Reflections on 1 Samuel 23

1 Samuel 23 (Contemporary English Version)

1. One day some people told David, "The Philistines keep attacking the town of Keilah and stealing grain from the threshing place."
   
2. David asked the LORD, "Should I attack these Philistines?" "Yes," the LORD answered. "Attack them and rescue Keilah."
   
3. But David's men said, "Look, even here in Judah we're afraid of the Philistines. We will be terrified if we try to fight them at Keilah!"
   
4. David asked the LORD about it again. "Leave right now," the LORD answered. "I will give you victory over the Philistines at Keilah."
   
5. David and his men went there and fiercely attacked the Philistines. They killed many of them, then led away their cattle, and rescued the people of Keilah.
   
6. Meanwhile, Saul heard that David was in Keilah. "God has let me catch David," Saul said. "David is trapped inside a walled town where the gates can be locked." Saul decided to go there and surround the town, in order to trap David and his men. He sent messengers who told the towns and villages, "Send men to serve in Saul's army!" By this time, Abiathar had joined David in Keilah and had brought along everything he needed to get answers from God.
   
7. (SEE 23:6)
   
8. (SEE 23:6)
   
9. David heard about Saul's plan to capture him, and he told Abiathar, "Let's ask God what we should do."
   
10. David prayed, "LORD God of Israel, I was told that Saul is planning to come here. What should I do? Suppose he threatens to destroy the town because of me.
    
11. Would the leaders of Keilah turn me over to Saul? Or is he really coming? Please tell me, LORD." "Yes, he will come," the LORD answered.
    
12. David asked, "Would the leaders of Keilah hand me and my soldiers over to Saul?" "Yes, they would," the LORD answered.
    
13. David and his six hundred men got out of there fast and started moving from place to place. Saul heard that David had left Keilah, and he decided not to go after him.
    
14. David stayed in hideouts in the hill country of Ziph Desert. Saul kept searching, but God never let Saul catch him.
    
15. One time, David was at Horesh in Ziph Desert. He was afraid because Saul had come to the area to kill him.
    
16. But Jonathan went to see David, and God helped him encourage David.
    
17. "Don't be afraid," Jonathan said. "My father Saul will never get his hands on you. In fact, you're going to be the next king of Israel, and I'll be your highest official. Even my father knows it's true."
    
18. They both promised the LORD that they would always be loyal to each other. Then Jonathan went home, but David stayed at Horesh.
    
19. Some people from the town of Ziph went to Saul at Gibeah and said, "Your Majesty, David has a hideout not far from us! It's near Horesh, somewhere on Mount Hachilah south of Jeshimon.
    
20. If you come, we will help you catch him."
    
21. Saul told them: You've done me a big favor, and I pray that the LORD will bless you.
    
22. Now please do just a little more for me. Find out exactly where David is, as well as where he goes, and who has seen him there. I've been told that he's very tricky.
    
23. Find out where all his hiding places are and come back when you're sure. Then I'll go with you. If he is still in the area, or anywhere among the clans of Judah, I'll find him.
    
24. The people from Ziph went back ahead of Saul, and they found out that David and his men were still south of Jeshimon in the Maon Desert.
    
25. Saul and his army set out to find David. But David heard that Saul was coming, and he went to a place called The Rock, one of his hideouts in Maon Desert. Saul found out where David was and started closing in on him.
    
26. Saul was going around a hill on one side, and David and his men were on the other side, trying to get away. Saul and his soldiers were just about to capture David and his men,
    
27. when a messenger came to Saul and said, "Come quickly! The Philistines are attacking Israel and taking everything."
    
28. Saul stopped going after David and went back to fight the Philistines. That's why the place is called "Escape Rock."
    
29. David left and went to live in the hideouts at En-Gedi.
    

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    David continued on the run from Saul. By the time of events recorded in chapter 23, the number of men following David had grown from 400 to 600. With this many men they formed, with God's help, an army that could contend with the Philistines. This they did when David learned that the city of Keilah was being raided by the Philistines. David sought the Lord's guidance and the Lord enabled him to inflict heavy losses on the Philistines. The people of Keilah were glad to receive David's help but they remained loyal to Saul. So when David learned that Saul was coming to the city with his full army the Lord told him the Keilahites would turn him over to Saul, so he fled and was again on the run.
    
    After a while, David stayed in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph where Jonathan found him and encouraged him. The two of them made a covenant that when David became king Jonathan would be his second-in-command. The Ziphites also remained loyal to Saul, so some of them went to Saul to let him know David was hiding in their territory. Saul followed them to the region and came very close to finding David. At one point Saul was on one side of a mountain and David on the other. But just as Saul was beginning to close in on David he received word that the Philistines were raiding the land, so he broke off the pursuit and went to engage the Philistines.
    
    During this time in which David was running from Saul, he made no effort to seize the throne from Saul. Though he might have used occasions such as delivering the city of Keilah from the Philistines to turn the people away from Saul, he did not do this. He simply waited on the Lord. Was he content to do so? We have a number of his Psalms written during this time which reveal the struggle he went through both emotionally and spiritually. But God desires to use our times of trial for our good. We should not allow them to be wasted trials by becoming bitter and turning away from God rather than staying close to Him and allowing Him to do His work in us for our good.