Life of David – Post 7

“David, The captain of captivity”

 “You are my portion” 

1 Samuel 22:1-5

Vs. 1-4a Songs for cave dwellers

Vs. 4b-5 Engraved upon the heart       

Intro.

David watched his life change on an arrows flight and what seemed to be within his grasp was suddenly far out of reach. The Lord had promised that he was destined for the throne but the arrow pointed in the opposite direction. Yet in obedience we are told simply that “He arose and departed” (20:42). We saw him run into the “House of the Lord” looking for provisions and protection but not in humility and brokenness. 

David would have settled for far less than what the Lord wanted to give him as he asked for five stale loaves of bread and some old worn out weapon. But the Lord wanted to give him the fresh bread of “His presence” and the weapon of the “Sword of the Spirit”. You will recall that waiting for David in the house of the Lord was Doeg “Anxiety”, is that not always the case when we are willing to settle for less than what the Lord has for us?  In fear David escapes to find peace amongst the Philistines and looks crazy doing it.  

Oh dear saints that is not the end of the story even though it is the end of the narrative. You see David escapes in this chapter to the cave of Adullam, a place of rest and refuge and in that cave he would write four psalms. We know this because above each of these songs for cave dwellers they tells us when they were written:

• Ps. 52 “A contemplation of David when Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, and said to him, David has gone to the house of Ahimelech”. 

• Ps. 56 “A Michtam (instruction) of David when he fled from Saul into the cave”.

• Ps. 34 “A psalm of David when he pretended madness before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed”. 

• Ps 142 “A prayer when he was in the cave”.          

Reading these psalms reveals to us what was going on in David’s heart during specific times in the narrative. For instance I personally believe that the first psalm David wrote upon entering the cave of Adullam was the 142nd psalm. In those seven verses David cries out and declares his trouble before the Lord as he speaks of his spirit being overwhelmed. 

In the 4th verse he declares that no one cares for his soul and that “Refuge has failed” him. You will recall that Adullam means refuge and in the 5th verse he declares, “You are my refuge (my Adullam), My portion in the land of the living.” I believe that psalm 142 indicates a change in the heart of David and this led to the other psalms. Is it not glorious that God works through our failures to deepen our relationship with Him? 

Vs. 1-4a Songs for cave dwellers

Vs. 1a David was run out of Gath in humility after faking madness and escaped to a cave that is located above the valley of Elah where he had years ago defeated Goliath. I want to leave David in this cave alone for a moment as the next sentence tells us that his family had heard of his holding up in this cave halfway between Gath and Bethlehem. I think it is important to remember that we were told concerning David in chapter 16:13 that “the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.”

 He is all alone above the valley where he had trusted the Lord, stripped of everything, humbled by his own failures. In that place when his spirit is overwhelmed perhaps looking down upon that valley he realizes what he knew years earlier that the Lord is his “Adullam” and portion. Folks there will be times in our lives where we will not sense the Spirit of the Lord being upon our lives and God will separate us from all we hold dear and lead us to a cave in the wilderness.

 And there in that cave where we feel alone and forsaken He will come to us and we will realize what we once knew “God is our refuge and portion”. Our life is not hanging upon the fanciful flight of an arrow and those things, which we thought was our refuge and portion, have only kept us from that which truly are, the Lord! 

Vs. 1b-2 I find it interesting that it is after this time alone with the Lord that God brings two groups of people too David:

• Vs. 1b Family: The fact that David’s brothers as well as his father’s house comes to David here tells us that his brothers must have deserted Saul’s army thus making them fugitives as well. When we started looking at David we noted that there was contention between David and his father and brothers, now we see that they join him. We often think that it is our success that will reach our family but oft times it is how we handle our set backs that reunites us.   

• Vs. 2 Misfits: In a parallel passage in 1 Chron 12:16-18 we know that these three groups of refugees came from two tribes Benjamin and Judah, which represented Saul’s and David’s tribes. No doubt these 400 hundred men which will become 600 by chapter 23:16 had all had enough of Saul’s reign. They would become the nucleus of Israel’s greatest army and would be called his “mighty men”. But it is hard to see them as “mighty men” when they first arrive at the cave of Adullam? We are told that these 400 men had three characteristics that we would not associate with greatness:

• “Everyone who was in distress”: These were not mere sympathizers with David they were the “stressed out”. They had lived life under a disobedient king and it had left them stressed. God is still looking to bring into His kingdom the stressed out, those who have tired of life lived under the god of this world. Listen to Jesus’ promise in Matt. 11:28 when he says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Do you see that promise of rest; “Adullam” is it not great? God looks to build His kingdom from the stressed out and He calls them out of the world to find rest and refuge in the Rock!  

• “Everyone who was in debt”: Then there are those who are bankrupt from living under the king’s regime. They have been sold into slavery to pay their debts and have no hope to ever be freed from their bondage. Can you relate to that, having spent your life pursuing that which you can not pay? Running up more bills than you have funds to cover them? Well to those Jesus says in John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” That is the promise, come to Him He has paid your debt that you have made and all you need to do is seek His refuge. 

