“That love is the love that bears me o’er starless deeps;
That never, through long night watches, slumbers nor sleeps.
That filleth the lonely desert with psalm and song,
And along my journey guards me, all, all along.”
THOUGH the rightful king was persecuted and pursued, he had the compensation of the presence of the priest and prophet with him. When Abiathar had fled from the midst of the terrible slaughter of his family, he had been careful to take with him the high priestly ephod—now his in succession to the murdered high priest. To David, this was the joy of having the Urim and Thummim with him, and, as we can plainly seer it was a special mark of God’s favor; for though David was a man of faith, and one who—spite of failures—walked in simple confidence in the Lord habitually, yet through the priest who was now with him he is put into a place where the mind of God with regard to all his movements can be made known to him. While looking at the outward history of “the sweet psalmist of Israel,” and seeing the chequered circumstances through which he passed, would convince us that he was a man of no ordinary stamp, but one gifted to excel in everything he took in hand; yet unless we know something of his inner life, as revealed to us in the psalms he wrote, we should fail to become really acquainted with him.
There we see David as he actually was. Often rising to heights of true worship—as far as possible then—delighting in the Lord God of Israel, and rejoicing in all He was. Then again we see him as the heart-broken, penitent man who has been guilty of enormous sin, who confesses it absolutely, without a shadow of guile or hiding, and whose faith so enters into the depths of the grace of God that it rises even above his sense of sin, and enables him to go on in the consciousness of perfect forgiveness; subdued and chastened, but able to rejoice in God—not in David, but in David’s Lord.
It must soon have been known in Judah that the prophet and priest of Jehovah were now with David, part of his following; and the eyes of many in Israel began to turn to him as the one to fly to for help in emergency, rather than to Saul. Messengers come to him to tell him that the Philistines are again making raids upon the city of Keilah and robbing the threshing floors. It was harvest time, and these tireless foes took the opportunity of getting a supply of wheat from the poor farmers as they were threshing out the newly reaped grain.
The poor people looked to David to prevent this, but now he will not move till he has inquired of God and gets the command to go. At first his followers question the prudence of this, and then he again inquired of the Lord, who answers him by telling him to go to Keilah, and He would deliver the Philistines into his hand. The result was that the foe was driven back, his cattle taken and Keilah saved. Spite of this great service rendered to them, it was soon proved that the city was no safe place for David and his men, for the people of Keilah would have betrayed him into the hands of Saul. So he goes to a forest near, in the wilderness of Ziph, and in the mountains there he remains for a while, Saul daily seeking his life.
By some means Jonathan is able to find out where his persecuted friend and brother-in-law is taking refuge, and he risks everything to go to him for a last interview, though he did not know it was the last. Very little is recorded of this meeting between them, but Jonathan strengthened David’s hand in God. He said also to him, “Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.”
Alas, for Jonathan I Most truly did he love David, but “David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.” His faith did not rise to the height of leaving everything to follow his friend. He failed to discern that not only was Saul rejected of God, but Saul’s house also, as far as the kingdom was concerned. David was now the one in whom God had centered all blessing for Israel, and to be with him was to be in communion with the purpose of God. It was the place of safety also, though still that of shame and reproach and suffering. They who followed David were preserved because they were with him. When the Lord Jesus was on earth He said, “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me.” It is not enough that His people should own Him as Savior, He desires that they should follow Him. He would not have them identified with this guilty world, nor sharing in its schemes or plans for bettering it. Our only place is to be apart from it all in spirit, as one with Him who is actually outside it, and in the glory of God. Jonathan did not suffer with David, and instead of sharing his glory when his day of glory came, he falls with his father by the hand of the Philistines.
Some years were to pass before the chosen king had been so tested and tried that he was fitted to feed the people of God as a shepherd, and to rule over them with mercy and wisdom. It was to be made plain to all, too—to David him-self as well as to others—that in himself he was only a weak erring man like any other. It was the grace and power of God alone that put him in his kingly place and preserved him through all difficulties till the day of his triumph over all his enemies.
In a wonderful way we see how he was imbued by the Spirit of God with those lovely traits of character which come out so fully in his intercourse with his father-in-law. He never leaves his place of faithful subject, or of loving relative, but in a faith which shines out all the more brilliantly because of the darkness that surrounds it, he casts himself in absolute dependence upon Jehovah to order everything for him. Day after day did Saul seek to destroy him—it became the one master passion of his unhappy mind—but again and again he was thwarted by divine power. Obliged at last once more to shelter himself and men “in dens and caves of the earth” (Heb. 11:3838(Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. (Hebrews 11:38)), David finds refuge in a cave on the western shores of the dreary Dead Sea. Engedi, or, as it is now called, Ain Jidy—fountain of the goat—is in a wild gorge, whose cliffs have numerous caverns still in them. A desolate part of the country, from its nearness to the Dead Sea, there was still enough pasturage to make it a place for feeding sheep, and the caves were—and still may be—often used as folds for the sheep and goats.
