41 Tale of Two Men

First Samuel chapter 22 begins a new stage in David’s career and life in general. Even though he remained firmly as a fugitive, David would go from being completely alone, to having a core group around him, which would eventually consolidate him as a leader.

1 In Isolation No More

After leaving Gath, David escaped to the isolation of a cave at Adullam in the wilderness of Israel.

While David was desiring physical safety, it had been his isolation and lack of human fellowship, which had led to his backsliding, lying, and reliance upon his flesh at both the priestly city of Nob, and then the Philistine stronghold of Gath.

Despite David’s ill-conceived travels, the Lord still protected and provided for him. That would be very evident here, as the Lord provided much needed companionship for him in the cave at Adullum:

1 Samuel 22:1-2

The Lord met with, and provided for David during his greatest time of fear and isolation.

The Bible is silent, as to whether David’s family were believers, therefore we cannot assume he was able to have true fellowship with them, such as he and his friend Jonathan had previously experienced. But he was able to have much-needed companionship from trusted loved ones, in addition to the four hundred men, were discontented with Saul leadership.

The Hebrew word for “discontented” literally means “bitterness of soul”. Therefore, these were men who felt completely hopeless due to Saul’s leadership, which pointed to them desiring new leadership in the land. Therefore, the Lord sent them to David, whom He had already chosen to be the next king.

So, God had returned David to his homeland, and even though he was still in hiding, he was now surrounded by a group of men, who would one day become part of David’s trusted core.

Because these 400 men were downtrodden and discontented, had they found an unscrupulous leader, they would have been vulnerable to rebellion against Saul. Therefore, the Lord was being gracious to them, in providing David as their leader.

2 Providing for His Parents

The writer then shows David making provision for his parents, while he still was unsure of what his future would be like:

1 Samuel 22:3-5

David knew that due to age, his parents would be unable to adapt to a life on the run and living in caves, etc., especially now that his brothers had chosen to join him.

Therefore, David traveled to the land of Moab on the other side of the Dead Sea, and asked the king of Moab to allow his parents to live in that land.

David was the great-grandson of Ruth, who was the Moabite daughter-in-law of Naomi, who herself had made the trip to Moab with her late husband Elimelech during a period of famine in the land of Israel.

Ruth’s grandson was Jesse, David’s father. Therefore, David was hopeful those familial relationships would endear Jesse to the king of Moab, and it did, as he and David’s mother remained in that land while David consolidated his strength.

In verse 5, the prophet Gad told David to leave the hiding place in Adullum, and to return to the land of Judah.

David and his men then moved from the cave at Adullum to another hiding place, the forest of Hereth, which while not far from Adullum, was moving him closer to where he would later settle semi-permanently, in Hebron.

3 The Priests are Murdered

Saul reacted with predictable anger, when he learned that David had a contingent of men surrounding him:

1 Samuel 22:6-23

Saul’s anger was first displayed, as he challenged his men, by asking whether any of them were considering joining David, who he still refused to call by name, but continued to refer to him as “the son of Jesse” showing his disdain both for David, and the fact that his father was a simple sheep-breeder.

In verse 8, Saul then accused even his most trusted men of conspiring against him. He was showing more signs of paranoia, as he wanted to know why his men didn’t feel sorry for him, that his son Jonathan had covenanted with David.

In verse 9, Doeg the Edomite (whom David had seen when he was speaking with the priest Ahimelech) spoke up, and advised Saul that he witnessed the priest giving David food and even Goliath’s sword as a weapon. Which was certainly true. But then he lied by saying that the priest “inquired of the Lord” on behalf of David, which was untrue.

That accusation caused Saul to call for the priest to appear before him. The priest did so, completely unaware of the king’s anger, or even why he’d been summoned. Saul, then confronted Ahimelech concerning David, and the priest angered Saul even more, by stating that David was Saul’s most honorable servant.

But Ahimelech denied that he had inquired of the Lord for David, stating that he was unaware of any issues between Saul and David.

However, Saul was beyond convincing, as his anger was at the boiling point, as he ordered his guards to kill all the priests (all part of Ahimelech’s family). The guards refused the king’s order, being unwilling to kill these men who were called by, and served the Lord.

Saul then turned to the Edomite Doeg, to carry out the orders, which he unhesitatingly did. After killing the priests, Doeg then went to the priestly city of Nob, and killed all that was living, (women, children, and even animals).

One priest had survived, a young man named Abiathar, who ran to tell David of the proceedings. David was saddened, as he stated that he knew the moment he’d seen Doeg at Nob, that he would tell Saul. David then advised Abiathar to remain with him and his men for the sake of safety.