Day 1185: Desperate times - 1 Samuel 21 vs 8 – 22 vs 2

8-9 Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.” And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.” And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”

10-11 And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath. And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances, ‘Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands’?” 12-14 And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behaviour before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

1-2 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became captain over them. And there were with him about four hundred men. 1 Samuel 21:8 – 22:2 English Standard Version

We saw last time how David was not telling the truth to Abimelech, and I mentioned that such deception often leads to a worse situation. We see this happening to David. Desperate for a weapon, he again blames the haste with which he departed to enquire whether Abimelech possibly had a weapon he could use. He is given the sword that had once belonged to Goliath. What follows has a strong touch of irony.

David flees to Gath, the place Goliath originally came from, with the sword that used to be Goliath's. But things don't go smoothly for him. His reputation had reached Gath as being the one who had 'slain ten thousands' of the Philistines. When David heard what was being said, he became afraid. This seems an appropriate time to remember that David is known for being the writer of Psalm 23, which has the words: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” But what did David do in this situation? (vs 12-14)

He pretended to be mad, and behaved in such a way that King Achish believed it to be true. Desperate situations led David to desperate measures. Yet God was with David, and was watching over his life. What was the result? (Chapter 22:1-2)

The GotQuestions site says David left Gath, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. As time went by, his brothers and his father’s household heard of it, and went down to him there. People who were in distress, debt, or discontented, gathered to him as well, and he became commander of some four hundred men. The cave in Adullam became a base of operations for David, and it was here that he went from being a lone fugitive on the run to a leader of a band of “outlaws”.

David took refuge in a cave more than once. Psalm 57 was written on one such occasion, and in it he says: “Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.” Hebrews 11 speaks of times when God's servants had to “wander about in deserts, mountains, dens, and in caves of the earth.” As followers of Jesus there may be desperate situations that we will face too. May David's prayer in Psalm 57 be our prayer at such times.