Fight or Flight?

And there was war again. And David went out and fought with the Philistines and struck them with a great blow, so that they fled before him. Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre. And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.
Saul sent messengers to David's house to watch him, that he might kill him in the morning. But Michal, David's wife, told him, “If you do not escape with your life tonight, tomorrow you will be killed.” So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped.
(1 Samuel 19:8-12 ESV)
What a contrast!  In the first statements we find David the warrior courageously fighting the enemy.  In the second, we find him on the run.  Had he lost his courage?  Was he scared of Saul? By no means.  We are talking the same "man after God's own heart" with the same convictions.  He knew God and His ways well enough to know when to fight or take flight.  He had the promise of God that one day he would be king; there was no reason to stay there and fight for it.  Sometimes death is even the easier, more cowardly path.  We can want to avoid the pain, the effort, the struggle.  But David chose to wait, to watch from a distance, to run.  He knew what happened long term with Moses, and can still happen today.  Know when to fight; know when to flee.  Either way, seek God's direction.