Saturday, July 29, 2023

1 Samuel 22:1

1 Samuel 22:1 says, David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.  David next escaped to the cave Adullam, and when his brothers heard about it, they went down to join him.  If we are in a bad situation today, and our family, and I would say our spiritual brothers and sisters maybe even more than our biological ones, hear about it, I hope they would join us.  Verse two adds, And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.  David had what we might call the rabble join him, those who were in distress, debt, or were just discontented with life.  This could describe us before we come to Jesus Christ by faith and accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord.  David, who had been a captain in Saul’s army, became their captain, about four hundred men.  Verse three continues, And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. David then went to the king of Moab and asked him to allow his mother and father to come there.  He wanted them to be safe, and he at least now acknowledged that his life was in God's hands.  We should want our mother and father to be safe today, and we should do all that we can to ensure that they are, but we should always put everything in God's hands.  Verse four concludes, And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold.  David brought his mother and father to the king of Moab, and they lived there while David was in the hold, or cave.  We are not told how his parents felt about this, but I believe that when our parents are no longer able to care for themselves or are in danger otherwise, we have a responsibility to do all that we can to make sure that they are safe, sometimes even if they may not want to do what we know is necessarily.  Verse five states, And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth in Judah.  When the prophet Gad told David to go to Judah, he took the prophet's advice and went to the forest of Hareth.  There was nothing to be accomplished by just hiding, so God through His prophet told David it was time to be moving.  We cannot serve God effectively if all we are doing is hiding from the world in hopes of being safe.  We need to be open to God's leadership telling us when we need to move back out into the world, even if it puts us in more danger than hiding out might.  Verse six adds, When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;)  While Saul was under a tree at Gibeah, with his servants around him and holding his spear in his hand, possibly from fear of David who still had done nothing to threaten Saul, he heard about where David was.  Matthew Henry says that by this time it seemed that Saul’s only purpose was to kill David.  If we as Christians are perceived as a threat to the people of the world today, it may become their biggest goal to either destroy or at least discredit us, even though we have done nothing to harm them.  Verse seven continues, Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds;  Then Saul appealed to the greed of those around him, who were of the tribe of Benjamin.  He implied that he as king could give them more than David could, even though everything that he controlled had belonged to the people to start with.  People, especially some leaders, are still attempting to buy the loyalty of Christians today, even though they have nothing to offer us that doesn't already belong to God.  Verse eight concludes, That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?  Saul then went into a self-pitying declaration.  He said no one, not even his son, was standing with him against David, who was a threat in Saul’s mind only.  We still encounter people today who are full of self-pity over perceived threats from Christians.  They cry out that if we are in positions of power that we will be out to destroy them, even if this idea has no basis in reality, and as Christians we should always be reaching out to them with God's love instead of trying to destroy them. 

No comments:

Post a Comment