A King called David - Part 5

In 'A King called David - Part 4' we concluded the blog post with King Saul still determined to pursue David to slay him. On two separate occasions David had opportunity to kill Saul but chose not to. David realised that Saul would continue to pursue him and later made a decision to go into the land of the Philistines for safety. In the interlude David marries two wives, Abigail the Carmelite and Ahinoam the Jezreelite; who accompany him in his rovings.

1 Samuel 27:1-4

"(1) And David said in his heart, "Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand."
(2) Then David arose and went over with the six hundred men who were with him to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath.
(3) So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's widow.
(4) And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more."

David asks Achish the king of Gath for a place where he and his company could reside. Achish complies with David's request.

1 Samuel 27:5-6

 "(5) Then David said to Achish, "If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?"
(6) So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day."

David carried out raids against the people of the lands around Ziklag; the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. He would then return to Achish and inform him that he had raided the land of Judah.

1 Samuel 27:9-12

"(9) Whenever David attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish.
(10) Then Achish would say, "Where have you made a raid today?" And David would say, "Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of the Kenites."

(11) David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, "Lest they should inform on us, saying, 'Thus David did'."And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines.
(12) So Achish believed David, saying, "He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever."

Achish mistakenly believes that David is destroying his enemies in the land of Israel. He is not aware that David is in fact destroying Achish's neighbours and allies. He thinks that David by his actions is making the children of Israel abhor David. There are no living witnesses to witness against David; so Achish is none the wiser.

We now come into a phase where the Philistines go into battle with the Israelites.

1 Samuel 29:1-4

"(1) Then the Philistines gathered together all their armies at Aphek, and the Israelites encamped by a fountain which is in Jezreel.
(2) And the lords of the Philistines passed in review by hundreds and by thousands, but David and his men passed in review at the rear with Achish.
(3) Then the princes of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish said to the princes of the Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days, or these years? And to this day I have found no fault in him since he defected to me."
(4) But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him; so the princes of the Philistines said to him, "Make this fellow return, that he may go back to the place which you have appointed for him, and do not let him go down with us to battle, lest in the battle he become our adversary. For with what could he reconcile himself to his master, if not with the heads of these men?"

The princes of the Philistines are angry with Achish for bringing David and his men to the battle. They are concerned that David will turn on their men and slay them. David is made to return to Ziklag. Three days later they came to Ziklag only to find that it had been burned with fire and all the inhabitants removed as captives. His men were greatly distressed and talked about stoning David for this terrible calamity.

He inquired of the Lord via Abiathar the priest whether or not to pursue those responsible for the devastation.

1 Samuel 30:7-8

"(7) Then David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech's son, "Please bring the ephod here to me." And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
(8) So David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?" And He answered him, "Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all."

David and his men set off in pursuit and find a young man left for dead in a field. Upon inquiry they discover he is a servant of an Amalekite who had abandoned him because he became sick. They give him food, he revives and promises to show David and his men where the Amalekites are camped. David and his men attack the Amelekites at evening and are victorious against them. They recover everything including all their own people. They gather so much booty that David is able to distribute a lot of it to those who have helped him out in southern Judah and other places where he has been roving.

Meanwhile the battle between Israel and the Philistines at Jezreel turns out to be a disaster for Israel. Saul and his sons are killed in battle, the Israelite army flees the battle scene. The inhabitants of the local towns also flee. Subsequently, the Philistines took over those towns and lived in them. David later receives news of the death of Saul and Jonathan and laments their passing. David and his men continued on in Ziklag.

David later inquired of the Lord if he should go back to Judah to live.

2 Samuel 2:1-4

"(1) It happened after this that David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?" And the Lord said to him, "Go up." David said, "Where shall I go up?" And He said, "To Hebron."
(2) So David went up there, and his two wives also, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite.
(3) And David brought up the men who were with him, every man with his household. So they dwelt in the cities of Hebron.
(4) Then the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah..."

Thus we find David is anointed King of Judah. Yet it will be a while before all the Israelites anoint him King over all Israel.

 

Jon Peasey
Biblical Perspectives blog www.jon-peasey.blogspot.com
Ebooks author page https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/JRPeasey

[All Scriptures quoted are from the New King James version; unless otherwise noted. Words enclosed in [ ] are inserted for clarity. Words in bold type emphasise a point. You may notice some verses are quoted with ... at the beginning, ending or elsewhere in a verse. Only the relevant part or parts of the verse, that relate directly to the current subject matter is quoted.
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