1 Samuel · chapter 27 of 31
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1 Samuel 27 tells how David, convinced that Saul will eventually kill him, flees with his six hundred men to Achish, the Philistine king of Gath. Achish gives him the city of Ziklag, and David lives there a year and four months. From there he raids enemy peoples to the south, but tells Achish he has raided Judah, and Achish trusts him.
After the fragile reconciliation of chapter 26, David concludes that he is no longer safe in Israel. Chapter 27 opens an ambiguous stage: God's anointed lives among his people's enemies and keeps up a double life. The text gives no explicit verdict, and it shows both God's protection and the dangers of a compromise made without consulting God.
David says in his heart that one day he will perish at the hand of Saul, and that the best thing is to escape to the land of the Philistines, so that Saul will give up searching for him throughout the territory of Israel. He sets out with his six hundred men, each with his household, and goes to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. David settles with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal. When Saul is told that David has fled to Gath, he no longer searches for him.
David asks Achish for a place in one of the country towns, so as not to live in the royal city. Achish gives him Ziklag, which has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. David lives in Philistine territory a year and four months.
From Ziklag David and his men raid the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites, peoples who had long lived toward Shur and the land of Egypt. David leaves neither man nor woman alive, so that no one can report what he is doing, and brings back sheep, cattle, donkeys, camels and clothing. When he returns to Achish, Achish asks against whom they raided today, and David answers that it was against the Negeb of Judah, or of the Jerahmeelites, or of the Kenites.
Achish trusts David and thinks that he has made himself odious to his people Israel, so that he will be his servant forever.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
David tells himself that one day he will perish at the hand of Saul, and that the best thing is to flee to the land of the Philistines. It is a moment of despair: after the promises of Samuel and Jonathan, David acts out of fear.
Achish gives him Ziklag, which has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. God uses even a doubtful decision of David's to give him a base in southern Judah.
David raids the Geshurites, Girzites and Amalekites, long-time enemies of Israel. While living among the Philistines, he serves his own people's interests in practice.
Achish trusts David, believing he has made himself odious to his people. David's deception works for a time, but it puts him in an awkward position that will erupt in chapter 29.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: That one day he would perish at the hand of Saul and that the best thing was to flee to the land of the Philistines. — 1 Samuel 27:1
Answer: To Achish, king of Gath. — 1 Samuel 27:2
Answer: He no longer searched for him. — 1 Samuel 27:4
Answer: The city of Ziklag. — 1 Samuel 27:6
Answer: A year and four months. — 1 Samuel 27:7
Answer: That he had raided the Negeb of Judah, though he was really raiding enemy peoples. — 1 Samuel 27:10
When fear takes over, we tend to look for solutions on our own, even if they involve dangerous compromises. David did not inquire of the Lord, and his decision led him into a double life full of deceptions. In a small group you can talk about decisions made out of fear and about the importance of going back to seek God's will.
The chapter also reminds us that God works even in the midst of our mistakes. David survives, gains a base in Ziklag and keeps fighting Israel's enemies. That does not justify his deceptions, but it shows the patience and faithfulness of a God who fulfills his purposes.
1 Samuel 27 leaves David settled in Ziklag, apparently safe, but with a double loyalty that is harder and harder to sustain. In chapter 28 the Philistines prepare to attack Israel and Saul, terrified, seeks out a medium at Endor.
The text does not explicitly condemn it, but neither does it approve it: it notes that David decided it in his heart, without consulting the Lord as in other passages. The following chapters show the tensions and dangers of that decision.
The text says he did it so that no one would tell Achish what he was really doing. The peoples attacked were ancient enemies of Israel, but the narrator lets us see that deception has a moral cost and serves to maintain the lie before Achish.