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DAVID FOUND REFUGE IN GATH
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20
1 Samuel 27

Psalm 62:1-4

 

“Truly my soul waiteth upon God:

from him cometh my salvation.”

 

DAVID FOUND REFUGE IN GATH
 
Saul could not keep up with the moves of David. He had focused on killing him, but David was ahead of the king. Saul knew in his heart that David would be the next king of Israel, but he could not accept it.
 
Matthew Henry said, “Unbelief is a sin that easily besets even good men, when without are fightings and within are fears; and it is a hard matter to get over them. Lord, increase our faith! We may blush to think that the word of a Philistine should go further than the word of an Israelite, and that the city of Gath should be a place of refuge for a good man, when the cities of Israel refuse him a safe abode. David gained a comfortable settlement, not only at a distance from Gath, but bordering upon Israel, where he might keep up a correspondence with his own countrymen.”
 
When David moved to the land of the Philistines, he had an army of six hundred men. The king of Gath granted him the refuge. The people who were with David had to relocate to stay together. Life as a refugee was not easy, and all these responsibilities rested on the shoulders of David. He had learned how to survive and adapt himself to any given situation. He escaped to Gath, the city of Achish the king. Achish welcomed David and David was ready for a long-term settlement. He knew that the refuge in Gath was better.
 
King Saul had commanded his men to apprehend David or to kill him. Thus, David felt safer in a foreign land than in his own nation. This was a land that was perceived as a perpetual enemy of Israel. David rose to fame by killing a Philistine champion. Then he was a refugee in that nation. In God’s wisdom, he was able to get around potential problems which later turned out victorious. His presence in the land of Philistines was known to King Saul who did not continue his pursuit. The negative relationship between the two nations worked then to David’s advantage. This was God’s providence. David’s struggle, however, was not yet over.
 
THOUGHT: Look always to God.

PRAYER: Father, help me to always make the right decision.

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