271 David thought to himself, "Sooner or later, Saul's going to get me. The best thing I can do is escape to Philistine country. Saul will count me a lost cause and quit hunting me down in every nook and cranny of Israel. I'll be out of his reach for good." 2 So David left; he and his six hundred men went to Achish son of Maoch, king of Gath. 3 They moved in and settled down in Gath, with Achish. Each man brought his household; David brought his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, widow of Nabal of Carmel. 4 When Saul was told that David had escaped to Gath, he called off the hunt. 5 Then David said to Achish, "If it's agreeable to you, assign me a place in one of the rural villages. It doesn't seem right that I, your mere servant, should be taking up space in the royal city." 6 So Achish assigned him Ziklag. (This is how Ziklag got to be what it is now, a city of the kings of Judah.) 7 David lived in Philistine country a year and four months.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 27:1-7
Commentary on 1 Samuel 27:1-7
(Read 1 Samuel 27:1-7)
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.