1 Samuel 27: 1-7…..An accepted refugee.

Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” So David arose and went over, he and the six hundred men who were with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal’s widow. And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.
Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” So that day Achish gave him Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

Comment: David, by fleeing to the land of the Philistines, a the nearby region of Gath, thought that Saul would cease hunting him. Achish was the area ruler (king). I guess that he reasoned that Saul wouldn’t risk an all out war with the Philistines by chasing into their territory after him. And we are told that Saul stopped his chase for David.

You would have thought that the local king may have wondered why David, whom he obviously knew or knew about, would come into his land. David had a sizeable fighting force! I presume with great diplomacy David presented his case and was granted an area with the town of Ziklag. I suspect that Achish had spies watching him carefully! We shall see over the next few days how it worked out.

Prayer: Life gets complicated for us also, Lord. Help us to walk well through our difficulties.