And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me to seek me any more within all the limits of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.
David has just come through a striking victory, with God's protection proved again and again. Then, in one sentence spoken only to himself, he decides he is a dead man — and that his safety lies with the Philistines.
This failure comes right after David's finest hour. One writer traces the collapse to what a great victory can do to a man's view of himself.
Isn't it surprising to see David's weakness here after so many striking marks of divine protection? Just yesterday he had said, full of confidence: "Let my life be highly esteemed in the eyes of the LORD, that He may deliver me out of all distress!" Today his courage is gone... We must often experience that a great victory is apt to be followed by a great despondency. When God was with us, did we not happen to attribute something to ourselves?... So God leaves us to ourselves — I am not saying, of course, that He abandons us — to show us that we cannot put any confidence in the flesh.
Another points out the irony of the timing: the threat David dreaded was in fact finished.
Worn out at last by constant exposure to the king's malice, he says in his heart, "Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul." And he says it just when the danger appears to be over... The man of faith leaves God's ground and deliberately looks for shelter in enemy country.
The verse tells us where this decision was born: in David's heart. What starts there does not stay there.
The heart is the birthplace of unbelief — but also the place where God creates true faith... David gives way to fear that dishonours God. Then, forgetting God, he looks around for a place of safety — and what a sad choice he makes! In his judgment it was the best: there was nothing better than to flee to the Philistines! A heart that distrusts God turns to the world, and it always makes the worst choice. Mark it well, dear reader, the evil began secretly in his heart, and ended in taking the position of an open enemy.
David had many rescues behind him. Unbelief refuses to count them. One writer sets the two ways of reasoning side by side.
How opposite is the arguing of unbelief to that of faith! Faith reasons, "Because You have been my help in the past, therefore I will rejoice in the shadow of Your wings." Every past mercy is a pledge for mercy to come. Unbelief treats every new danger as a bigger threat than anything before it. It forgets the mercy of God and remembers only the dangers it has passed through. We need not be hard on David. Better to ask ourselves: have we not often fallen the same way?
David's plan worked, in the narrow sense: Saul stopped hunting him. The bill came in elsewhere.
David's judgment about Saul was correct... But at what a price did David buy rest from the king's relentless pursuit! Deception marked him again. By accepting the town of Ziklag as a gift from Achish, he openly admitted the Philistine king's right to hand out land that belonged to God's people. A refugee from his own country, living off the bounty of Achish... he was ready to add his men to the Philistine army.
The pull here is not open wickedness. It is the longing to stop living under pressure.
Without grace, we grow tired of attacks that come again and again. The soul loses sight of the Lord and asks: why not give up my principles for a while? Why not drop my testimony, and leave the ground I know is the heritage of God's people? Can I not let all this go for a time, just to get a little ease? Here David steps onto the very ground that all Saul's power had never been able to drive him to. It is ever true that our greatest enemy lurks in our own hearts.
David has failed badly. What comes next is not what anyone would expect.
At the end his faith breaks down; and he, fearing he shall one day fall by the sword of Saul, falls away to the Philistines... We might expect some rebuke or dreadful chastisement. "But He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." A battle takes place. David is still on the Philistine side, but God keeps him far from the battlefield. Saul is killed, and the crown comes to David... The blessing comes in the moment of failure. It displays the infirmity of the vessel and the gracious faithfulness of God.
- Heart — the ruin starts in an unspoken thought, not a public act: "the evil began secretly in his heart, and ended in taking the position of an open enemy."
- Forgetting — faith counts past mercy as a pledge of mercy to come. Unbelief remembers only the dangers.
- Timing — David breaks down right after his greatest victory, just when the danger from Saul was over.
- Cost — the escape bought rest at the price of deception, living off Achish, and readiness to march with the Philistine army.
- Grace — the crown arrives while David is still in the wrong place. His fear proved false; God's faithfulness proved larger than his failure.
And David arose and passed over, he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
David's faith has just collapsed, right after a great victory. So he walks out of Israel with his whole company and puts himself under a Philistine king — in Goliath's own city, and without asking God.
David was afraid. The deeper problem is that he never asked God, as he had done before. One writer lines up the questions this move leaves open:
Is it God who is commanding David to save himself in the land of the Philistines? Weren't his earlier experiences at Achish's court enough (1 Sam. 21:11-15)? Was it God who had sent him there then? No. Back then God gave him a clear command through the prophet Gad: go into the land of Judah (1 Sam. 22:5). Had God taken that command back? And why didn't he inquire of the Lord as he had done at Keilah (1 Sam. 23:1-13)? Rushing ahead, discouragement, forgetting God's word, asking Israel's enemies for help, trusting his own thoughts instead of seeking God's direction — every one of these weaknesses comes together in David here.
David could have gone elsewhere. And one step of unbelief forces the next:
After a great victory, and a wonderful display of God's goodness to him, David's faith collapses again. He sees nothing ahead but dying one day at Saul's hand. So he makes a decision in which no wisdom from God guides him at all. He leaves the inheritance of the Lord for the land of Israel's pagan enemy. He does not even go to Moab. He goes to Gath — the city of the giant he had beaten by faith, and the place where he had already failed badly once before through unbelief. The higher the height, the deeper the fall. Once he gives in to unbelief, one false step makes another necessary, and one lie needs a second lie to back it up. He has to add cruelty to deceit, and many lives have to pay the price to keep his own safe. What a cowardly thing unbelief is!
