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Three Features of God-Sheltered Life
1 Samuel 23, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 03/21/2021
Introduction
We live in a world preoccupied with the notion of power. Who has power? Who has been deprived of power? Who is using their power to harm others? Whose power is on the rise?
And lest we go decrying the modern world and all its evils, the Bible confronts us with much the same picture of humanity that we find in the news: desperately hungry to get ahead, to protect number one, regardless of the consequences to others. The obsession with power is not modern. It is human. David is facing a serious threat as he is irrationally hated and pursued by power-hungry king Saul. And while David has occasionally looked for shelter in other places, he has only one true source of refuge: the shadow of the Almighty. David is leading a life that is God-sheltered. In our text today, 1 Samuel 23, we will see three features of that life.
Listening Prayer, v1-13
Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand.
If you remember from last week, David at this point is in the forest of Hereth, which is in Judah (1 Samuel 22:5). And while he is here, messengers come to him with a report: the Philistines are attacking Keilah. Keilah would be about 18 miles southwest of Jerusalem, which places it out on the western edge of Judea, and thus very close to Philistine territory and prone to raiding. And to have the threshing floors be raided is a huge deal. Not only is this where they are separating the grain from the chaff, this is also likely where all the threshed grain would be stored. It would be the equivalent of someone coming and emptying every grain silo around. What should they do?
They reach out to that renowned Philistine killer, the slayer of Goliath, David the outlaw. And David seems willing to go, but before he rushes into anything he approaches God in prayer: Shall I go and attack these Philistines?, he asks in verse two. But when God answers in the affirmative, David’s army of 600 men seem less than convinced. David, we’re scared and on the run just hiding out here in the Judean wilderness, why would we go down and engage in battle with the Philistines?
Seems a reasonable response, right? But David is undeterred. He simply asks God again, and the Lord again assures victory. But note the emphasis this time: rather than it being on David saving Keilah (v2), now the emphasis is on what God will do: “I will give the Philistines into your hand” (v4). So David and his men go down, and carry the day. Keilah is saved, and they not only defeat the Philistines but take their livestock (which is interesting, why do the Philistines have livestock here?). God has delivered the city by the hand of David.
We then get an interesting note in v6, which Dale Ralph Davis argues is the hinge point in verses 1-13. Everything centers around what simply looks like an informational point. Remember that in chapter 22 Doeg the Edomite, under the guidance of King Saul, killed the 85 priests in Nob, and their families, and the only person to escape was Abiathar, who then flees to David. Well, here we are told that Abiathar brought an ephod. Now, all of the priests wore a linen ephod under their clothing, but the high priest had a breastplate that went with his which had a container for the Urim and Thummim. And as Tim Chester notes in his commentary, “We do not know what the Urim and Thummim looked like, but they were used for receiving revelation from God.” Perhaps they were like dice, some suggest that they were stones of two different colors, we aren’t sure. The point of verse 6, though, is that the priestly means for seeking the Lord’s guidance had been brought with Abiathar to David. Which will come in handy next.
Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” Then David said, “O LORD, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O LORD, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the LORD said, “He will come down.” Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the LORD said, “They will surrender you.” Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went wherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition.
Things start to look shaky for David again starting in verse 7 as Saul hears of his presence in the city and musters troops to go attack him. It is worth pointing out that the language of Saul here, “God has given him into my hand”, paralleled by his pious sounding expression down in verse 21, “May you be blessed by the Lord” are just that-pious sounding. They are not an accurate window into his heart. This matters, because as Christians it’s pretty easy to get excited any time you hear an athlete or a politician or some other public figure “thank God” or say “God bless America” or tag “and Jesus is my Lord and Savior” to the end of some statement. But without wanting to throw shade at any individual, we ought to take seriously the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:16, You shall know them by their fruits (NKJV). Saul can use pious language here, but he’s either misreading the situation because of a heart blinded by his sin, or he’s intentionally using duplicitous language. In either case, his invocation of God is empty.
One of the stunning contrasts we see in this chapter is between the relationships of David and Saul to the city of Keilah. David goes there to save the city from the Philistines, while Saul is eager to lay siege in order to capture or kill David. David is again seen as fulfilling the role that Saul should be performing, but because Saul is so dead set on maintaining his own power, he’s failing to do the most basic parts of his job- like protecting his land from invaders.
Saul’s looming attack drives David back to where he was before Keilah: looking to God in prayer. In verse 9 he urges Abiathar to bring the ephod near so that he can go to the Lord for guidance. He asks the Lord whether the people will hand him over to Saul, and whether Saul will come down. After God answers that Saul will come down, David repeats the first part of the question and again receives an affirmative answer. Saul is coming, and the city will turn him over. This might seem awfully ungrateful on the part of a city who has just been saved by David’s hand, but remember, these people probably still have the city of Nob fresh in their minds. Lining up with David against Saul (or even simply having that be Saul’s perception of you) could be pretty disastrous.
David takes from this the clear message that he needs to again be on the run. He may have felt some relief upon first entering this city-maybe his time in the wilderness is through and he can rest. But instead he has to flee into the wilderness of Ziph.
What do we gain from these first 13 verses of the chapter? I think what we see, both driving David into and out of the city, is a reliance upon Listening Prayer as his means of spiritual guidance. Saul is constantly getting human messengers to come to him, bringing him all the intelligence he can gather. And while David receives some of that as well, his source of information for decision making is ultimately the Lord himself. What do I mean by listening prayer? Let me quote here from Dale Ralph Davis,
“A contemporary believer may say, “I see that, and it’s all very nice, but I don’t receive the kind of precise, direct guidance that David did.” Neither do I. Because I don’t need it. I’m not the chosen king. It does my ego no damage to concede that David’s function in salvation history is far more crucial than mine. The fortunes of the kingdom of Yahweh in this world rest far more on David’s preservation than on mine. What was essential for Yahweh’s elect king to have he received.”
