1 Samuel 27:1

_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 SHALL DESPAIR OF ME, TO SEEK ME ANY MORE IN ANY COAST OF ISRAEL: SO SHALL I ESCAPE OUT OF HIS HAND._ There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines. This resolution of David's was in every respect wrong-1. Because it was removing from the place where the divine oracle intimated to him to remain (1 Samuel 22:5); 2. It was rushing into the idolatrous land, for driving him into which he had denounced an imprecation on his enemies (1 Samuel 26:19); and it was a withdrawal of his counsel and aid from God's people. It was a movement, however, overruled by P

1-7 Unbelief is a sin that easily besets even good men, when without are fightings, and within are fears; and it is a hard matter to get over them. Lord, increase our faith! We may blush to think that the word of a Philistine should go further than the word of an Israelite, and that the city of Gath should be a place of refuge for a good man, when the cities of Israel refuse him a safe abode. David gained a comfortable settlement, not only at a distance from Gath, but bordering upon Israel, where he might keep up a correspondence with his own countrymen....

CHAPTER XXVII _David flies to Achish, king of Gath, who receives him kindly,_ _and gives him Ziklag to dwell in, where he continues a year_ _and four months_, 1-7. _David invades the Geshurites and Amalekites, and leaves neither_ _man nor woman alive_, 8, 9. _He returns to Achish, and pretends that he had been making_ _inroads on the Israelites, and Achish believes it_, 10-12. NOTES ON CHAP. XXVII Verse 1 Samuel 27:1. _I SHALL NOW PERISH ONE DAY BY THE HAND OF SAUL_] This was a very hasty conclusion: God had so

DAVID FINDS A REFUGE AT ZIKLAG (1 Samuel 27:1.). EXPOSITION DAVID AGAIN SEEKS PROTECTION AT GATH (1 Samuel 27:1). 1 SAMUEL 27:1 DAVID SAID IN HIS HEART. Hebrew, "to his heart," to himself (see 1 Samuel 1:13). l shall perish by the hand. The verb is that used in 1 Samuel 12:25;...

AND DAVID SAID IN HIS HEART,.... Within himself, and to himself; while he was pondering things in his own mind, and considering the circumstances in which he was, and things appearing, very gloomy to him, he falls into a fit of unbelief and thus addresses himself: I SHALL NOW ONE DAY PERISH BY THE HAND OF SAUL; for though he was returned to his place, he knew he was restless and uneasy, very inconstant and unstable, and not at all to be depended on; yea, he might conclude that Saul, observing that God was with him in protecting and defending him, and by delivering him into his hands once and again, he would be the more jealous of him, and envious at him, and seek all opportunities and advantages against him; and he feared that one time or another such would offer, and would be taken, and so he should perish by him: this was a strange fit of unbelief he was sunk into, and very unaccounta...

CHAPTER 27 _ 1. David's unbelief (1 Samuel 27:1)_ 2. With Achish, King of Gath (1 Samuel 27:3) 3. His slaughter and deception 27:8-12) David became despondent. After all the gracious evidences that the Lord was with him, shielded him and guarded his very footsteps, he relapses in unbelief. Such is the heart of man! He fears for his life and then takes once more his case out of the Lord's hands and flees to Achish the king of Gath. He had been there before and at that former visit he feigned insanity and the Philistinian Ahimelech Achish of Gath had driven him away. Now he is welcomed by Achish, for he brings a small army of 600 young men with him and receives Ziklag to dwell in with his two wives and his household. And Saul after this sought him no more. David abode

1 Samuel 27:1 to 1 Samuel 28:2. DAVID AT GATH (J). Sequel to 1 Samuel 26:25 (_cf._ 1 Samuel 21:10). 1 SAMUEL 27:1. As a last resource David takes refuge at Gath. 1 SAMUEL 27:6. ZIKLAG: Joshua 15:31. 1 SAMUEL 27:7. This paragraph does not simp

IN HIS HEART. to himself. I SHALL NOW PERISH. This lack of faith acted with disastrous results to David. It put him in. false position; shook the People's confidence in him; delayed his own election; and led to divisions in the kingdom. COAST. border....

1 Samuel 27:1-7. David's flight to Achish, and residence at Ziklag 1. _into the land of the Philistines_ The result anticipated in 1 Samuel 26:19 has come to pass. David is forced to seek refuge in a heathen land. The circumstances of this flight are entirely different from those related in 1 Samuel 21:10 ff. Then the solitary fugitive, recognised as the slayer of Goliath, narrowly escaped losing his life; now the outlaw leader of a band of stalwart warriors is welcomed as an ally. He entered the king's service as an independent chieftain, like an Italian Condottiere of the middle ages. Traces of this residence at Gath may be observed in the attachment of Ittai the _Gittite_to David ...

DISCOURSE: 307 THE UNBELIEVING FEARS OF DAVID 1 Samuel 27:1, _And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul_. OF the dispositions of men their fellow-creatures can judge only by external signs, either in word or deed: but God discerns them as they exist in the inmost recesses of the heart, and puts a just construction upon every motion there. It does not appear that David had disclosed to any one his feelings on the occasion before us: but the all-seeing God has told us what was the language of his heart: “David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul.” It will be a profitable subject for our consideration, if we inquire, I. In what light we should regard these fears of David— Beyond all doubt, there was great occasion for fear— [_The malignity of Saul against him was deeply noted_. From the mo