And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel; so shall I escape out of his hand." Poor, discouraged saint of God! Think of What that faithful, loving God had done for him, the humble shepherd boy of Bethlehem, and what He was about to do for him. David was not to be troubled again by Saul; God had delivered him out of his hands time after time, and just before this He had stopped Saul from killing him. The heart searching trials he was having, were for his own blessing and future profit.
But 'David was only a man, after all; his faith failed; he left God out of his calculations (see verse 1), and fell from the high position he had occupied, to reasoning from his circumstances. His own later words, inspired of God, in Psalm 27:1414Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord. (Psalm 27:14) tell us what should have been the expression of his heart at this time: "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart; wait, I say, on the Lord."
Blinded then, for the time by unbelief. for God had not forsaken him and would never leave him, David went over to the Philistine king of Gath with his household and followers. Saul presently learned of it and sought no more for him God was not indifferent to the needs of his servant who was "beloved" (the meaning of his name, David) no matter how far he might wander from the divine pathway appointed for him. As it appears, David was not comfortable in the court of Achish (nor could he be, one who knew the living and true God, among the servants of Satan), and he asked and received the town of Ziklag in which to live. This was in the far south of the land given by God to Israel for a possession, but from which, as we have noticed again and again, the Philistines had not been driven, due to the lack of faith in the children of Israel.
While among the Philistines, David and his men went out to the south and invaded the territory occupied by the people with whom the Philistines were friendly, as it would seem, and David told a lie to Achish about it, winning his favor by maintaining a false position before him. One wrong step easily leads to another, and forsaking the path of simple dependence on God, is apt to involve the believer in much sorrow. We shall find presently David restored in soul and going on more becomingly before God, but he will first be disciplined as a child of God, because of his failure.