1 Samuel 23:1-29
David Saves the City of Keilah
1 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.”
2 Therefore David inquired of the LORD, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?”
And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.”
3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the LORD once again.
And the LORD answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, that he went down with an ephod in his hand.
7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.”
And the LORD said, “He will come down.”
12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?”
And the LORD said, “They will deliver you.”
13 So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.
David in Wilderness Strongholds
14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. 16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 18 So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, 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 your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.”
21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the LORD, for you have compassion on me. 22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. 23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.”
24 So 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 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them.
27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. 29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.
David was given the news that the Philistines were attacking Keilah and robbing their threshing floors of their food supply. The man who would be king asked the LORD if he should go into the fray to save Keilah. His men balked at the thought of putting their small band in the middle of such a large army, so David asked for God’s guidance once more to be sure. So they went and delivered their people from the ungodly Philistines with an overwhelming victory. He even took the livestock of the enemy who would have taken the food from them and then Abiathar the son of Ahimelech came to David at Keilah with an ephod that was used to discern God’s will (Exodus 28:30, Numbers 27:21) in matters with the attached Urim and Thummim. David consulted the LORD through this means when he heard Saul discovered his whereabouts and received the answer that the people of Keilah would turn him over to Saul, so they quickly left for safety to fight another day. Having delivered their people, David now was delivered by the LORD God for his faithfulness and for God’s purpose for his life. He and his men holed up in the fortress of the mountains for safety as Saul continued to pursue him to the death, yet even there he found encouragement from his best friend who was also his enemy’s son, Jonathan, who knew and believed that God made David the true king and that he would be by his side to help him as even Saul knew. When David and his band of brothers were trapped at the mountain with Saul encircling it, God intervened once again with news that the Philistines had invaded back home, so he returned and stopped his dogged pursuit. He was so thankful that he even named that place the Rock of Escape. Then David went to En Gedi described as a place in the rugged hills west of the Dead Sea translates as “The Spring of the Young Goat” where they had isolation, protection, and a supply of fresh water from the En Gedi spring there. The LORD delivered and provided for David there as he had delivered the people of Keilah. We should also deliver those under the assault of the enemy of their souls by proclaiming the Lord’s deliverance of the gospel of Christ’s work on the cross for all His people. We are to be involved in delivering them because we have been delivered (1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2 Corinthians 5:18-19) ourselves.
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