We are wrapping up 1 Samuel with stories that overlap a bit:

• David in Philistine territory: 1 Samuel 27.1 – 28.2
• Philistines march against Israel and David is sent home 28.3 – 5, 29.1 – 11
• Saul and the Witch at Endor, 28.6 – 25
• Attack on David’s family in Ziklag, 30.1 – 31
• The battle with the Philistines, Saul and Jonathan are killed 31.1 – 13

We left David in Gath, where we went to flee from Saul’s relentless pursuit (even though Saul had twice said that David was right and he was wrong (1 Samuel 24, 1 Samuel 26).

David thought to himself, “Sooner or later, Saul’s going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to Philistine country. Saul will count me a lost cause and quit hunting me down in every nook and cranny of Israel. I’ll be out of his reach for good.” … They moved in and settled down in Gath, with Achish… When Saul was told that David had escaped to Gath, he called off the hunt. (1 Samuel 27.1 – 4, MSG)

David gets King Achish to let him live in the small town of Ziklag (away from the king) so he can raid various surrounding tribes:

David lived in Philistine country a year and four months. From time to time David and his men raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites… When David raided an area he left no one alive, neither man nor woman, but took everything else: sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels, clothing—the works. Then he’d return to Achish. Achish would ask, “And whom did you raid today?” David would tell him, “Oh, the Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.” He never left a single person alive lest one show up in Gath and report what David had really been doing. This is the way David operated all the time he lived in Philistine country. (1 Samuel 27.7 – 11, MSG)

David won the trust of Achish, which is a potential problem: God has to work again to save David’s reputation. Stay tuned.

Achish came to trust David completely. He thought, “He’s made himself so repugnant to his people that he’ll be in my camp forever.” During this time the Philistines mustered their troops to make war on Israel. Achish said to David, “You can count on this: You’re marching with my troops, you and your men.” And David said, “Good! Now you’ll see for yourself what I can do!” “Great!” said Achish. “I’m making you my personal bodyguard—for life!” (1 Samuel 27.12 – 28.2, MSG)

David was a man of war, and God honored him…but there was a limit. We’ll see as we keep reading one of the costs, as David tells his son Solomon:

David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the LORD my God. But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. (1 Chronicles 22.7, 8, ESV)

And, as always, just because a Bible character does something doesn’t mean it’s right. David is killing people and lying to Achish, that’s what the text says. There’s no commentary except perhaps in 1 Chronicles 22 and like passages, that David was doing the best thing.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8.28, NASB)