Study Desk

When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Praise the Lord ! Nabal insulted me, but the Lord has supported me! He has kept me from doing wrong. The Lord has punished Nabal for his wrong." Then David sent a message to Abigail, asking her to be his wife.

So Saul went down to the Desert of Ziph with three thousand chosen men of Israel to look for David there.

he sent out spies and learned for certain that Saul had come to Hakilah.

David shouted to the army and to Abner son of Ner, "Won't you answer me, Abner?" Abner answered, "Who is calling for the king? Who are you?"

Now don't let me die far away from the Lord 's presence. The king of Israel has come out looking for a flea! You're just hunting a bird in the mountains!"

The Lord rewards us for the things we do right and for our loyalty to him. The Lord handed you over to me today, but I wouldn't harm the Lord 's appointed king.

But David thought to himself, "Saul will catch me someday. The best thing I can do is escape to the land of the Philistines. Then he will give up looking for me in Israel, and I can get away from him."

When Saul heard that David had run away to Gath, he stopped looking for him.

David and his men raided the people of Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek. (These people had lived for a long time in the land that reached to Shur and Egypt.)

David answered, "You will see for yourself what I, your servant, can do!" Achish said, "Fine, I'll make you my permanent bodyguard."

Now Samuel was dead, and all the Israelites had shown their sadness for him. They had buried Samuel in his hometown of Ramah. And Saul had forced out the mediums and fortune-tellers from the land.

Then Saul put on other clothes to disguise himself, and at night he and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, "Talk to a spirit for me. Bring up the person I name."

Saul made a promise to the woman in the name of the Lord . He said, "As surely as the Lord lives, you won't be punished for this."

Samuel asked Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" Saul said, "I am greatly troubled. The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has left me. He won't answer me anymore, either by prophets or in dreams. That's why I called for you. Tell me what to do."

The Philistine commanders asked, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" Achish told them, "This is David. He served Saul king of Israel, but he has been with me for over a year now. I have found nothing wrong in David since the time he left Saul."

And they gave him a piece of a fig cake and two clusters of raisins. Then he felt better, because he had not eaten any food or drunk any water for three days and nights.

Who will listen to what you say? The share will be the same for the one who stayed with the supplies as for the one who went into battle. All will share alike."

David made this an order and rule for Israel, which continues even today.

When David arrived in Ziklag, he sent some of the things he had taken from the Amalekites to his friends, the leaders of Judah. He said, "Here is a present for you from the things we took from the Lord 's enemies."

They took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh. Then the people of Jabesh fasted for seven days.