1 Samuel 22:17-23:12.
Saul told his footmen to kill the priests of the Lord because they had helped David as he fled from Saul, but his footmen were afraid (and well they might be!) to kill them. He then told Doeg to do it, and Doeg killed eighty-five priests as well as destroying the city of Nob with all its inhabitants. How dreadful this was, and all because of bad company. The very man whom they had sheltered (Doeg) turned against them, and so it always is. The world wants a Christian only for what it can get from him, but will soon show its enmity (especially in the presence of other unbelievers) when Christ is confessed.
One of the priests, a man named Abiathar, escaped this terrible slaughter and fled to David. Surely this is a lesson for us too, for it is a great thing in time of trouble to flee to our David, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to tell Him all, just as Abiathar did here. The Lord knows what we have to bear in the path of following Him, and He alone can sustain and comfort us. And so David said to Abiathar, “Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.” What an encouragement this must have been to Abiathar in the difficult and trying days ahead of him.
David heard at this time that the Philistines were fighting against the city of Keilah and robbing their threshingfloors, and it concerned him. He loved the people of God, and all the trials that had come into his life through King Saul had not made him bitter. Often we have to watch lest trouble should make us bitter in our souls, and cause us to give up the path of devotedness to Christ and service to His own. There are few who retain fresh energy when in trial, but how beautiful it is to see it here.
David asked the Lord if he should go up against the Philistines and diver Keilah, and the Lord told him to go. His men, however, advised him not to go so he asked the Lord again.
I believe this is a beautiful lesson to us, for while we are to look to the Lord to direct us in serving Him, we are not to close our ears to the advice of others. If we feel the Lord has given us some service to do, and others advise us against it, let us ask the Lord again. It could easily be our own wills instead of the will of God, but if we seek only His will, He will surely make it clear to us. Let us not be stubborn, for God says “stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” 1 Samuel 15:23. Let us quietly seek the Lord’s mind again, as David did. He knows our hearts and whether we desire to do His will only.
When the Lord told David the send time that he was to go out against Keilah, then his men were persuaded and were ready to go with him. The Lord will never fail those who look to and count upon Him. When they went up there, they defeated the Philistines and delivered Keilah.
Saul soon heard that David was in Keilah, and in spite of the fact that David had fought against the Philistines and delivered the city, he still hated him. Immediately he came out against him to besiege the city where he was. When David heard this he called for the ephod and asked the Lord if Saul would really come, and if the men of Keilah would deliver him up to Saul. He did not trust in man, or in fair promises, but in the Lord, so he left Keilah and went to hide in the wilderness.
ML 12/05/1954