1 Samuel 23:1-29
1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
2 Therefore David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the LORD said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.
3 And David's men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
4 Then David enquired of the LORD yet again. And the LORD answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
5 So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.
8 And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
9 And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
10 Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.
12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah delivera me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver thee up.
13 Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.
14 And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.
18 And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand.
21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me
22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his hauntb is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.
23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
25 Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.
27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invadedc the land.
28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth.d
29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi.
1 Samuel 23:1. Keilah, a walled town in the south of Judah, near the sources of the brook Besor.
1 Samuel 23:4. David enquired of the Lord yet again. Gideon also asked a double sign in time of fear and doubt, by the falling of dew on the fleece.
1 Samuel 23:7. Saul said, God hath delivered him into my hand. Saul here consulted with his own heart, while David enquired of the Lord.
1 Samuel 23:18. They two made a covenant. This was the third, or the renewal of the covenants. The first was after the victory over Goliath and the Philistines. The second when they met at the rock Ezel. The third here, in the wilderness of Ziph, when it was renewed with some enlargements.
REFLECTIONS.
Having kept our eye on David from Nob to Gath, and from Gath to the cave, where he was joined by the best and worst of his country; and having seen him safely repose his parents in Moab, providence next employed him for the salvation of Keilah. But on an enterprize so arduous, most of his guards, who were not yet soldiers, durst not go. Behold, said they, we be afraid here in Judah; how much more when we come to the armies of the Philistines? But on enquiring of God by the ephod, he received a positive promise of victory, though, according to the Seventy, his men did not exceed four hundred. This was an action grateful to his country; it saved the harvest of Judah, and reproached the negligence of Saul.
Honour is dangerous. David's new laurels stirred up more inveterately the enmity of his enemy. Saul already viewed him as shut up in Keilah, hated of the Philistines, and now sure to fall. But while Saul counselled for David's ruin, God counselled for David's safety. He was directed to flee to the romantic woods and deserts of Ziph, which separates Idumea from Judah. Here he sung salvation to the Lord. Here the inspiration of his soul was aided by the scenery of nature, and his devotion elevated by the severity of affliction. Oh how much is the christian church, as well as the kingdom of Israel, indebted to providence for David's exile: during that period he composed many of his best and most instructive psalms. In these retreats, while David thought himself an object of misery, and the scorn of the drunkard's song, behold Jonathan came to renew his covenant with him. David all doubt, Jonathan all faith, met together once more. The anointing of David by Samuel, it would now seem, had transpired; and Jonathan, full of goodness, seeing the deliverances providence had wrought for his brother and his friend, came at the risk of his father's anger and his life, to do the exile homage as the king of Israel. We may say of this act, as Jesus said of the centurion, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. Jonathan surrenders his birthright back to God, and prefers being second under David, to the being first in the kingdom out of the order of God. This covenant is ratified by many witnesses, and confirmed by an oath of the Lord. Just so, poor dejected believer, when thou thinkest thy hope lost, and all things making against thee, the Lord Jesus comes from heaven to renew his covenant with thy fainting soul. He comes when thou art most surrounded with poverty, afflictions and tears, to say that the crown and the kingdom are thine. Never were friendship and love like that of Jonathan to David; and truly never was love like that of Jesus to thee.
The loving son had not long retired, and David had not long reached the wilderness of Maon, before the cruel father came to take the life of the Lord's anointed. Informed by the treacherous Ziphites of all the retreats and habits of David, Saul in a manner surprised and surrounded him ere he was aware. Already did the bloody Benjamites, “ravening as wolves,” exult in their success: already did they say, “There is no help for him in God.” And now what should David do? The select band were coming round the little hill or rock; and he could not fight against a father; a crown obtained by crime is to the victor an awful boon. To David there was no hope of victory by arms; and a flight in the desert would have been attended by pursuit, by carnage, and by disasters the most afflictive. Now Satan would say, where is the hope of thy anointing? This day thou shalt fall by the hand of Saul, and thy life shall be as water spilt on the ground. Thou hast caused thy lustre to be involved in eternal night, and brought the utmost calamity on all thy faithful friends. So, for a moment, God seemed to sport with David's fears. So for a moment, he suffered him to cry, what profit is there in my blood. Then when he had no friend to save him, behold, his enemies diverted the stroke. A swift-footed messenger cried with vehemence to Saul; the Philistines have invaded the land. Thus David was saved in the crisis of danger, and altogether by the watchful care of heaven. Surely David would now doubt no more, no more expressions of weakness would escape his lips. And surely the christian, contemplating all these works of the Lord, will learn to trust him in all straits, difficulties and afflictions; for his mercy endureth for ever.