CHAPTER 23

(1061 B.C.)

DAVID DEFEATS THE PHILISTINES

¹Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors (by leaving Moab, and coming back to Judah, and thus protecting the people from the Philistines, which Saul could no longer do, David grew in reputation and power and, from the list of those who joined him at Ziklag [I Chron. 12:1-22], it is evident not only that such was the case, but that there was a strong enthusiasm for him at this time, throughout not merely Judah, but all Israel).

²Therefore 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. (More than likely, Davids means of communicating with the Lord was by the Urim and Thummim.As we have stated elsewhere, what the Urim and Thummim were, no one exactly knows. It is known that whatever they were, they were kept in some type of pocket or container in the back of the Ephod. This was a vest-like garment worn by the Great High Priest. The word Urim means lights, with the word Thummim meaning perfection. It seems that questions were asked, and, when the lot was drawn from the Ephod, it would give a Yes or No answer.)

³And Davids 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? (Though David had heard from the Lord, still, the men with him were not eager at all to fight the Philistines; but yet, David did not proudly and scornfully scold them for their want of faith, as many would do presently, but he sympathized with their fears, and said he would again ask God for guidance.)

⁴Then 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 your hand.

⁵So David and his men went to Keilah (they evidently now acquiesced to David), and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

SAUL ATTEMPTS TO KILL DAVID

⁶And 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.

⁷And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that has gates and bars. (It is interesting! Saul had become so demented that he thought that God was actually helping him; however, most who walk paths of evil claim God as their partner!)

⁸And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.

⁹And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the Priest, Bring hither the Ephod.

¹⁰Then said David, O LORD God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.

¹¹Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I beseech you, tell Your servant. And the LORD said, He will come down.

¹²Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the LORD said, They will deliver you up. (David had saved them from the Philistines, and yet they would deliver him to Saul! To tell the truth, the modern Church, like Keilah of old, cannot abide David, even though he has delivered them. Again, as Keilah, it opts for Saul. What a travesty!)

DAVID ESCAPES TO THE WILDERNESS

¹³Then 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 (Saul ceased his pursuit of David).

¹⁴And 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. (Davids way may have seemed precarious and, to the natural eye, it was; however, Sauls way was impossible. What God has placed His Anointing upon, men, despite their eagerness and effort, cannot overcome.)

¹⁵And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.

JONATHAN AND DAVID

¹⁶And Jonathan Sauls son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. (Evidently, there was a strong conviction in Jonathans mind that the Lord was transferring the kingdom from Saul to David, and that consequently Davids final success was inevitable! Jonathan, no doubt, relayed his feelings to David, which probably greatly encouraged the Psalmist.)

¹⁷And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you; and you shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto you; and that also Saul my father knows.

¹⁸And they two made a covenant before the LORD: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. (Jonathan would in no way have helped his father Saul in his attempts to kill David, but, at the same time, he never fully threw in his lot with David either. If he had broken with Saul completely, joining David in his test of Faith and not returning to his house, quite possibly that which he said, And I shall be next unto you,would have been realized. He did not do that, and he was never heard from again in the Holy Scriptures until he appears slain by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa.)

THE ZIPHITES

¹⁹Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? (The Ziphites would seek to betray David to Saul.)

²⁰Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the kings hand.

²¹And Saul said, Blessed be you of the LORD; for you have compassion on me. (How many presently, as Saul, use Scriptural terminology, but their hearts, as Sauls, are black with sin!)

²²Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who has seen him there: for it is told me that he deals very subtilly.

²³See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides himself, and come you 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.

²⁴And 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.

²⁵Saul 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.

²⁶And 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. (Sometimes God, in His Wisdom, does not deliver His Servant until all appears lost, and Faith seems a deception. David was apparently overcome, with escape impossible. But, at the very last moment, he was delivered.)

DAVID ESCAPES SAUL

²⁷But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste you, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land. (This was Divine intervention to protect David when Saul was about to overtake him. Faith may bring its results at the last minute, but it is never late. All faith must be tested, and great Faith must be tested greatly.)

²⁸Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.

²⁹And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi (this is very near the shore of the Dead Sea).