Not long had the son of Jesse been in this cavern home when the king is told of it, and then we read, “Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all. Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats?’ Three thousand of the flower of his army against one man and his little band of followers! Evidently Saul had a very high opinion of their prowess, that he should think it needful to take such overwhelming numbers with him. The long march to Engedi, and the heat of the sultry region, had wearied the king, and coming to the mouth of a cave, he enters it to lie down and rest before going further. As the cave was by the sheepcotes, it is quite likely there were sheep also resting in it, and they would not disturb the sleep of Saul.
Neither did the inhabitants of the cave of Engedi arouse him from the deep slumber into which he fell, little thinking that in the darkness David and his men were hidden from him in the sides of the cave. To one going into the gloom of the cavern from the sunlight outside all would be black darkness beyond the entrance, while to those who were already there and farther in its depths everything at the opening would be perfectly visible. David and his men would see every action of Saul, and clearly recognize him, while he was unconscious of their presence.
Now the king is completely in the power of his persecuted subject. Will he avail himself of what seems a providential way of escape from all his difficulties, will he slay Saul who has so long and persistently sought to destroy him?
David’s men say to him, “Behold the day of which Jehovah said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee.” Then they see their leader arise and go to the sleeping Saul with his drawn sword in his hand, and they watch him as he bends over the king. Instead of seeing the sword plunged into the heart of Saul, they only see the sharp weapon used to cut off part of the royal robe. Leaving the sleeper unharmed, David’s heart now smites him even for cutting off his robe, and he tells his eager men, “Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, Jehovah’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing that he is the anointed of Jehovah.” Thus did he stay his followers by his words, and did not allow them to harm the king, who soon awakened, and rose and left the place where he had been so preserved.
He is not allowed to go in ignorance of the marvelous grace that has spared him. David also arises and follows him, and a few paces from the mouth of the cave he calls—“My lord the king.” As he looks behind to see who is calling him, David bows lowly before him, but asks why the king listens to any who say—David seeketh thy hurt. Then he tells him how he and his whole band have been in the cave all the time Saul was there, and how they would have killed him, but he, as their leader, would not put forth his hand against the anointed of the Lord. Then, to prove how easily he could have taken his life, he says, “My father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see.... I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.”
Even the hard heart of Saul is touched at this generosity of the one he was so relentlessly pursuing. His emotions were stirred, though his conscience remained untouched, and weak tears come to his eyes, and he exclaims, “Is this thy voice, my son David?” Then, forced to confess what was so plainly true, he says, “Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil.” With his three thousand picked soldiers within call doubtless, he is despicably weak before the injured David, and though he has found the one he has been seeking for, he is unable to do anything but ask for mercy at his hand, and causes him to swear that he will extend mercy to his house.
He owns that he knows well that David is the future king of Israel, but only fearing his vengeance, Saul is still unrepentant, though for a time the influence of this meeting prevented his seeking the death of the son of Jesse, but every link between them was now broken.
Leaving the cave at Engedi, with its beautiful fountain of clear cold water gushing out of the hill-side, and which still flows in a sparkling stream to-day past the tangled thickets, which are the remains of what once may have been fertile gardens, David goes to the desert of Paran, some ten miles from Ain Jidy—fountain of the kid or goat—where even now wild goats and kids are found. Around this Engedi are now masses of what appear to be the ruins of ancient terraces, which in Solomon’s days were first so much used, and continued to be so till the land ‘‘fell into desolation.”
The mention of the immense flocks of sheep and goats belonging to the wealthy Nabal, near whose pastures David now remained for a time, proves to us that this part of the land must then have been of marvelous fertility to support such large numbers. Nabal had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. Such a rich sheep-master needed to employ a great many men as shepherds, for the nearness of Ishmaelite or Bedouin robbers on the one hand, and Philistine marauders on the other, made a strong guard and a constant watch always necessary.
Camping near these shepherds and their flocks David and his men formed a very powerful protection for them. The most daring sheep-stealers, who would not hesitate to attack the shepherds when alone; could not venture to do so while he and his faithful band were on the spot, so that Nabal’s shepherds were in perfect security all the time they were there.
