Bible study · 1 Samuel 27:1-12
1 Samuel 27: David said in his heart
Read 1 Samuel 27:1-12 before you meet.
In a few lines
When David said in his heart, "I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul" (27:1), perish was in Hebrew the verb he had just used of Saul: "he shall go down into battle and perish" (26:10). And the peoples he told Achish he had raided, the Jerahmeelites and the Kenites (27:10), are among those he later sent gifts from the plunder (30:29).
The verse to carry
“David said in his heart, “I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel. So I will escape out of his hand.””
1 Samuel 27:1
To talk about
1. David said in his heart, "I will now perish one day by the hand of Saul" (27:1). What do you find yourself saying in your heart when things look hopeless, and where do you take it?
2. David lived in the country of the Philistines "a full year and four months" (27:7). What helps you stay close to God when you are living far from where you belong?
3. This chapter tells what David did among the Philistines without saying whether it was right (27:8-12). When you meet a story like this in the Bible, what helps you think it through?