Six hundred men went with him. This failure was not private:
He had before overcome the power of Goliath of Gath. Now he becomes friendly with Goliath's city. We too may once have won a clear victory over the world. Then later, as faith weakens, we become friendly with it. He takes his 600 men with him. So his lack of faith pulls others the wrong way too, including all their families. We may wonder why Achish and his people were not alarmed by an army of 600 Israelites coming to stay in their city. Some of them probably had doubts, but Achish seems rather naive.
David got what he wanted: Saul stopped hunting him. But this safety cost him more than the danger did:
He receives the town of Ziklag and stays there for sixteen months. During that time he has no fear of Saul at all. But he is far from God and far from Israel. It is, in one sense, a very easy matter to get out of a place of trial; but then we get out of a place of blessing also. David would have been much happier if he had stayed where Saul could reach him, but with the protection of the God of Israel. That was far better than looking for safety in the arm of the king of Gath. The enemy always has a side road open to the man of faith. He had an Egypt for Abraham and a Ziklag for David. Now he has the world, in all its many forms, for us.
The move solved nothing. David traded one threat for another, with no claim on God's protection:
When a believer runs into the world to escape the fear of trial, he is sure to increase his own troubles and sorrows. So it was with David. Is fear removed? No. It only takes a different form. His life is now in real danger, because he had no right to claim the protection of the God of Israel. But mercy is above all, and his great danger is the means of driving him back to the land which he ought not to have left.
David's place in Gath is bought with dishonesty. Yet God does not drop him:
In the land of the Philistines he wins the king's favour. He does it not by faith, but by a shrewdness that did not keep to the truth. It is an unhappy position. Still, God does not abandon him. He chastises him, and in a painful manner, but He spares and preserves him.
- One step. David "arose and went over" after a single despairing thought — and right after a great victory and a fresh display of God's goodness.
- One question skipped. At Keilah he asked God. Here he asked no one, and trusted his own thinking instead.
- One place chosen. Not Moab, but Gath — the city of the giant he had beaten, and the scene of his earlier failure.
- Six hundred followed. His weak faith pulled a whole company, and all their families, into enemy land.
- One mercy. He escaped the trial but left the blessing. God disciplined him hard, and preserved him through it all.
And David abode with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household; David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jizreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's wife.
David has just spared Saul's life a second time, and now he moves his whole camp into Gath, the city of the giant he once killed. He lives there under Achish, the Philistine ruler, and Saul gives up the chase — but at what cost?
David chose this. He left God's ground and went to live among the people he had spent years fighting.
The man of faith deserts the ground of God, and deliberately seeks a shelter in the country of the enemy. David arises, passing over to the enemy he had so often conquered… Can we wonder that so evil a step led to others? Or that David then kept up a course of deception of the most painful and pitiable kind? And this in a servant of the Lord who was once so true, so simple, so open.
One writer points to the timing. David's courage failed the day after he spoke with such confidence.
Isn't it surprising to see David's weakness here after so many striking marks of divine protection? Just yesterday he had said, full of confidence: "So may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may He deliver me out of all tribulation." Today his courage is gone… We often have to learn that a great victory can bring on a great despondency. When God was with us, did we not happen to attribute something to ourselves?
The verse counts David's men and every household with them. One writer weighs what a leader's weak faith cost those families — and asks why Gath let them in at all.
He had before overcome the power of Goliath of Gath. Now he becomes friendly with Goliath's city. We too may at one time have gained a clear victory over the world, then later become friendly with it because of weakening faith. He takes his 600 men with him. So his lack of faith pulls others the wrong way too, including all their families. We may wonder why Achish and his people were not alarmed by an army of 600 Israelites coming to live in their city. Probably at least some of them had misgivings, but Achish seems to have been naive.
Why bring wives and children into enemy country?
This suggests the thought that another motive was at work. Every man with him had his household, and David had his two wives, Ahinoam and Abigail. Was there not a longing of heart for rest as well as safety, for a home as well as a refuge? And if it could not be in the land of Judah, then with the enemies of God?
The move worked: Saul gave up the chase. That success is where the warning lies.
David does indeed rid himself of Saul. But in giving up his trouble, how much more does he sacrifice with it!… It is one thing to rid ourselves of trial, and another to keep the sense of God's approval. Whenever we are pressed to give up a clear principle and a true position, we are in effect leaving the land of Judah ("praise") and going down into the Philistines' country. That pressure may come from open opposition, or from the plea that we shall gain fresh supporters.
One writer notices what this period did not produce.
A single false step seems to cancel the lovely walk of faith that had marked him. But it is good for our souls to measure the depth of these cliffs… For David to save himself by fleeing to Achish could in no way be a type of Christ. There was no altar for Abraham in Egypt; David's second stay among the Philistines did not inspire him with any psalm.