The day came when the vast flocks began to be driven down to the shearing ground to pass under the hands of the shearers, and then the shepherds found that not a single sheep or goat had been lost or stolen. Shearing time was generally marked by a sort of “open house” hospitality, when all friendly corners were made welcome. David and his men often knew probably what privations meant, but it would seem as if at this time it must have been real need with them. He sends his young men to the wealthy sheep-master to ask for some provision, and trying as it must have been for him to do this he accepts the humbling it involved, and seeks a favor from the man whose flocks they had guarded.
Nabal was utterly unable to appreciate either the care of David and his men, or the fact that the son of Jesse was God’s king. To the respectful message given by the servants of David he has only a taunting answer, and even the fact of the help they had been to his shepherds does not move him to supply the need of those who could have helped themselves from his flocks with impunity had they chosen.
Greatly angered at Nabal’s churlish conduct, the young men return to their leader and tell him all. The usual patience with which all the slights and trials of his outcast life were met is overborne for a time by indignation at the unkind treatment of Nabal. “Gird ye on every man his sword,” is his command to four hundred of his men, and thus armed they take the way to Carmel where the sheep were being sheared.
The message sent to Nabal had been heard by one of his men who had kept the sheep while David and his men were near them, and he seems to have judged that such a hard reply must bring some danger upon them if not averted. He goes to his mistress, Nabal’s wife, who is spoken of as a woman “of good understanding, and of beautiful countenance.” To her he tells the whole story, and of the goodness of the son of Jesse and his followers to them when they were in the wilderness, saying, “They were a wall unto us both by night and day. Now therefore consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master,”
Nabal had violated the common law of eastern hospitality, and Abigail his wife at once did all she could to repair this fault. We get a glimpse of the resources of such a household in those days when we read that she “took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on asses.” Mounting an ass herself, she takes the way toward the wilderness, where David and his band are encamped, bidding the servants go on before her with the asses laded with this present, which was doubtless part of the plentiful provision made for his shearers, which Nabal—the degenerate descendant of Caleb—had spoken of to the young men sent by David.
Not very far had she to go before she is met by the armed band, and seeing at once which is their leader, she alights from the ass and falls at his feet, saying, “Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience.” Then she goes on to prove by her words how fully—before this present danger came—she had entered in faith into what the son of Jesse was to Jehovah. Many there may have been in Israel who knew in their inmost hearts that the career of Saul had been one entirely apart from God, and they saw in the persecuted outcast one whom He had chosen, but who was to suffer before he could reign.
Abigail owns all this. She begs him first not to regard the folly of Nabal—taking it for granted that he will accept the reparation she has sought to make, and not go on to avenge himself—but then she turns to speak of what her heart is plainly full of, that she is before the one whom Jehovah has chosen to fight His battles, the one who is to be placed upon the throne of the kingdom by Jehovah Himself. Then with what seems a truly marvelous insight into the depths of the grace of God, she speaks of Saul as a man who has risen to seek the soul of this chosen one of God, and says, “but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God.”
Did this woman of great faith lay hold in anticipation of what has only come out fully since David’s Lord was on earth? Had she been given to see a little of what “the root and offspring of David” would bring all His people into? Whatever light she had as to this she clearly held it fast, and her faith enabled her to see God’s purposes as to David and his kingdom. Then, it mattered little to her that he was a persecuted exile for the moment, she looked on to the time when Jehovah would place him in kingly dignity over all his adversaries; and owned him already as the one true king of Israel.
She saw him as in one bond of life with the Lord. What would her joy have been could she have known what every believer in the Son of God is privileged to enter into now! That Christ Himself becomes the life of His own redeemed ones, so that they can look on Him in glorious resurrection power and say, That is my life. Abigail accepted the shame and reproach that lay then upon the anointed of Jehovah—the death that lay upon him—and through this same path of acceptance of death, the believer passes, through resurrection—the death and resurrection of Christ—into His life, His blessed risen life. As this woman of exceeding faith put it—they are bound in the bundle of life with the Lord.
Abigail went on to speak to David—saying that when he should become ruler of Israel it would be no grief to him that he had turned from his purpose of avenging on Nabal the rude treatment he had received, and that he had shed no blood causelessly. She had asked for forgiveness, and felt it was granted, and then she adds, “When Jehovah shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid.”
Blessed be Jehovah God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: and blessed be thy advice, and blessed be thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to shed blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. As Jehovah God of Israel liveth, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had been no male left to Nabal by the morning light. This was David’s reply to Abigail. He received from her the present she had brought, and said to her, Go up in peace unto thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thee.
Ten days pass over and then “Jehovah smote Nabal, that he died.” When David heard this he saw in it a proof that God had vindicated him, and he rejoiced that he had been kept from the evil of smiting Nabal himself. Some time later on Abigail shares the rejection and suffering of David and becomes his wife.