1 Samuel 26-28 David is Still on the Run

Thoughts

Samuel 26

The Ziphites again report David’s location to Saul. Saul sets out with 3,000 men to hunt David (so I guess chapter 24 meant nothing to Saul)

David and Abishai (one of his warriors) enter Saul’s camp while he sleeps, with Abner (Saul’s commander) nearby. Abishai offers to kill Saul, but David refuses, once again, saying he will not harm “the Lord’s anointed.”

Instead, David takes Saul’s spear and water jug as proof he was there, as a deep sleep from the Lord had fallen on Saul and his men.

 David shouts to Abner, mocking him for failing to protect the king. He shows the spear and water jug.

David asks why Saul continues to pursue him, comparing himself to a single flea or a partridge in the mountains.He insists again that he will not harm Saul and asks God to value his life.

Saul confesses his sin and blesses David.

Samuel 27

David is weary and thinks Saul will eventually kill him. He decides the safest option is to escape to Philistine territory.

He and his 600 men, with their families, go to Achish king of Gath. When Saul learns David has fled to Gath, he stops pursuing him.

David asks Achish for a place outside the royal city to live. Achish grants him Ziklag, which remains linked with Judah’s kings afterward. David lives there for 16 months among the Philistines.

• This was the same king from chapter 21 where David pretended to be mad

From Ziklag, David raids the Geshurites, Girzites, and Amalekites, destroying entire groups so no one can report back.He brings livestock and goods to Achish, but deceives him by saying he raided parts of Judah.

• In Chapter 23, David repeatedly “inquired of the Lord” (vv. 2, 4, 10-12) before acting, but in Chapter 27, there is no prayer and no mention of seeking God’s direction. 
• In 1 Samuel 27: David raids villages, kills everyone so no one can report the truth, then lies to Achish about where he went. In 2 Samuel 11: David sins with Bathsheba, then arranges for Uriah to be killed to cover up the pregnancy.

Achish believes David has made himself “odious” to Israel and will be his servant forever.

Samuel 28

The Philistines gather their armies against Israel andAchish tells David he must join the Philistine army.

We are given a reminder that Samuel has died and Saul had expelled mediums and spiritists from the land.

When Saul inquires of the Lord, God does not answer not by dreams, Urim/Thummim, or prophets.So Saul disguises himself and seeks out the witch/medium of Endor.

• Leviticus 20:6 And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people.

Despite her fear (since Saul himself had forbidden this practice), she agrees and Saul asks her to bring up Samuel’s spirit.

She realizes the disguised man is Saul and he explains his desperation and God’s silence. The spirit (actually Samuel?) rebukes him: the Lord has turned away, become his enemy, and fulfilled the prophecy of tearing the kingdom from him.

• From Guzik: “Properly speaking, Samuel was not in heaven. Jesus explained in the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) that before the finished work of Jesus on the cross, the believing dead went to a place of comfort and blessing known as Abraham’s bosom. When Jesus finished His work on the cross, sin’s penalty was paid for these believing dead and they were then ushered into heaven.” https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-samuel-28/

He predicts Israel will lose to the Philistines and that Saul and his sons will die the next day.

Saul collapses in fear, weak from fasting.

Questions

Why did David kill the women of the towns he raided?

Why did Achish accept him now?

Why did Saul want to talk to Samuel who rebuked him?

Was the medium scared because she had never conjured a spirit before?

Application

A common theme in these chapters is ‘God’s voice’.  In Chapter 26, David listens to God’s voice and refuses Abishai’s recommendation to kill Saul. In Chapter 27, David seemingly stops listening to God and leans on his own fear. In Chapter 28, Saul hears only silence from God because he’s rejected Him and ends up turning to a forbidden ‘voice’. Who do we listen to? Life constantly presents us with competing voices whether that is our fear, people’s advice, or what the world tells us to do. How often do we turn to God’s voice to shape our path?

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