David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul will despair of me, to seek me any more in all the borders of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.
"When it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he sought for him no more"  (1 Samuel 27:4).  A very important observation on this verse is that of Willis who wrote that, "The Bible does not tell us how long this sojourn in Gath lasted."[3]  This means that even many years saw this arrangement continued.  The word here that, "Saul sought for him no more," certainly suggests a considerable passage of time.  Matthew Henry's quaint observation on this reads thus: "Saul would have continued his efforts to kill David if he could have done so, but he did not dare go down into Gath after him.  Thus men seem to leave their sins, but really their sins leave them; and they would still sin if they could."[4]