Note that last sentence: what was essential or crucial for him to have, he received. I want to challenge you this morning: we can often be tempted to feel that the old Sunday school answers of prayer and Bible reading just aren’t enough. That somehow God owes us more guidance than this, or maybe if we become more spiritual we can access another level of spiritual power. But that’s not what the Word says. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says,
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Every good work. That means, wait for it... every good work. God’s word is sufficient. Now, that doesn’t mean it gives us all the answers we want. But this is where reading in prayer and praying the word is key. This word was inspired by God’s Holy Spirit, and the same Spirit is the one who enlivens it and makes it effective to the dividing of soul and spirit, as Hebrews 4:12 says. The attitude David has of praying and listening to the Lord is the same attitude we ought to take toward the both prayer and Bible reading. Is your prayer life dry? Spend a few days where you set aside the laundry list of requests and demands, and let the Spirit shape your prayer life by the Bible. Is your Bible reading dull and boring? Stop reading for a few minutes and pray line by line over a few verses. God, what does it mean that you are my Shepherd? Help me to be satisfied in you. Would you cause me to know the sweetness of lying down in green pastures and drinking from the still waters of your sweet salvation?
A life sheltered by God looks first of all to him alone as the source of our wisdom, our guidance, and our strength. We don’t need Abiathar with Urim and Thummim, nor do we need the prophet Gad traveling with us. We have the Holy Spirit, sent by the Son of God, our perfect prophet and priest, and he is speaking to us in his word. So pray, and do so with an attentive ear to this book.
Strengthening Partnership, v14-18
And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 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. Saul my father also knows this.” And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.
So David heads south at this point into the wilderness of Ziph. The town of Ziph is located about 12 miles southeast of Keilah, so though he hasn’t traveled far, David has once again escaped from Saul. For the moment.
And here I need to issue a correction, because I’m pretty sure that when we looked at David and Jonathan’s goodbye in chapter 20 I said that was the last time they met, which as you can see here is obviously wrong. So I apologize for not being careful with my facts on that point.
It is ironic in the text that Saul is unable to find David, yet Jonathan seems to have no such difficulty. But what I want to focus on is not so much the fact that Jonathan came out, as why he came out to meet his friend. What did he come to do? Verse 16 tells us, to strengthen his hand in God. And this is precisely what David needs. It must have been a massively discouraging time. In chapter 22 we read of a whole town being decimated because of tangential connection to David. In 23 we find David saving a city and then immediately being betrayed by them and forced to flee again. What did David need? He needed to be reminded of God’s promises to him.
Enter Jonathan. 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. Note the four parts of that statement: First, do not fear. It has often been noted that this is the most frequent command in the bible, and for good reason: we seem constantly to be finding things to fear. Why need David not fear? The third part: because he shall be king over Israel. This was God’s promise to him. And if God is to keep that promise, then it must also be true that, part two, murderous King Saul will not be able to lay hands on him. The only part of this statement that fails to come to fruition is part four, Jonathan’s personal promise: I shall be next to you. God hadn’t promised this, and it fell outside Jonathan's power to deliver. But even in this statement we find his loyalty to David, and his confidence that God will indeed seat David on the throne of Israel. As Joyce Baldwin puts it, “It was not only the warmth of human friendship that strengthened David, but much more Jonathan’s certainty as to God’s purpose for the future.”
Do you have friends like this? Those who will confidently come alongside you, even in the worst of times, and assure of God’s promises? Friends who will remind you to lift your eyes off of your feet of clay and look toward the celestial city, to borrow Bunyan’s imagery? Perhaps more pressing: have you committed to being that kind of friend? We can offer all of the platitudes in the world and it won’t matter a hill of beans in the end. But point people to the word of God, and you may have an enduring impact for their good. One key feature of the God-sheltered life is having friends who remind you that God is, in fact, sheltering you. Which is especially important when the enemy closes in.
Kind Providence, v19-29
Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
David’s circumstances actually get worse after Jonathan leaves. The men of Ziph, men of the tribe of Judah, David’s kinsmen, preemptively inform Saul of his whereabouts. After Saul urges them to do a double-check, searching out carefully all of the hiding places (v21-24), he then comes down after them with his army. And here is where the tension in this chapter reaches a fever-pitch, with verse 26 reading, Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul.
David has been able to elude Saul time and again, but here it seems like the gig is up. Verse 27 says Saul is closing in, and this is the part of the movie where we close our eyes because the hero is about to be captured and killed. Until a messenger reaches Saul. Hurry, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land. Breathe. What timing. And frankly, what an unexpected response from Saul, who had previously been callous to the needs of Keilah. But now this message comes, and he breaks off the chase, just as he was going to capture his prey.
It was in this circumstance that David penned Psalm 54,
TO THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS. A MASKIL OF DAVID, WHEN THE ZIPHITES WENT AND TOLD SAUL, “IS NOT DAVID HIDING AMONG US?”
O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth. For strangers have risen against me; ruthless men seek my life; they do not set God before themselves. Selah
Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. He will return the evil to my enemies; in your faithfulness put an end to them. With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good. For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
David sought the Lord in listening prayer, he was encouraged by the Lord in a strengthening friendship, and most of all, he was protected by the Lord’s kind providence. Do you know this same Lord? Come to Jesus, and he will give you that same friendship, that same protection, that salem nnNNnNn shelter. As Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:17-18, But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.