did recover their families and their goods, and in
1 Samuel 30:17 Then David attacked them from twilight until the evening of the next day. Not a man of them escaped except four hundred young men who rode off on camels and fled.
None of Theirs Was Missing
1 Samuel 30:11-20
They Will Share Alike
1 Samuel 30:21-31
Study Verses
- 1 Samuel 27:1-12 If I Have Found Favor in Your Eyes
- 1 Samuel 28:13-25 Why Have You Disturbed Me?
- 1 Samuel 30:1-10 Their wives, Sons, and Daughters Had Been Taken Captive
Today’s Reading
- 1 Samuel 27:1-12
- 1 Samuel 28:1-25
- 1 Samuel 29:1-11
- 1 Samuel 30:1-31
References
- 1. Gilboy, J. J. (2016). Achish, Son of Maoch. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
- 2. Baldwin, J. G. (1988). 1 and 2 Samuel: An Introduction and Commentary (Vol. 8, p. 168). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.