271 Then David said to himself , "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul . There is nothing better for me than to escape into the land of the Philistines . Saul then will despair of searching for me anymore in all the territory of Israel , and I will escape from his hand ."
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Samuel 27:1
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.