(8) В¶ And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gezrites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as thou goest to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. (9) And David smote the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. (10) And Achish said, Whither have ye made a road to day? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. (11) And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the country of the Philistines. (12) And Achish believed David, saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.
No doubt a zeal for the honor of God, with an eye to what the Lord had determined concerning the utter destruction of the Amalekites, was the leading object David had in view in this excursion. See Exodus 17:14. It is astonishing to see, in the dissimulation of David with Achish in this business, what littleness, mixed with much greatness, the mind of man is made up of. Alas! what is any man, the best of men, but a mass of sin and unworthiness in himself. Oh! how precious is the Lord Jesus endeared to the heart, in every review of what he is to us, and what we are without him. 1 Corinthians 1:30.