1 Samuel 22:5

the prophet Gad Mentioned here for the first time, and not again till David had come to the throne, when he appears as holding the office of "the king's seer." He was one of the chroniclers of David's reign (1 Chronicles 29:29); helped in the arrangement of the musical services in the Temple (2 Chronicles 29:25); and was sent to offer David his choice of punishments for his sin in numbering the people (2 Samuel 24:11 ff.).

Abide not in the hold The future king must not remain in a foreign land, but in the face of all risk return to his own country, in order that by such exploits as the relief of Keilah he might gain reputation, and prepare his way to the throne.

the forest of Hareth Nowhere else mentioned and not identified with any certainty. Perhaps the name survives in Kharâson the edge of the mountain chain two or three miles east of Keilah.

Psalms 63. is referred by its title to the time when David was in the wilderness of Judah: but internal evidence points rather to his flight from Absalom; 1 Samuel 22:11 implies that he was already king.