David flees Saul

In short

King Saul is trying to kill David (yes, that David), who is a servant in Saul’s court and a victorious warrior for Saul. Jealousy, anyone? 1 Samuel 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 29

Why it is important

It shows us two things:

1. Saul is morally bankrupt at this point
2. David does right, mixed with a lot of really questionable things, too

Main characters

• Saul, king of Israel
• David, future king of Israel (he knows that already)
• Doeg the Edomite (a dirty rat)
• Achish, king of Gath (an enemy of Israel)

What is in these stories

1 Samuel, chapter:

19. David’s wife (and Saul’s daughter), Michal, helps David escape. David goes to Samuel. Saul’s messengers all prophesy, against their will, it seems – it’s a pretty funny story.
20. David’s best friend (and Saul’s son), Jonathan, helps David escape.
21. David goes to the priest at Nob, tells him he is on business for Saul (a lie, no doubt) and asks for the showbread and the sword of Goliath. David then goes to Gath (where Goliath was from) and pretends to be crazy.
22. David musters his ragtag army. Saul kills 85 priests at Nob because David was there (Doeg was the mole)
23. David actually consults the LORD in this chapter (thanks to Abiathar, a priest who escaped from Nob). David saves the city of Keilah, then roams southern Israel (i.e., Judah).
24. David spares Saul’s life in a cave.

27. David tries Gath again, this time with the Philistine king, Achish, and settles down there for 16 months. He goes on raids against Israelite enemies but tells the king that he is fighting against Israelite territory (I think)

29. The Philistines are readying for battle against Israel, and the Philistine commanders don’t trust David for fear he would betray them (no kidding), so they ask him to leave. The king is actually loyal to David (and knows exactly who David is!).

Psalms about this time

• Psalm 34 – David goes mad (1Sa 21:12–22:1)
• Psalm 52 – Doeg the Edomite (1Sa 22:9–19)
• Psalm 54 – Ratted out by the locals (1Sa 23:19)
• Psalm 56 – Found out in Philistine city of Gath (1Sa 21:10–11)
• Psalm 57 (and 142) – In a cave (1Sa 22:1 or 24:3)
• Probably Psalm 63* – In the desert of Judah (1Sa 23:14–15)

Theology and doctrine

Again, it’s really difficult (to say the least) to justify a lot of what David does in this time. I feel like the story winks at us when Achish says to David, “I know that you are as blameless in my sight as an angel of God” (1Sa 29:9). Do you, the reader, think that of David, too?

Footnote

* I’m going off a cool chart in the ESV (link after this) about Psalms linked to events of David. They say Psalm 63 could be about a much later time (2Sa 15-17), when David flees from Absalom (which, by the way, is what Psalm 3 is about). Yeah, I guess so, but I would lean toward the Saul timeframe. I suppose it’s not that crucial if we know.

Chart: https://www.esv.org/resources/esv-global-study-bible/chart-19-01/