1 Samuel 21:10 - Meaning and Application

David, though he had been chosen to be king, is here living as an exile. He was destined to rule over great wealth, yet at this moment he is begging for bread. He had been anointed for the crown, and yet now he is forced to flee from his own country. God’s dealings sometimes seem to go against his promises, and he allows this to test his people’s faith and to glorify his name as he carries out his plans, despite every obstacle.

Here we see David fleeing to the land of the Philistines, where he hoped to hide and remain unnoticed in the court or camp of Achish, king of Gath (1 Samuel 21:10). Israel’s favorite is forced to leave the land of Israel, and the Philistine’s great enemy goes looking for shelter among them. It appears that, while the Israelites loved him, the king of Israel had a personal hatred for him, which drove him out of his own country. Yet, while the Philistines hated him, the king of Gath seems to have had a personal regard for him, perhaps because he valued David’s ability, and perhaps even more because David had killed Goliath of Gath, who may not have been a friend to Achish.

David went straight to Achish, as to someone he thought he could trust, as he later did again (1 Samuel 27:2-3). Achish would not have protected him except that he was afraid of offending his own people. God’s persecuted people have often received better treatment from Philistines than from Israelites, and from Gentile courts than from Jewish synagogues. The king of Judah imprisoned Jeremiah, but the king of Babylon set him free.

Then Achish’s servants objected to David being there and brought their complaint to their king (1 Samuel 21:11). “Is this not David? Is this not the one who has defeated the Philistines? Did they not sing about him, ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’? And is this not the man who, if our reports from Israel are true, is or will be king of the land?” If that is so, they argued, then he must be an enemy to their country, and it would be neither safe nor honorable to protect him. Achish may have suggested that it was wise to welcome David, since he was now Saul’s enemy and might later become a friend to them. Outlaws often find shelter with the enemies of their own nation. But Achish’s servants opposed that policy and thought it unwise for David to remain among them.

This alarmed David. Though he had some reason to trust Achish, once he saw the servants of Achish growing suspicious, he feared that Achish would have to hand him over to them, and he became very afraid (1 Samuel 21:12). He may have felt even more exposed because he was carrying Goliath’s sword, which was likely well known in Gath. With that sword, they might be expected to take his head, just as he had taken Goliath’s. David now learned by experience what he had taught us, that it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes (Psalm 118:9). People of high rank can fail us, and if we make them our hope, they may become the cause of our fear.

It was at this time that David wrote Psalm 55, a “Michtam,” or golden psalm, after the Philistines seized him in Gath. There he laid out his distress before God, and then he said, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you” (Psalm 55:3). So he could also say, “I will not be afraid of what man can do to me, even of the sons of giants” (Psalm 55:11).

To escape from their hands, David pretended to be insane (1 Samuel 21:13). He acted like a fool, or like someone who had lost his mind, thinking they would easily believe that the shame and trouble he was under had driven him mad. This deception cannot be fully approved. It was a low thing to lessen himself in that way, and it did not fit the truthfulness and dignity that should mark a man like David. Still, it can be partly excused, because it was not a direct lie, and it was like a war trick used to mislead an enemy in order to save one’s life.

What David did in disguise and for his own safety, which made it somewhat excusable, drunkards do in reality, only to satisfy a shameful desire. They make fools of themselves and change their behavior. Their words and actions are often as foolish as an idiot’s, or as wild and violent as a madman’s. It is strange that men of sense and honor should ever allow themselves in such a thing.

By this means David escaped (1 Samuel 21:14-15). I am inclined to think that Achish knew the madness was only pretend, but since he wanted to protect David, as he later plainly did even when the Philistine leaders did not favor him (1 Samuel 28:1-2; 1 Samuel 29:6), he told his servants that he truly thought David was mad. That gave him reason to question whether this was really David at all. And if it was David, they need not fear him, since he was no threat now that his reason had left him.

The servants suspected that Achish wanted to keep David, but Achish answered, “Not I. He is a madman. I will have nothing to do with him. You need not worry that I will use him or favor him.” He fits the situation well when he says, “Do I need madmen? Should this fool come into my house?” He would show him no kindness, but he also did not want the servants to harm him, since a madman is to be pitied. So he drove David away, as the title of Psalm 34 says, which David wrote on this occasion. It is an excellent psalm, and it shows that David did not change inwardly when he changed his behavior. Even in great danger and confusion, his heart was fixed, trusting in the Lord. He ends that psalm with this confidence, that none who trust in God will be left desolate, though they may, as he was then, be lonely and distressed, persecuted but not abandoned.