David’s Experience in the Psalms Versus in Samuel

2026-02-28

The genres of literature are different. Samuel is written largely in narrative and prose. The psalms are poetry. This is indicated with the parallelism used in them.

Moreover, the Samuel accounts are the stating of historical facts. There is little about the thoughts of David or the others involved in the narrative. When David went to Gath, we see that he feared men: “And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath” (1 Samuel 21:10). And again, “And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath” (1 Samuel 21:12). Other than that, there are fewer clues as to what David is thinking.

In the psalm account, we read David’s repentant mind: “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psalm 34:7). And again, “O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him” (Psalm 34:9). And again, “Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD” (Psalm 34:11).

These differences are not contradictory. For example, the differences in Psalm 34 and 1 Samuel 21:10-15 is that David is faking insanity in the narrative and his confidence in the LORD in the psalm. This is easily explained when you realize that he was writing the psalm in retrospect. The title tells us: “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed.” As the experience transpired and as he departed from Gath, he realized that he had sinned, and God helped him anyway. It was at that time that David could say, “I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Psalm 34:4; notice the past tense). And again, “This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles” (Psalm 34:6).

To argue that David was not writing in retrospect: was David writing these things down while standing before the king and acting like a maniac? That is absurd. He must be writing in retrospect.

The other accounts indicate that David was in the Adullam cave or in the Ziph wilderness. These psalms make sense that he was writing from those locations in concurrence with the Samuel narrative.

It is unlikely that one could tie the narratives to the psalms without the psalm titles. The titles explicitly connect them, and you can see how they relate to that designation. Without it, there is no way to tell. The psalms bring out what David was thinking during the historical account.

The psalms are less specific than the narratives. This would have to be from the LORD. We did not have David’s experiences. Unlike David, we weren’t faking craziness before kings. We were not hiding in caves or in the wilderness. However, we can have that shared experience from the psalms and learn how to trust the LORD in similar distressing circumstances.

The Bible contains a lot of history, but it is not for the sake of history. The Biblical history is there because we are to learn from it: learning about our sinful weakness and the power and love of God that delivers us from that weakness.