Living Among Enemies

1 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will 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 favor 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 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.”

David lived by his wits in the wilderness. He knew that ­going back to Israel would be too dangerous because Saul was hunting him again. Where could he go for safety? Who might provide the kind of ­anonymity he needed for protection?

David decided to live among his former enemies, the Philis­tines. What? Wouldn’t the Philistines remember that he had killed their champion Goliath? We aren’t told all of the details, but it seems that living with the Philistines was the safest way for David and his men to stay alive at this time.

Making his plea to Achish, the king of Gath, David was given refuge in Ziklag. David, along with his 600 men and their families, made no attempt to harm the Philistines. They kept their word to leave them alone and to wage war on their ­surrounding enemies. While David was in Philistine territory, Saul stayed away. David flourished in the last place he really wanted to be.

During this time, something amazing happened—the king of Gath trusted David. David had shown himself to be trustworthy. He had modeled the kind of behavior that can turn an old enemy into an ally. In this way we can see that the Lord protected David even while living among his people’s enemies.

Lord, I prefer living among friends rather than enemies. But I know you also call me to go outside my comfort zone, even into places where there might be enemies. Help me to honor and trust in you wherever I am. Amen.