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And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me anymore in the coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand 1 Samuel 27:1

Sometimes the pressures of life can weigh us down for so long, that it becomes difficult to see our options. We live our life in the pits; unable to smile and feel the excitement of our faith. The voice of our circumstances speaks to us, and we listen. Using the tool of stress, our enemy chisels away at our strength and determination. Soon we start to question whether we believe what we believe.

David reached that point. He had been in the pits for so long, he got tired and decided to quit. King Saul had hunted him like a dog for years, and at this point David concluded that it wasn’t possible to count it all joy.

There is nothing spiritually wrong with experiencing periods of feeling down. The problem becomes what you do while you’re down. While in the midst of his despair, David made a bad decision. And that choice caused him sixteen months of misery, disobedience and compromise.

It is true that things may get rough for us, but giving up on God is neither an option nor a solution. If we give up on God, we have left our only true source of hope and deliverance. Our problems may be enormous, but without God we have to face them alone. That is when the real problems start.

David started to talk to himself. It wasn’t verbal words, but an utterance in his heart. I have no problem with us talking to ourselves, but we need to tell ourselves the right things. That’s why it’s vital to saturate our minds and heart with the Word of God. We need to know that no matter how tough it gets, we can never consider leaving God.

David reached a point where all he could see was the problem. He didn’t pray; he didn’t ask God for help; he didn’t write a psalm. He didn’t look at all the victories he had already won. He could have killed Saul twice, but he didn’t do it. That was a victory for him. He almost killed Nabal (the fool), but he didn’t. Some people think it’s all right to hurt fools, but it’s not. God had blessed him in a wonderful way, but David couldn’t focus on any of that.

So he told himself, "I’m going to perish at the hand of Saul one day". In fact, he convinced himself of it. All around him, people were saying, "You’re going to be king." Abigail said it, Jonathan said it; even King Saul said it (see 1 Samuel 24:20). Since Samuel anointed him, that means that God said it. In spite of all these witnesses, David said that it would never happen.

Therefore, David decided that he would "escape to the Philistines". Listen, there is no escape when we leave God and join the enemy. There is no escape in compromise. It is better to have it rough with God than easy with the enemy. Just because things are easy doesn’t mean we are in the will of God. The faith walk is filled with valleys and pits, but God is still with us. We may feel that our prayers go unanswered for too long, but God is still with us. The enemy may call us a failure and say we are out of the will of God, but God is still with us. We can’t give up just because things get tough.

We need to think about the people who will be affected by our decisions. Every saint that turns back on God impacts somebody. The youth of today want their parents to back off and let hem make their mistakes. They want to take their liberty instead of earn it. They end up making a big mess of their lives. But they also make a mess of the lives of those who love them. If you want to go down, go down alone. Don’t take other people with you. Go alone.

When David decided to "escape" into the enemy’s camp, did he go alone? And David arose, and he passed over with six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s wife 1 Samuel 27: 2,3.

David had an army of men who had banded together to him. He was their commander in chief. He had two wives also. Compromise affects your family and friends. They trust you. They are depending on you. They need you to maintain a standard.

Now when it was told Saul that David fled to Gath, he sought him no more (verse 4). David may feel good because Saul isn’t hunting him anymore. But what good is it to trade one enemy for a whole nation of enemies? The only way to live in peace with your enemy is to become like him. Can two walk together except they be agreed Amos 3:3. If the enemy uses swear words, then you have to use them too. If the enemy is x-rated, then you will be x-rated too.

David stayed in the land for sixteen months. Out of all the Psalms that David wrote, he wrote none during this time. You can’t sing the Lord’s song in a strange land. Soon the enemy started arguing about David being there. We may as well stay with God, because the enemy doesn’t want us with them (see 29:3).

Finally Achish had to ask David to leave. When we leave God, we’re leaving the only home we have. We become displaced people; refugees. We are like persons without an identity. We lose our sense of mission. We cannot remember where we are going. We become so confused, we don’t know what we believe.

After an emergency meeting, David and his men returned to Ziglag to pack up. But when they got over the hill, the whole city was on fire, and all their wives and children had been kidnapped. David felt worse now than when he first decided to leave God. No matter how hard it is with God, it’s much harder without Him.

At first they argued and blamed each other. Then all they could do was cry. All those men became suspicious, and didn’t trust David anymore. People know that if you leave God, you will leave them too.

And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him..., but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God 1 Samuel 30:6. For the first time in months, David looked to God for help. And he found out that God was there all the time.

No matter why you left God, or how long you’ve been gone, no good can come out of it as long as you stay away. Get up now and come home. God is waiting; He is ready and willing to restore all to you.