1 Samuel 27:1
“And David said in his heart, ‘Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.’”
It seems that David had reached his breaking point. After years of hiding in caves, and narrowly escaping the hand of Saul, David decides to leave Israel, and dwell among the Philistines. This decision would lead him to live a double life. He still has a heart for the things of God, but is living a lie. As the story continues to unfold, David even reached a point where he attempted to join the Philistines in battle against the people of God. This was no doubt one of the darkest times in the life of David. The root cause is revealed in verse one,
1 Samuel 27:1“And David said in his heart…”
Like all of us, David’s head was filled with a barrage of different messages. In one ear, he heard the voice of God promising him he would one day sit upon the throne in Israel, in the other, his heart spoke. Fear, discomfort, difficulty, and exhaustion, had brought David to the point where his heart began to tell him Saul would defeat him, and the only hope was to run. In a moment of weakness, David listened to his heart and walked out of the plan of God.
This is not an uncommon experience. We all face circumstances that cause us to call into question the promises of God. We, like David, are forced to make a choice. Will we listen to the promises of God or the cries of the heart? This has become so common that we are often encouraged to “Follow our heart” or “Do what our hearts tells us.” That was bad advice when David followed it three thousand years ago, and it remains bad advice today. Instead of listening to our hearts, which is little more than an expression of our ever changing emotions, we should listen to the the unchanging promises found in the pages of God’s Word.
Consider this: who was correct, David’s heart or God’s promises? Did David die by the hand of Saul, or was he crowned Israel’s greatest king? We can, and should, always trust in the promises of God, over the ever changing and unstable cries of our hearts.
Pastor Jim
This passage gives some very interesting insight into leadership. David searched for men of faith who would be willing to take risks for the kingdom. Abishai rose to the challenge and joined David on a dangerous mission to infiltrate the camp of the king. Under the cover of darkness, they made their way past the guards, and all the way to Saul. It was at this point that Abishai suggest they take the opportunity to kill the king, and bring an end to the difficulties he has caused. The exchange between David and Abishai is priceless in the lessons it illustrates. 
In this Psalm, David uses the illustration of a shepherd to speak of God’s care for those who belong to Him. This Psalm speaks of the benefits true to all who are in a covenant relationship with God. He speaks of God’s provision, comfort, protection and care. Jesus used the same illustration in John 10 when He said, 
Webster’s dictionary defines heritage as, “something possessed as a result of one’s natural situation or birth.” While many things may be passed from one generation to the next, the most valuable commodity we can leave for the following generations, is a godly testimony. 
If it were not for the revealing nature of the word of God, we might have missed the real folly of this man. On the outside, he may have seemed quite wise; he was married to a beautiful woman and he had a successful and thriving business. However, his wealth and the honor that came with it, were a mere cover up of his actual folly. We read that he ignored the warnings, and perhaps even died unprepared to face eternity. Jesus spoke of a rich fool who had achieved much in this life, but was ill prepared for that which follows (Luke 12:16-20). 
Life is filled with obstacles. We face constant trials that make this journey difficult. Yet, it seems we can handle almost anything except a troubled heart. When we are overwhelmed from within, it makes even the lightest burdens seem too great to bear. Our hearts are often troubled by loss, disappointment, fear or anxiety. David found there was another cause for a troubled heart – sin.
Although David wrote this Psalm as an expression of the experiences he was facing, it has a much bigger application than he ever could have conceived. It was on the cross that Jesus uttered the opening words to this great Psalm.
he thing that makes following Christ so difficult is the enemies we face. The primary enemy of the Christian is the devil and his minions. Scripture describes the devil as a schemer who seeks to derail us from following and serving Christ. He will use the weakness of our humanity as a tool to get us to stumble into sin. When at times, it may seem as though the temptations and the obstacles are too great to overcome, we can be greatly encouraged by this promise. 
Things seem to be going from bad to worse for David. Saul’s rage forced him to flee the palace, and live the life of a fugitive. For safety sake, he dwelt in caves to hide from the king and his spies. He and his men came out of hiding at the command of the Lord, and risked their lives to rescue the city of Keilah from Philistine invaders, only to find the citizens of Keilah had sold them out to Saul. It is easy to see why both David and his men could become discouraged by their circumstances. 
We have all had the silly daydream of winning the lottery, finding a stash of money in a secret compartment in the attic, inheriting millions from an unknown uncle, or inventing the next great product everyone wants to own. Why? I think the answer is simply that we would all love to have an unlimited supply of cash; not for it’s intrinsic value, but because of what we can obtain with it, and for the security that it brings. Imagine never having to worry about the bills again.
The stone Ezel would forever mark a turning point in the life of David. He had been sensing more and more that Saul’s jealous fits of rage would result in his own death. To clarify the matter, he and Jonathan had developed a plan to uncover Saul’s true desires. David would skip out on the palace celebration. In a few days, it would become evident he was not there. If Saul’s reaction was hostile, they determined David must flee for his life. In order to keep David informed of the news, Jonathan would shoot three arrows into the distance. If the arrows fell short of his location, David would know it was good news. If they flew beyond him, he would know Saul’s rage had escalated, and he must live the life of a fugitive.
