1 Samuel 23

1 Samuel 23

While Saul was still following David’s trail, David found himself in the city of Keilah facing another battle. The Philistines had come up against the people of Keilah, and God instructed David to go to battle, promising victory. David’s men were hesitant at first, but when God reconfirmed His plans to David, David and his men went to battle. As promised, God gave them victory, and they were able to protect the people of Keilah. However, Saul heard about David’s victory and found out where he was hiding. So Saul once again began to pursue David hoping to kill him. David was concerned that the people of Keilah would give him up, and when God told him that they would indeed hand him over to Saul, David fled.


David ran off into the wilderness again and hid from Saul, but Saul did not give up. He continued to pursue David each day hoping to find him and kill him so that his family would continue to sit on the throne of Israel. However, this was not God’s plan. He had specifically chosen David to be the next king, and no man was going to get in the way of God’s plans. He continued to protect David and did not allow Saul to find him. This is seen in the second half of 1 Samuel 23 as David moves from place to place. He was first warned by Jonathan of Saul’s latest plans. Then, when the Ziphites planned on giving David up, he received word of their plans and was able to escape again. Every time that Saul got close, God made sure that David was one step ahead of Saul. Then, the Philistines arrived and began to attack Israel again, causing Saul to give up on pursuing David for the time being so that he could protect his country.

Saul had become so preoccupied with finding and killing David that he was failing at his primary responsibilities as king of Israel. Due to his jealousy and hatred of David, he felt like he was doing the right thing in attempting to rid Israel of David’s presence and influence. What he did not understand was that David had been chosen by God, and God had been using David in mighty ways to protect Israel. Instead of fighting the real enemy, the Philistines who were seeking to destroy Israel, Saul was fighting David, his “enemy” who had done nothing but try to help protect Israel from groups like the Philistines.

In the same way, we can sometimes lose sight of what we have been called to do. We may know that God could use us in some great way, but we become so preoccupied with something else that does not really matter that we fail to live for and serve Him. We allow the sin in our lives to control us, such Saul’s jealousy of David. The danger in allowing that old sin to creep back up into our lives is that we will always miss out on what we could have done for God. Granted, if we really are His children, He will forgive us of that sin, but we may never know what great things God could have done through us if we had only remained obedient to His word. Saul and David were polar opposites, and it is obvious which man was receiving God’s blessings. David had a hard life, showing us that it is not always easy to serve God, but he remained committed to God despite the cost. He understood the importance of serving God, and as a result, God was able to use him in mighty ways.

Matt