Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doesn't David hide himself with us in the strongholds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the desert?
"For you have had compassion on me"  (1 Samuel 23:21).  Saul's miserable unhappiness and grief were very real, and not less so because his sins had brought all of his misfortunes upon him.  This is an accurate detail of what always happens when any person whomsoever decides to forsake God and "live his own way."