Speaking in His Heart

After the high point of chapter 26, chapter 27 marks a turn. David said in his heart, I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul. These are the words of a weary man reasoning alone. Despite God's promises and Jonathan's assurance, David concluded that there was nothing better for him than to escape into the land of the Philistines. Notably, the narrator records no inquiry of Yahweh.

Outwardly, the move succeeded. Saul stopped looking for him. Achish granted him Ziklag, which, the narrator notes, belongs to the kings of Judah to this day. For a year and four months David's band and their households lived among the Philistines.

But safety came at a moral price. David raided the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, and he left no one alive, so that no one could report to Achish what he had done. He then told Achish he had raided the South of Judah. Achish concluded that David had made his people Israel utterly abhor him and would be his servant forever. The anointed future king was living a lie in enemy territory, and the next chapters will show the danger of this compromise.