1
Samuel chapter 23 seems to have a theme of accessibility. The
chapter begins with David being told that the Philistines were
fighting and looting an Israeli city called Keilah. Remember, David
and his rag-tag army of “distressed,
in debt or discontented”
men were still hiding from King Saul. David humbly “inquired
of the Lord“.
God responded, “Go,
attack the Philistines and save Keilah“.
David’s men, however, were not so easily convinced. They said,
“We
are afraid“.
David does not try to convince them, or coerce them; for their sake,
he simply inquired of the Lord a second time. This time God gave him
more details, “Go
down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your
hand“.
God does not desire for us to remain cloistered away hiding from the
world around us. “In
the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your
good deeds and praise your Father in heaven”
(Matthew 5:16). Often in the Christian life there is a time to
recover, a time to receive and then a time to get involved. All
three are equally important!
We
read David and his men, “inflicted
heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah“.
In the process, Davis also exposed his location to King Saul. Saul
was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, “God
has handed him over to me, for David has imprisoned himself by
entering a town with gates and bars.”
And Saul called up all his forces for battle. Once again David
wisely consulted God. After learning they were not safe even in the
town they just saved, “David
and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving
from place to place“.
David has already been anointed king by Samuel the priest, but while
Saul is in the palace, “David
stayed in the desert strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of
Ziph“.
Sometimes when we are running from place to place we feel like we
are just surviving in the desert, but we may be exactly where God
wants us. God gave David encouragement through the words of Saul’s
son Jonathan. “Don’t
be afraid. My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be
king over Israel… Even my father Saul knows this.”
If we do not remain accessible, we cannot encourage (or be
encouraged by) those around us.
Next
we read, the Ziphites went up to Saul and said, “Is
not David hiding among us… Now, O king, come down whenever it
pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for handing him over
to the king“.
Being open also makes us vulnerable. There will be people that let
us down and even betray us when we are unguarded. Saul responded,
“Find
out where David usually goes and who has seen him there… Find out
about all the hiding places he uses … Then I will go with you“.
The chapter ends with a dramatic intervention by God. “Saul
was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were
on the other side… As Saul and his forces were closing in on David
and his men to capture them, a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come
quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.” Then Saul broke
off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines“.
God has you right where you are today for His purposes. Don’t be
deceived into retreating away from all that God has called you to be.
Jesus said to those that were ready to withdraw, “The
thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I
have come that they may have life, and that they may have it
more abundantly”
(John 10:10).