Saul, the single-minded, the brave, spirited, and impetuous Saul, the founder of the Jewish monarchy, was succeeded by one whose temperament and character differed in every thing from his own, though his origin was the same, and his election, (humanly considered,) was based on the same qualities, and governed by the same expediency. David, when introduced to Saul by his bravery, having become the idol of the people, and the instrument of the hierarchy, fled from the not unjustifiable wrath of the king; and, at the head of a little band of six hundred desperate men, led a stealthy and predatory life, “abiding in the strong holds of the wilderness, and in the Mountain of the Desart of Zeph,” until, “having found grace in the eyes of Achish,” king of the Philistines, he became a subsidiary to the enemy of Saul, and begged the little territory of Ziklag, from whence he made many incursions on the surrounding tribes, “which secured him the protection of Achish.”

But the Philistines suspected David; their princes “disallowed him;” they considered him as a spy on their movements, and “a deserter from his master, Saul:” for, when the lords of the Philistines passed on by hundreds and by thousands, and “David and his men passed in the rearward with Achish, they asked, What do these Hebrews here?