First Samuel 27 Commentary
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Many people erroneously assume that every psalm in the Book of Psalms was written by David. Such is his fame as a musician. Or who can forget David’s triumph over Goliath? It is a Sunday school story. Very few people know the David we read about in this chapter.
We cannot be too sure about his decision to join Achish at Gath. What we can definitely tell is that David is having one of his lowest moments. Faith is struggling. Our superhero is now a mercenary. He has taken to a path of survival by merciless killings.
“Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes.”
When the LORD says that David has shed too much blood, (hence his disqualification for building the temple), we know the blood of Uriah is meant. Definitely, the blood of countless victims in this chapter should be part of the ‘too much blood’ mentioned in First Chronicles 22 verse 8.
These were difficult times for David. Has he given up on the multiple promises of the LORD for the kingship? How does he reconcile everything happening around him now? The conflict is very real. But in reality, the issue of Saul is a small matter. Faith is on trial here and that’s the biggest problem. The anointing and the word of the LORD via the great prophet Samuel, the confirmation via a faithful and equally god-fearing friend Jonathan, and the approval of the good and serious among the people, of what good are these in the face of the current situation? Maybe this whole thing wasn’t meant to be.
The LORD doesn’t have our fears. He knows the end from the beginning. We don’t. Mortals don’t have the mind of the LORD. We analyze situations based on tools of reason. These pages give us another set of tools based on the sure word of the LORD. These are faith-based tools. Usage of these faith tools has always been poor and problematic for mortals. David is not an exception.
So David finds himself as a guest in the land of the Philistines, at Gath under King Achish. He is later given Ziglag to settle there. We doubt if this is part of the script.
We feel for David. The LORD’s timing isn’t always about the best for mortals. The LORD’s gears to top speed don’t always increase. This formula can leave the saint very confused. You must pray about it; otherwise, you are likely to find yourself in the enemy territory with the conviction that probably the LORD meant it that way.
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