{ Day 274 }

David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there.” … So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. … Now the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months. —1 Samuel 27:5-7

Even though God had sent a message right to David that He would protect him, fear conquered his heart, and he doubted the promises. In the final lap of the race before God made him king, David stumbled into great compromise in the Philistine city of Ziklag. He chose physical security outside the will of God. And to make things worse, he promised loyalty to Achish, an archenemy of Israel. David lived with terrible tension inside of him. He was a man divided. On the one hand, he still had great zeal for the Lord. On the other hand, he was living in compromise and using the favor and anointing of God in a wrong way. For his entire time in Ziklag, David lived a charade, neglecting his destiny, disobeying the prophet’s word, disregarding his other prophetic promises, betraying Achish with lies, and endangering his own men and their families. We have looked at David as the great worshiping warrior king with the heart after God’s, but here we see him riddled with the same fear, doubt, and insecurity we see in ourselves.

{ PRAYER STARTER }

Father, may I never forget the lesson David learned in Ziklag—where he sought to protect himself and left the security of Your will. Keep me from trying to use my own human powers instead of trusting You in faith. I don’t want to find myself in Ziklag riddled with fear, doubt, and insecurity.

David’s faith in divine protection was
wavering big?time. He had reached
the end of his courage.