1 Samuel 27:5-7 – Stay away from negative influence

David went and lived among the Philistines to hide away from Saul. Even though they were the enemy of Israel, he felt safer among them. And he was right for we are told that when Saul heard that he had gone to Gath, he stopped searching for him. But we remember that when he was in  Saul’s service, David was the one who would lead the army to fight the Philistines. So the obvious question that would come to mind would be, how then would the Philistines treat him? According to verse 7, David lived among the Philistines for a year and four months.

In verse 5, we are told of an audacious move by David. He told Achish, saying “If now I have found favor in your sight, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may live there; for why should your servant live in the royal city with you?” This verse suggests that David and his men were treated charitably by the Philistines. David then boldly requested King Achish to give them a specific part of the land for him and his people. It was one thing to be given permission to live among them but quite another to request a specific area in the country to be given to them. Of course, David requested it diplomatically. He had to demean himself in the request. Notice how subservient he became to refer to himself as Achish’s servant.  Notwithstanding that, it was a daring move. It’s not difficult to conclude David had indeed found favor with Achish. He gave Ziklag to him. Then looking ahead, the sentence that says, “…therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day”  hinted that David would ultimately become the king of Judah and Ziklag remained his and his descendants’ property.

For David at this juncture, living among the Philistines would certainly be safer than in Engedi or Hachilah, where he had to face the menace of Saul. But living in the enemy’s territory had its attending dangers too. He and his men were constantly exposed to the influence of the negative practices of the Philistines, subtly. When a person is constantly exposed to something, in time he would succumb to its influence subconsciously. Perhaps this could be why David made his request to Achish. He did not want to be where he would be constantly exposed to the Philistines’ ungodly practices. One lesson we can take away from David’s experience here is this: it is wise to pull ourselves away from the place where there may be a damaging influence. The wise thing to do is to live away from that source. Paul wisely advised young Timothy to “flee youthful lust.” It was a place of danger for him. What about us? Where are the dangerous sources in our lives? It behooves us to be careful how we walk so that we will not put ourselves in harm’s way. The best thing to do is to get away from the sources of negative influence, be they people or places!