Both women are named again here, and commentators read them as pictures — though they differ on which picture. One takes them as two distinct figures:
Abigail (the father's joy), like Rebecca, is one of the rare types in the Old Testament who prefigures the Church; she is the Bride, David's voluntary, humble, joyful associate during the days of his rejection. Ahinoam (the son's grace), who is more in the background, represents rather, as I see it, the remnant of Israel who have entered into relationship with the Messiah before the establishment of His reign.
Another takes the two together, and draws attention to what they went through with him:
Ahinoam was of Jezreel, a place linked with the enemy early on… she and Abigail give the position of the remnant before the king reigns. They more than anticipate the joy and glory of the kingdom, since they shared in his sufferings.
What follows in the story is neither instant punishment nor a blind eye.
David, however, is loved — surely he is, and, in the great sense, as deeply as ever. But the Lord has not treated his sin lightly. He is loved… for the Lord steps in to save him from the huge results of his unbelief and lies… Yet the burning of Ziklag and the carrying off of all that was in it lie ahead of him. They will let him know, and know it painfully, that the Lord has not overlooked his sin.
- Cause. A great victory can breed quiet self-satisfaction, and self-satisfaction opens the heart to a fall.
- Choice. David's step was deliberate. He left God's ground and picked the enemy's country.
- Reach. No choice like this stays personal. 600 men, their families and his two wives all went into Gath with him.
- Relief. Saul stopped hunting him. Trouble can end and the sense of God's approval can go in the same move.
- Result. No psalm, no picture of Christ, and Ziklag in flames ahead — yet God still loved him, and stepped in to limit the damage.
And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; and he sought no more for him.
David's plan worked. As soon as Saul heard that David had crossed into Philistine land, the manhunt stopped. But is relief the same as blessing? The verse raises the question of what David gave up to buy his quiet.
The hunt stopped. But what did the stopping cost? One writer points to the chapters that follow.
Grace alone is able to prevent our fall, but often we must long experience the consequences of a walk which did not have the Lord's approval. This course delivers David from Saul's pursuit: "And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him" (v. 4). At what price? The following chapters inform us, and this chapter instructs us already.
The move to Gath grew out of a wish every hunted believer knows — that the attacks would stop.
But we would like to get rid of the constant assaults of persecution. Without grace, we grow weary of repeated attacks. The soul loses sight of the Lord and asks: Shall I not sacrifice my principles for the time being? Shall I not give up my testimony? Shall I not leave the ground which I see to be the heritage of God's people? Can I not let all this go for a while, to get a little ease? Here David takes the ground to which all the power of Saul had never been able to drive him. It is always true that our greatest enemy hides in our own hearts. Not all the malice of Satan, nor the cunning of men, can dislodge a soul that trusts the living God without wavering.
Saul lost his target, and David lost something he had held through years of running. The place he chose says the rest.
David goes back to the court of Achish, to the very city of Gath where Goliath had once lived, and he takes his whole household and his fighting men with him. He does indeed rid himself of Saul, but in giving up his trouble, how much more does he sacrifice with it! It was told Saul that David had fled to Achish, and he no longer sought him. But it is one thing to rid ourselves of trial, and another to keep the sense of God's approval... whenever we are pressed to sacrifice a clear principle and a true position, we are in effect leaving the land of Judah ("praise") and going down into the Philistines' country. The pressure may come from opposition, or from the plea that we will gain fresh supporters.
A truce with the enemy is not the same as safety.
When Saul heard that David had gone to Gath, he no longer sought him (v.4). Having gone that far, David did not pose such a threat to Saul's comfort. What a lesson there is for us here. Leaving the ground of testimony for God may avoid Satan's direct persecution. Yet the deceit involved in this lack of faith will reap a painful harvest, as David learns later.
One writer weighs David's years of faith against this one step.
A single false step seems to cancel the lovely walk of faith which had marked him... For David to save himself by fleeing to Achish could in no way be a picture of Christ. There was no altar for Abraham in Egypt; David's second stay among the Philistines did not inspire him with any psalm.
The line to God was never cut.
David had still maintained unbroken communication with God. Yet, tellingly, we do not find him making use of this priceless privilege during his stay in the land of the Philistines. Unbelief and communion with God do not go together.
David's failure did not end God's care for him.
David moves away from the royal city. In the land of the Philistines he gains the king's favour, not by faith, but by a shrewdness that is inconsistent with truth. It is an unhappy position. Still, God does not forsake him. He disciplines him, and in a painful way, but He spares and preserves him. We have seen similar ways of the Lord in the case of Jacob when he was a fugitive.
- Relief. Saul called off the hunt, just as David hoped. The plan worked — and that is what makes it a warning.
- Price. Escaping the trial cost David the sense of God's approval. He left the land of Judah, whose name means praise.
- Reason. David was no longer a threat to Saul's comfort. The enemy left him alone because his testimony had moved out of range.
- Silence. This stay produced no psalm, and David never used his open line to God — unbelief and communion do not keep company.
- Mercy. God disciplined David in a painful way, yet never forsook him. He spared him and preserved him.