This last occurrence seems to have convinced David that there was no hope of any permanent change in the king’s feelings towards himself (1 Sam. xxvii. 1), and he therefore determined to seek refuge once more among the Philistines. No longer a solitary fugitive, but accompanied by his two wives, and his 600 followers with their households, he again presented himself before the king of Gath. In answer to his petition for a place in some town in the country[265], Achish assigned to him and his retinue the town of Ziklag, situated at some distance from Gath, towards the south or south-east of the Philistine frontier[266] (1 Sam. xxvii. 5). His stay here lasted over a year and four months, and during this period he and his men made an expedition against the Geshurites, Gezrites, and Amalekites, who roamed over the desert plateau overhanging the Philistian plain, and having carried off enormous booty, lest the truth should reach the ears of Achish, saved neither man nor woman alive. The king, however, did hear of the expedition, but in reply to his enquiries, was assured that it had been directed against the country south of Judah, and against the south of the Kenites. Satisfied with this proof of the fidelity of his vassal, he rejoiced that David had made _his own people Israel utterly to abhor him_, and deemed it an earnest of still greater services (1 Sam. xxvii. 8–12).
Before long the Philistines gathered their armies together for another and a decisive contest with the Israelites for the supremacy. Achish and his contingent prepared to take part in the expedition, and as his vassal, David consented to accompany him with his 600 men. Aphek, near Jezreel, was fixed upon as the place of rendezvous, and thither, probably along the sea-coast, the hundreds and thousands of the Philistines poured up from their fertile lowlands. As David passed on the way to Aphek, seven valiant chiefs, captains of thousands of the powerful tribe of Manasseh, instead of joining Saul’s army, preferred to throw in their lot with him and share his fortunes (1 Ch. xii. 19–21). But the unsuspecting confidence of Achish in his new-found vassal was not shared by the other Philistine chiefs, and they protested against David’s followers being allowed to accompany them. Achish was, therefore, constrained much against his will to dismiss him, and with the first dawn David set out on his return to Ziklag (1 Sam. xxix. 11). On arriving there, no town was to be found, nothing but a mass of burning ruins. During his absence the Amalekites had burst upon the place, burnt it to the ground, and carried off David’s wives and those of his retinue, whose faith in their leader, now for the first and only time, seems to have failed, and in the extremity of their grief they even threatened to stone him to death. It was a critical moment, but David’s old trust did not fail him, and he _encouraged himself in the Lord his God_ (1 Sam. xxx. 6). Abiathar was bidden to bring the ephod and ascertain the Divine Will. _Shall I pursue after this troop?_ David enquired. The reply was favourable, and his six hundred men, accompanied by the chiefs of Manasseh, set out in the direction of the brook Besor, a wady somewhere in the extreme south of Judah. Here 200 of his forces were so spent that he was fain to leave them by the brook, while the remainder pressing on, found in a field an Egyptian at the point of death, who had neither eaten bread nor drunk water for three days and three nights. But being supplied by David’s men with food and drink he revived, revealed that he was a slave of one of the Amalekite chiefs, and on promise of his life consented to guide the avengers to their foes. On coming up with them they were found _spread abroad upon all the earth, eating, drinking, and dancing_ in honour of their late victory (1 Sam. xxx. 16). The attack was instantly made, and David smote them from the twilight of the early dawn to the evening of the next day, till none remained, save only 400 young men, who effected their escape on camels. With all the captives recovered and enormous spoil[267] the conqueror returned to Ziklag, and was now for the first time enabled to requite the kindness of many of his own tribe, who had protected him during the long period of his wanderings, and distributed of the spoil to the elders of many friendly towns (1 Sam. xxx. 26–31).
