622
Patriarchs and Prophets
which hath been with me these days, or these years, and I have found
no fault in him since he fell unto me unto this day?”
But the princes angrily persisted in their demand: “Make this
fellow return, that he may go again to his place which thou hast
appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest in the
battle he be an adversary to us: for wherewith should he reconcile
himself unto his master? should it not be with the heads of these men?
Is not this David, of whom they sang one to another in dances, saying,
Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?” The slaughter
of their famed champion and the triumph of Israel upon that occasion
were still fresh in the memory of the Philistine lords. They did not
believe that David would fight against his own people; and should he,
in the heat of battle, take sides with them, he could inflict greater harm
on the Philistines than would the whole of Saul’s army.
Thus Achish was forced to yield, and calling David, said unto him,
“Surely as Jehovah liveth, thou hast been upright, and thy going out
and thy coming in with me in the host is good in my sight: for I have
not found evil in thee since the day of thy coming unto me unto this
day. Nevertheless the lords favor thee not. Wherefore now return, and
go in peace, that thou displease not the lords of the Philistines.”
David, fearing to betray his real feelings, answered, “But what
have I done? and what hast thou found in thy servant so long as I
have been with thee unto this day, that I may not go fight against the
enemies of my lord the king?”
The reply of Achish must have sent a thrill of shame and remorse
through David’s heart, as he thought how unworthy of a servant of
Jehovah were the deceptions to which he had stooped. “I know that
thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God,” said the king: “notwith-
standing, the princes of the Philistines have said, He shall not go up
with us to the battle. Wherefore now rise up early in the morning with
thy master’s servants that are come with thee: and as soon as ye be up
early in the morning, and have light, depart.” Thus the snare in which
David had become entangled was broken, and he was set free.
[692]
After three days’ travel David and his band of six hundred men
reached Ziklag, their Philistine home. But a scene of desolation met
their view. The Amalekites, taking advantage of David’s absence, with
his force, had avenged themselves for his incursions into their territory.
They had surprised the city while it was left unguarded, and having