This page gives you ready-to-use study questions for 1 Samuel 27, with a leader’s answer or discussion note for each one. It is written for a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study. You can work through the questions in order or pick the ones that fit your time.
1 Samuel 27 at a Glance
David has been running from Saul for a long time, and in this chapter he reaches a low point. He decides that the land of the Philistines, Israel’s old enemy, is safer than trusting God to protect him in Israel. Achish, the Philistine king of Gath, gives him the town of Ziklag, and David lives there for more than a year.
The second half of the chapter shows David raiding peoples who were not Israel’s enemies in the way the Philistines were, and then misleading Achish about where his raids went. The chapter ends with Achish trusting David completely, which is the opposite of what David’s actions deserve.
Observation Questions
Use these questions first, before anyone offers an opinion about David’s choices. Ask the group to point to the text for every answer, and keep the discussion close to what the words actually say.
1 Samuel 27:1
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 shall I escape out of his hand.”
(WEB)
Read this first to frame the chapter. Ask the group to listen for the phrase “in his heart” and to consider how often fear begins as a private thought that never reaches God.
1 Samuel 27:5-6
5 David said to Achish, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in one of the cities in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” 6 Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: therefore Ziklag belongs to the kings of Judah to this day.
(WEB)
These verses show David asking for a place of his own and receiving Ziklag. Reading them aloud helps the group see how a request for space can carry consequences that were not expected.
1 Samuel 27:8-9
8 David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites; for those were the inhabitants of the land, who were of old, on the way to Shur, even to the land of Egypt. 9 David struck the land, and saved no man or woman alive, and took away the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned, and came to Achish.
(WEB)
These verses describe David’s raids in full. Reading them aloud makes the group face the weight of the account and resist softening it, which helps the later discussion be honest.
1 Samuel 27:10-11
10 Achish said, “Against whom have you made a raid today?” David said, “Against the South of Judah, against the South of the Jerahmeelites, and against the South of the Kenites.” 11 David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring them to Gath, saying, “Lest they should tell about us, saying, ‘David did this, and this has been his way all the time he has lived in the country of the Philistines.’”
(WEB)
Here David’s words to Achish stand next to what he actually did. Reading this section aloud lets the group hear the gap between speech and action for themselves.
1 Samuel 27:12
Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him. Therefore he will be my servant forever.”
(WEB)
This closing verse shows how Achish reads David’s situation. Reading it last lets the group end the chapter with the irony of a foreign king’s trust.
Memory Verse for 1 Samuel 27
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come to you honestly, knowing that we have run from you in our own ways. We have made plans out of fear and called them wisdom, and we have settled for places that are safe but not where you have called us. Help us bring our fears to you first, before we decide what to do. Give us the courage to speak the truth in our relationships and to name our hidden places to one another. Keep us close to each other as we walk with you, so that no one has to face the next decision alone. Amen.
