David Flees to the Wilderness
King Saul was going to kill David if it was the last thing he ever did. Saul followed wherever he heard David was hiding and followed him. David stayed one step ahead of Saul because David listened to the LORD God. David was under the protection of the LORD. Sometimes it looked and felt like David was all by himself but he wasn’t. Just like David we are under the protection of the LORD. All we have to do is ask for His protection and then listen. 1 Samuel 21-1 Samuel 23
Jonathan told David of his father’s intentions to kill him and that David should run away. So David did just that he ran away without swords or weapons of any kind. David came to Nob to the house of the priest Ahimelech. Nob was a priestly city near Jerusalem.
Now Ahimelech was afraid of David because of his reputation and that David had brought his army with him. David told Ahimelech the priest that the king had commanded him to do his business and no one was to know what that business was. David had asked for five loaves of bread from the priest.
The priest answered David and told him he did not have common bread. That is bread that everyone could eat it was not designated to be set aside to be holy. So the priest gave David hollowed bread to eat.
Now there was a certain man, who was a servant of Saul. This man was an Edomite, a mighty valiant herdsman that belonged to Saul. When David saw him David became afraid because he did not have a weapon. David asked the priest for a sword. The only sword that the priest had was the sword of Goliath the Philistine. It was wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. The ephod was worn by the high priest-more costly, woven of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and linen threads provided with shoulder-pieces and a breast piece of like material, ornamented with gems and gold.
David took the sword of Goliath the Philistine and fled that day for fear of Saul and went to the king of Gath whose name was Achish. Gath was one of the five royal or chief cities of the Philistines and the native city of Goliath.
The king of Gath ask David if he was the king of the land and was he not the one that songs were sang of that Saul had slain this thousands, and David his ten thousands. This made David afraid of the king and he changed his behavior and was acting crazy. So the king of Gath did not want David to come into his house.
David departed and escaped to the cave Adullam, a town of the Canaanites allotted to Judah and lying in the lowlands. This is not too far from Gath and is two miles south of the place where David had his victory over Goliath found in 1 Samuel 17:2.
David gathered together “every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented.” 1 Samuel 22:2. David became the captain over them. There were about 400 men. David went before the king of Moab and asked that his mother and father could dwell with him until David knew what the will of the LORD God was for him. The prophet Gad told David he could not stay in the cave and needed to depart into the land of Judah.
Saul heard that David was discovered and he went out looking for David with his spear in his hand and all his servants standing about him. Saul went to Nob and confronted the priest and was furious because the priest helped David and gave him Goliaths sword. Saul had his footmen (the guards) to kill the priest but they refused to kill the priest of the LORD. Saul told the Edomite to kill the priest and he killed the priest the priest and 85 other holy people. He also killed men and women, children, babies, the oxen, donkeys, sheep all with the edge of the sword.
David fought against the Philistines, he ask the LORD which side he should fight against. The LORD told David to go to Keilah and He would deliver the Philistines into David’s hand. David did as he was told and there was a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
Saul was close to the heels of David. So David again asked the LORD if the people of Keilah would turn him over to Saul. The LORD told him that the people would deliver him up to Saul. So David and his 600 men escaped and went to the wilderness and remained in a mountain. The LORD kept David and his men safe from Saul.
Jonathan, the son of Saul, went to David in the woods and he strengthened David’s faith in the LORD by telling him that his father shall not find David. Jonathan reassured David that he would be king over Israel and Jonathan would be next to him. Jonathan told David that Saul also knew that David would be the next king. Jonathan and David made a covenant before the LORD then Jonathan went to his house.
Saul followed wherever he heard David was hiding and followed him. David stayed one step ahead of Saul because David listened to the LORD God. When Saul and his army surrounded David and his men on the far side of the mountain there was a messenger that came into Saul telling him he had to come home. The Philistines had invaded the land. This provided David and his men with an escape.
What Can This Story Teach Us:
King Saul was going to kill David if it was the last thing he ever did. Saul followed wherever he heard David was hiding and followed him. David stayed one step ahead of Saul because David listened to the LORD God. David was under the protection of the LORD. Sometimes it looked and felt like David was all by himself but he wasn’t. Just like David we are under the protection of the LORD. All we have to do is ask for His protection and then listen.
Psalm 94:21:23 is a Psalm written by David who is crying to the LORD that “They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the LORD is my defense; and my God is the rock of my refuge. And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.”
When we listen to the LORD we also get warnings of dangerous that is coming our way. The LORD is our defense and hears our cries and is there for us. Ask your parents and grandparents to share times when the LORD stepped into their lives and offered them protection.
Cite Article Source
MLA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne ” David Flees to the Wilderness:.” Becker Bible Studies Library Jan 2015.< https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1967,>.
APA Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015, January) ” David Flees to the Wilderness:.” Becker Bible Studies Library. Retrieved from https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1967,.
Chicago Style Citation:
Holstein, Joanne (2015) ” David Flees to the Wilderness:.” Becker Bible Studies Library (January), https://guidedbiblestudies.com/?p=1967, (accessed).
