1 SAMUEL 23
Read 1 Samuel 23:1-29
King Saul has his priorities all wrong. He is pursuing this vendetta he has against David with an almost single-minded obsession. While he is doing this he has taken his eyes off the threat posed by the Philistines who take advantage of the situation by attacking Israelite towns.
What stands out in this passage is the prayerfulness of David. We read again and again that David enquired of the Lord (v2, v4, v10, v12). He prayed directly to the Lord and he also went through the formal mechanism of the chief priest and the ephod (vv9-12) (the ephod was a garment that only the chief priest was entitled to wear and contained the means to determine the Lord’s will). David was also aware of the threat of the Philistines and took on the responsibility that perhaps Saul should have taken in dealing with them. But he did not go without consulting the Lord in the matter. We get the impression that the headstrong Saul follows his own instincts, but David is keen to do what the Lord wants him to do – a reminder to us all that we generally act like Saul and do most things on impulse or based on what we want to do, rather than being like David and asking the Lord what he wants us to do.
The result is that the Lord replied to David telling him to attack the Philistines and relieve his fellow Israelites. David’s men were not so sure, but the clear answer to his prayer inspired David to take on the Philistines and the Lord honoured David’s faithfulness with success against the Philistines.
Saul continued in his pursuit of David, but the Lord protected David; v13 ‘Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands’. It is clear who the Lord favoured in this situation. And though Saul could not find David, his son Jonathan could, and he gave David encouragement by reminding David of God’s promise to him that Saul will not kill him and that David will rule over Israel (v16). Jonathan also reaffirmed his covenant of friendship and support with David. If somebody is having a hard time it is so important for the people of God to support and encourage them – and while there is nothing wrong with hugs and general good wishes, what can be better for encouraging someone than by reminding them of God’s promises? Encouragement of God’s people comes from God’s word.
The chapter ends in an almost comical way but shows God’s providence in action. Some of the residents of Ziph, to get into the king’s good books, tell him where David is and Saul and his troops set off to find him. David hears of them coming and as Saul approaches on one side of the mountain so David escapes round the other. And just as Saul is about to catch up with David, a messenger came to say that the Philistines were on the way and Saul had to turn away from David to deal with this new threat from the Philistines. God’s providence is a strange thing – who would have thought that the Philistines, who David had recently been fighting, would end up being his saviour? It is a mark of God that he sometimes uses the most unexpected people to carry out his divine will. God really does move in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.