1 Samuel 27:5-7. David has gone over to the Philistines in an attempt to escape King Saul's pursuit of him and his men. Once settled there, he says to Achish, the son of the king of Gath, "If I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there, for why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?" So Achish gives David Ziklag, where David dwells for a year and four months. And Ziklag belonged to the kings of Judah from that day forward.

The Gospel for today was the parable of the faithless steward who, when found out, ingratiates himself with his master's debtors by forgiving some of their debt. Jesus uses this parable to tell us, among other things, to "make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth." I feel like this passage shows David doing the same, or at least making friends with dishonest power.

The Philistines are not David's friends and allies, and they never will be. But in order to escape King Saul, who David will not kill since he is the anointed king of Israel, David takes shelter with the Philistines for a while. And he is wily and clever, just like the steward in the Gospel. David ingratiates himself with the prince, seeming to be loyal and grateful for his protection. Then, though, knowing that he needs to be out of the direct observance of the Philistines, David suggests that he is not worthy to live in the royal city. Because he has been so seemingly loyal, the king grants David his own city in which to dwell. There David has a lot more freedom for the year and four months that he remains with the Philistines. David will use that freedom to make raids on the wilderness enemies of Israel, unbeknownst to Achish. (He will also later be called to battle at Achish's side, but that is another story.)

Here, David shows how we can be faithful to God, doing His will, while also making friends, or getting comfortable with, the corruption and dishonesty of the world. If we approach it with cleverness and cunning, we can use the world's dishonesty and corruption to our own and to God's advantage, but we must not let it corrupt us along the way.