Faithful in Enemy Territory 

When we step into 1 Samuel 27–30, we find David in one of the hardest seasons of his life. He is still running from Saul, and he is worn out. In 1 Samuel 27:1 we hear him say to himself, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul”(ESV). That is the voice of someone who is struggling to believe in God’s promise. So far David has been faithful, but nothing seems to be working out. He is struggling to see how God’s promises could possibly come true.

Just one chapter earlier, David was on a spiritual high. He had spared Saul’s life for the second time, choosing to trust God’s justice instead of taking revenge. But right after that moment of faith, he falters. He listens to his own fearful thoughts instead of asking the Lord what to do. Fear starts to push faith into the background.

So David runs to Philistine territory and makes his home in Ziklag. From an earthly perspective, it seems to work. Saul stops chasing him. David even wins some victories against Israel’s enemies. In David’s mind he is safer in enemy territory than he is at home, and he is still able to help Israel by fighting their enemies. But things are not always as they look. In God’s kingdom, results do not prove you are walking in His will. You can be busy, effective, and even admired, and still be walking in disobedience.

It does not take long for David’s choice to catch up with him. The Philistines plan to go to war against Israel, and their king says to David, “You must understand that you and your men are to go out with me in the army” (1 Samuel 28:1, ESV). David replies carefully, “Very well, you shall know what your servant can do” (1 Samuel 28:2, ESV). He is stuck. If he fights, he will be betraying his own people. If he refuses, he will make an enemy of the Philistines. He is stuck in a no win situation, but God steps in. The Philistine commanders do not trust David, and they send him home. David had walked himself into a corner, but God, in mercy, walked him back out. Sometimes the Lord lets us feel the weight of our choices. Other times He rescues us from the full impact of them. Either way, He is working for our good and His glory.

Now that is all well and good, but when David gets back to Ziklag, his faith is once again put to the test. David returns to Ziklag to find his new home burned to the ground. The Amalekites have taken everything, including the families of his men. The people who had fought beside him now talk about stoning him. At this point, David has nothing left. No home, no safety, no allies. It is one thing to say we believe God works all things to for our good, but it is another thing to believe it when you have just lost everything. However, it is right here, when everything else is gone, Scripture tells us, “But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (1 Samuel 30:6, ESV).

This is where faith comes alive. Faith does not grow in comfort and security. When there is no one else to lean on, David leans fully on God. He asks for the Lord’s direction, and God answers: “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and shall surely rescue” (1 Samuel 30:8, ESV). David obeys. 

Now on the way to pursue the Amalekites, David comes across a young Egyptian slave left behind in the wilderness, weak and starving. By all practical measures, this slave is not part of the mission. Feeding him costs time and supplies they cannot afford to waste. But David chooses to stop. He gives him food and water. He listens to his story. It is such a small, quiet act of mercy in the middle of a desperate rescue mission. Yet this moment becomes the turning point. The young man knows exactly where the Amalekites are camped. Without him, David and his men would have been wandering blind in the wilderness. With him, they march straight to the enemy.

It is a reminder that God often weaves His greatest blessings through what seem like the smallest acts of obedience. A cup of water given, a kindness shown, a moment taken to listen, these moments can open doors we never imagined. David fights, and the text repeats it for emphasis: “David recovered all” (1 Samuel 30:18–19, ESV).

David’s journey in these chapters reminds us that faith can waver when we grow weary, that fear can cloud our view of God’s promises, and that running into enemy territory will never bring the peace we seek. Yet it also shows that God is merciful, even when we have made a mess of things. He can deliver us from trouble of our own making, restore what was lost, and use even the smallest acts of obedience to open the way for His blessing. When we strengthen ourselves in the Lord, seek His Word, and walk in humble faith, we find that He is both our Deliverer and our Restorer.

