But He Is Not Afraid For He Expresses His Confidence That YHWH Will Save Him And Will Hear His Voice When He Calls On Him (Psalms 55:16-17).
But David knew where to turn in such situations. He knew that he was blameless of what was being suggested against him (as Jonathan, the king's son, had also recognised). Thus in the face of his continuing problems, which would never cease until Saul died, he continually called on God to preserve him. As the record of his life at this time shows, he was constantly in need of that protection.
‘As for me, I will call on God,
And YHWH will save me.'
Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain, and moan,
And he will hear my voice.'
David stresses that he will not himself directly reciprocate evil for evil. He will rather call continually on God morning noon and night for His deliverance. He was confident that YHWH would hear his voice (the change in name indicates his confidence in YHWH as the God of the covenant). It is significant that David never faced up to Saul in battle even when he grew much stronger. He was able to defeat a Philistine expedition against Keilah, but he clearly felt that it would not be right to fight against ‘YHWH's anointed', nor would he want to set the people against him. Thus he always avoided conflict. It is an interesting question whether, if he had been backed into a corner, his 6 units of men (600), with which he later captured Jerusalem from the Jebusites, would have been able to defeat Saul's 3 larger units (3000). They would certainly enable him to defeat the Philistines once and for all later. But it would not have been good for Israel if David had seriously damaged Israel's fighting potential