Have you ever felt nostalgic and looked through your high school yearbook? I recently salvaged a few old photos, and the memories came rushing back with them. Who was I in 2nd grade? Different from who I was in 8th grade! Who was I as a graduating senior? My inner transformation was more drastic than the outer transformation you see in these pictures.

God formed my identity through every stage, forever present even when I refused Him. I was still me, but very different than me now. Jesus used every experience, success, and failure to guide me into the future He had prepared for me. And I continue to be transformed. We’re all shaped by the decisions we make, our relationships, and by how hard we follow the God who knows us better than we know ourselves.

King David’s Transformation

David ben Jesse, the hidden shepherd boy (1 Samuel 16:10-11), differed from the man-child shepherd who killed Goliath (1 Samuel 17:15). Warrior David became as skilled as any of King Saul’s soldiers (1 Samuel 18:5), and fugitive David learned hard lessons about who he could trust (Psalm 31). Inexperienced King David, who ruled in Hebron for seven years (2 Samuel 2:4), was quite different than the King David who ruled in Jerusalem for thirty-three years (2 Samuel 5).

In my King David’s Bride series, based on 2 Samuel 3:2-5, we explore who David was:

in his fugitive years, running from Saul’s assassins (1 Samuel 19:11).his year and four months in Philistine territory under King Achish’s protection (1 Samuel 27:1-7).the first two years of David’s reign in Hebron (1 Samuel 2:10; 4:1-12).

Like all humans, David grew into who he needed to become to fulfill God’s plan for him and Israel.

A Day in the Life of King David–Philistine Territory

David fled Israel with his army and all their families to escape Saul’s relentless pursuit. Why would he choose Philistia as a refuge? Honestly, this is one of several strange decisions David made while running from Saul. Less than a decade ago, David had escaped Saul’s assassins by running to Gath and King Achish–Goliath’s hometown. It was a very bad idea (1 Samuel 21:10-15).

The servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:  ‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?” David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 1 Samuel 21:11-12

When the Bible is silent about why David chose Gath again for refuge, I use well-researched fiction to account for David’s motivation. David’s second attempt to find refuge in Gath was met with King Achish’s favor.

So on that day Achish gave him Ziklag, and it has belonged to the kings of Judah ever since. David lived in Philistine territory a year and four months. 1 Samuel 27:6–7

What happened to turn Achish’s heart toward David–Israel’s great warrior? What happened to make David believe his second attempt to hide in Gath would turn out differently from his first? The answer: I don’t know why David went, but we do know what David’s life was like when he and the people who followed him lived among the Philistines.

How Did David Win King Achish’s Favor?

David won the Philistine king’s favor through brutality and deception.

Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites and the Amalekites…Whenever David attacked an area, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but took sheep and cattle, donkeys and camels, and clothes. Then he returned to Achish. When Achish asked, “Where did you go raiding today?” David would say, “Against the Negev of Judah” or “Against the Negev of Jerahmeel” or “Against the Negev of the Kenites.” He did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he thought, “They might inform on us and say, ‘This is what David did.’ ” And such was his practice as long as he lived in Philistine territory. Achish trusted David and said to himself, “He has become so obnoxious to his people, the Israelites, that he will be my servant for life.” 1 Samuel 27:8-12 (emphasis added)

David’s transformation from fugitive to bandit surely changed him as well as his men. Is it any wonder that when they returned to Ziklag and discovered their families kidnapped by the Amalekites, his men nearly stoned him (2 Samuel 30:1-6)?

Who Was David ben Jesse in Maakah’s Eyes?

Did you notice the three nations David and his men raided? Princess Maakah was the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur. Some commentaries say that Maakah was captured as a war bride in one of David’s raids. But how could that be? 1 Samuel 27:6 clearly states that David killed every living thing when he attacked enemy villages.

How could Geshurite Princess Maakah ever marry the cruel bandit, David ben Jesse? How could young King David marry an idol-worshipping Geshurite? That, my friends, is the inner conflict of both David and Maakah in Noble: The Story of Maakah.

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