Saul’s Spiritual Collapse

If David’s rise shows the strength of surrender to God, Saul’s fall shows the devastation of walking away from Him. His collapse was not the result of a single failure. It was the slow unraveling of a heart that moved from obedience to defiance. What began with partial obedience ends in open rebellion.  Sin is a slope that always tilts downward, and Saul has reached the bottom.

First Samuel 28 begins with a silence. “When Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams, or by Urim, or by prophets” (1 Samuel 28:6, ESV). The ephod is with David. The prophet Samuel is dead. God’s voice is absent from Saul’s life, not because the Lord cannot speak, but because God refuses to speak to a King who has repeatedly refused to listen. This silence is God’s judgment. After years of rebellion, Saul has reached a place of spiritual deafness. He is no longer a king in covenant with God, but a man on the outside looking in.

Instead of turning back in repentance, which would have softened his heart to the voice of God once more, Saul crosses a line he once guarded. He seeks out a medium, breaking the Law of God he had sworn to uphold. The lawgiver becomes the lawbreaker. He disguises himself and steps into the house of sorcery, reversing the spiritual order God had established. He trades communion with the living God for counsel from the dead. The throne that was meant to serve under God now bows to demonic powers.

Saul asked a witch to summon Samuel from the dead, breaking the very law he had once enforced. To her shock, Samuel appeared, not to guide Saul forward, but to confirm his doom. Samuel reminded him that the Lord had already spoken: the kingdom had been torn from him and given to David. By the next day, Saul and his sons would be dead. Instead of the comfort he sought, Saul received a final word of judgment. He had traded the living God’s counsel for the whispers of the grave, and the only voice he heard sealed his fate.

There is deep irony here. This chapter opens with David in his own moment of compromise, but David turns back. He seeks the Lord. And God rescues him. Both men Saul and David stumbled, but only one clings to God’s mercy. The other clings to his crumbling throne. One descends into disgrace. The other, by grace, is lifted up again.

Saul never turns back. His final chapter is written on the battlefield. The Philistines overpower Israel. His sons are cut down. His army scatters. Wounded and desperate, Saul falls on his own sword. His armor-bearer does the same. “Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together” (1 Samuel 31:6, ESV). The cruel Philistines strip him, behead him, and fasten his body to the wall of Beth-shan. The man who once stood head and shoulders above the people now hangs broken before his enemies.

And yet, there is one last act of dignity. The men of Jabesh-gilead remember how Saul once delivered them. At great personal risk, they retrieve the bodies, burn them, and bury the bones under a tamarisk tree. They fast for seven days. Gratitude shines through, but it cannot erase the tragedy. A life of promise ends in defeat and disgrace.

Was Saul a backslidden believer or a hardened unbeliever? Scripture leaves the verdict unanswered. What is clear is that he descended into deep spiritual darkness, and his story stands as a warning. Sin always leads to sorrow. 

Sadly, the consequences of Saul’s sins were not limited to the loss of his life alone. On that same battlefield, Jonathan also fell. His father’s sins could not take his salvation, but his life was cut short because of his wicked father’s hardened heart. This is a sobering word for fathers in the room. You may think you are willing to face the consequences of your own sins, but are you willing for your children to carry the consequences of your disobedience? 

Thankfully, Jonathan died knowing the Lord, yet his death reminds us that death comes for all. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27, ESV). “The wise dies just like the fool” (Psalm 49:10, ESV). Death does not discriminate. The question is not whether we will die, but whether we are ready to stand before our Maker.

So what can we learn from Saul? Saul’s life is a sobering reminder that no one drifts into holiness. The heart that stops listening to God will start listening to something else, and what we turn to in times of silence will either lead us back to the Lord or further into darkness. Saul ignored God’s warnings until there was no turning back. David, though flawed, returned and found mercy. The difference was not who sinned less, but who ran to God sooner. Do not wait for the silence to fall. Turn to the Lord while you can, for the day will come when you and I will stand before Him, and the only safe place to be is already in His hands.

