1 Samuel 27 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 1 Sam 27:1-12

1 But David thought to himself, ‘One of these days I shall be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.’

2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

5 Then David said to Achish, ‘If I have found favour in your eyes, let a place be assigned to me in one of the country towns, that I may live there. Why should your servant live in the royal city with you?’

6 So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. 7 David lived in Philistine territory for a year and four months.

8 Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these peoples had lived in the land extending to Shur and Egypt.) 9 Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish.

10 When Achish asked, ‘Where did you go raiding today?’ David would say, ‘Against the Negev of Judah’ or ‘Against the Negev of Jerahmeel’ or ‘Against the Negev of the Kenites.’ 11 He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, ‘They might inform on us and say, “This is what David did.”’ And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. 12 Achish trusted David and said to himself, ‘He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.’

A. Find Out:

1. Why did David decide to leave Israel? v.1
2. What did he do and how effective was it? v.2-4
3. Where was David allowed to settle? v.5,6
4. How long did he live there? v.7
5. What did David do and how did he preserve secrecy? v.8-11
6. Why did Achish allow him to remain? v.12 

B. Think:

1. What two risks were there to David’s lie at this time?
2. How would you describe David’s activity at this time?
3. What appears righteous and unrighteous about it?

C. Comment:

     This is supposed to be a man of God we are watching. To understand his actions we need to note the circumstances in some detail. David is in fear of his life from Saul (and even the best of us have our moments of doubt) and so goes where he knows he can convince them that he’s all right to have around. Achish gives him Ziklag, a border town between Judah and the Philistines, perhaps with the hope that David will be a protective buffer against Saul. David on the other hand uses this as an opportunity to carry out cleaning up operations, wiping out those fringe peoples who so often made annoying incursions into Judah. The only way he can do this is by totally wiping out any witnesses and telling Achish a lie. Not exactly what we might consider acts of righteousness but possibly acceptable under the harsh circumstances prevailing.     The remarkable thing is that this episode of his life doesn’t remove him from the love of God. At a later time he is barred from building the temple because of the blood on his hands (1 Chronicles 22:7,8) but he has not been excluded from the purposes of God. 

D. Application:

1. Even the best of us waver in our faith from time to time but God still reaches out and seeks to draw us back. That is grace!
2. All of us have our weaknesses. God doesn’t want us to just accept them, but they don’t debar us from His love.