I Samuel Chapter 27
Please read: I Samuel 27 –
Chapter 27 is a very short chapter, but it will tell us a lot about where David’s heart was at the time. David is in what we would call a spiritual slump. He is discouraged and feeling beaten and instead of running to God he is retreating.
Sadly, many believers will follow this same pattern when life gets difficult. In this state of mind, we tend to retreat within and think that God is just never going to come through for us. We might never voice this out loud but think it in our heart. This type of thinking is dangerous because it can lead to a backslidden lifestyle where we go for a long period of time ignoring the Holy Spirit. This was the type of slump that David was in. He was tired of running for his life. In fact, he was convinced that Saul would eventually take his life.
The sad thing is when we fall away from our faith in God, it affects others whether we realize it or not. In this instance, David’s lack of faith affected the men that looked up to him for his leadership and all their families. David had not turned his back on God, but he wasn’t searching for him either. And since we have a free will to make these kinds of choices, God will often let us stew in our choices for a time so that we eventually learn that we need to seek Him and trust Him. We read that David stayed in this slump a little over a year.
Let's Reflect
1. David was so discouraged that he was willing to turn to the Philistines, the enemy of Israel, as a fugitive. Who did David take with him to Gath?
2. David lived with the Philistine king of Gath named Achish. This is the same king that David had previously approached and then acted as a madman fearing that Achish would kill him. Things were different now; David had earned a reputation of being a fighting man and had come to Gath with 600 or so men that Achish could use as free mercenaries. According to verse 4 what was Saul’s response when he heard that David was living in Gath?
3. David convinced Achish to do what for him?
4. How long exactly does the Bible say that David and his men lived amongst the Philistines?
5. David began a life of being a mercenary taking out enemies of Israel. He destroyed every one of them so word could not get back to Achish. God had not instructed David to do these raids. And David sank one step lower when he lied about his raids. Where did David tell Achish that he had been out fighting and conquering?
6. Achish believed the lies he was told. He thought this was a good thing for his people. What did he say about David?