The Transfer of Glory

Saul is gone. The battle is over. The crown lies without a king. The question hangs in the air: Who will wear it next? We already know the answer. God has chosen David. But before the transfer happens, a figure arrives in Ziklag.

He is covered in dust, his clothes torn. At first glance, he looks like a man in mourning. But this is no grieving Israelite. He is an Amalekite with a plan. In his hands are Saul’s crown and armband, the symbols of power. On his lips is a story.

“I just happened to be on Mount Gilboa,” he says. “I found Saul wounded, leaning on his spear. He was still alive, and he begged me to finish him. So I did. Then I took his crown and came straight to you.” He expects David to reward him, maybe even celebrate. He thinks he is delivering good news. But he has completely misread the moment.

His story is a lie, crafted for self-gain. He believes flattery and opportunism will open doors. But lies carry a price. Sometimes the price is paid when the truth comes out. Other times, the price is paid even if the lie is believed. That is what happens here. The Amalekite is not punished for being caught. He is punished for being believed.

David listens to the Amalekite, but instead of rejoicing, he tears his clothes in grief. He mourns not just for Saul the king, but for Saul the man, his father-in-law, the warrior who once fought for Israel, the Lord’s anointed. Then David delivers his verdict: “Were you not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?” (2 Samuel 1:14, ESV). He commands the Amalekite’s execution, declaring, “Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you” (verse 16, ESV). David will not take the throne through shortcuts or through another man’s sin.

This is a reminder that sin always circles back. Whether hidden or public, it has a way of finding us out. We can fool others. We can even fool ourselves. But we cannot fool God. And the only hope we have is the mercy of Christ, who bore our penalty so we would not have to.

Instead of celebrating his rise to power, David writes a lament, “The Song of the Bow.” It becomes Israel’s national eulogy for Saul and Jonathan. Three times he cries, “How the mighty have fallen” (2 Samuel 1:19, 25, 27, ESV). David chooses to remember Saul’s victories, calling the daughters of Israel to weep for the king who clothed them in scarlet and gold. Even in death, David shows honor to the man who once sought his life. 

This is also the heart of God. “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23, ESV)

Then his words turn to Jonathan: “My brother Jonathan, very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women” (2 Samuel 1:26, ESV). This is not romance but covenant friendship, loyal, sacrificial, and rare. Jonathan gave up his own throne for David, protected him from danger, and encouraged him when hope was fading.

That kind of love points beyond itself. Jesus told His disciples, even as they were about to abandon Him, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15, ESV). And John 13:1 tells us, “Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (ESV). Jonathan’s loyalty was great, but Christ’s loyalty is greater still. He is the Friend who never leaves, the King who never fails.

The lesson is clear. God’s kingdom does not come through ambition but through obedience. It is not built by grasping but by trusting. David did not snatch the crown; he waited, he wept, he honored, and he let God open the door in His time. In doing so, he foreshadowed Jesus, the Son of David, who did not cling to glory but emptied Himself, choosing the path of suffering. He mourned over those who rejected Him. He laid down His life for those who deserted Him. And the Father gave Him the name above every name.

Conclusion: 

These chapters are not just about David's struggles or Saul's downfall. They are about the contrast between those who seek the Lord and those who walk away. David faltered, but he returned. Saul rebelled, and he refused to repent. One was restored, the other was ruined. The difference was not strength, but surrender.

This is the hope of the gospel. We all fail. We all fall short. But God does not abandon those who turn to Him. David strengthened himself in the Lord, and God restored him. Saul sought answers apart from God, and he was lost.

The same choice is before us. When we sin, will we run from God or return to Him? Jesus has made a way for us to be forgiven and restored. Through His cross, every backslider can come home. Every failure can be redeemed. Let us humble ourselves, seek His face, and walk again in obedience. God's mercy is greater than our mistakes. And His grace still restores what sin has broken.