• “Everyone who was discontented”: Ah here the word is “bitter souled”.  I think this occurs when circumstances and life experiences have left us with a soured soul that sees no satisfaction in life and we become cynical and soured on life. This is what happens living in the disobedient kingdom, frustrated by our conditions wanting something better but unable to change! To the bitter parched soul Jesus promises in John 7:37-38 “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 

It is interesting looking at this that those who were “distressed, in debt and discontented” when they made a decision for David it was a separation from Saul! They may have come to David stressed out, put out and bummed out but they did not stay that way. No, they became mighty men. In fact 1 Chron 12:8 describes them as “mighty men of valor, men trained for battle, who could handle shield and spear, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as gazelles on the mountains”. What happened to them in that cave? Well God brought them to a man who had spent time in the cave of refuge himself. A man who had been called, anointed and broken and there in that cave of refuge the Lord used David to teach them to worship. 

Dear saint God is always looking and calling to Himself all the “distressed indebted and discontented” so that He can transform them into mighty men to reign with Him. I’m so thankful for this truth because I qualify, don’t you? 

Vs. 3-4a Mizpah means “watch tower” and was across the Jordan river where it meets the Dead Sea. Since David’s future was uncertain; he did not want to expose his family to his life on the run until he knew what God would do for him. After time spent in the cave of refuge worshiping the Lord God doing good on his behalf was not in question only the timing of when it would take place. 

Even though David’s family had shown little care towards him and he had enough problems of his own he did not use this as an excuse to be unloving and uncaring towards others. One of the best antidotes to depression is to spend time serving others instead of ourselves! David’s great grandmother Ruth, (herself a Moabite hence why the King of Moab was agreeable to this), practiced this after her husband had died as she decided to serve her mother in-law Naomi and God blessed her with a “kinsman-redeemer” in Boaz! 

Vs. 1-5 Engraved upon the heart

Vs. 4b-5 So David drops off his parents in Moab and heads south to a place we are told in the text that was a “stronghold”. The word rendered “stronghold” comes from the word Masada and many commentators believe that David sought refuge in none other than Massada. Massada is that 1300 foot hilltop above the Dead Sea that the Roman’s 10th Legion as well as 1000’s of slaves spent three years building a siege tower to break into its walls. Today a tram can reach Massada or a very narrow path that winds itself around this monolith but in David’s day, long before Herod built his place atop it, the only way up to the top would have been to scale its steep slopes. I can just picture David and those 400 men atop this massive rock with a view from all sides willing to wait out Saul and his 3000 men (26:2) that are out to kill him. 

David had placed his family in a secure place and told the king of the Moabites that he was going to wait till he knew what God would do for him. So David and those 400 men climbed up into safety to wait out the death of Saul in security. But one day Gad (good fortune) a prophet of the Lord comes calling. Gad just kind of appears in scripture we haven’t seen or heard of before but we will see him again in 2nd Sam. 24 when he comes to deal with David for the sin of numbering the people.

 Apparently he was close to David as 1 Chron. 29:29 tells us that he wrote a book about David and in 2 Chron. 29:25 tells us that he helped arrange the music for worship. At any rate “good fortune” comes calling on David as he is laid up in safety and he has a word from the Lord, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go to the land of Judah.” Hold on a minute, isn’t the “land of Judah” near where Saul was? Yep, it’s his backyard! Now I don’t know about you but I think if I was David looking back at the past months at what had happened to me I’d want to see if my “good fortune” could fly from my “stronghold” if you know what I mean? 

Here’s where I’m going with this, David has been stripped of everything that was secure and safe in his life. He was driven to the Lord to his cave of refuge and there the Lord broke through the emptiness of his heart and worship returned to his life. God brought to him his family and new friends and a desperate situation became tolerable. He has begun to trust again and he places his loved ones in a safe place and goes on top to wait out Saul but not only Saul the Lord as well in safety and security. Is that not like you and I? None of us like being stripped of our security do we? So we climb atop our Massada, our stronghold, to hold on and hold out till better days. But note this dear saint the Lord does not want you put away on some safe hilltop, no it is your “good fortune” to leave your last “stronghold” to go to a place of uncertainty. But why? Well I believe the answer is to be found in the destination as David left in obedience to the forest of Hereth. 

You see, these wooded hills of Judah offered David greater security. Greater security than my Masada? Yes you see the word “Hereth” means engraving, thus God was going to do some engraving upon the heart of David that he would never have received if he stayed in his comfort zone! All too often we like our God far too safe and comfortable don’t we? We like to stay holed up in Masada and we fail to realize that our God is an active God and it is in the uncertainties of our life that He uses to engrave our hearts with His name as our true stronghold. 

I close with this thought; David was willing to leave the last vestige of security he had clung to are you? When “good fortune” comes calling you away from your Massada to the forest of your engrave will you come down from your 1300 foot mountain and allow Him to engrave your heart? Next time we look at this passage we shall see a man who would not come off of his high hill and lived in fear that destroyed not only his life but also all around him. Saul allowed his “anxiety” (Doeg) to take over his life and the result was a massacre of innocent people. Let this be a warning to us all!  

“David, The captain of captivity”

1 Samuel 22:6-23

 

Vs. 6-19 No satisfaction

Vs. 20-23 Safe with the Savior 

Intro.

There is not a Christian who has ever been that will not spend some time with Doeg (Anxiety) the Edomite. It is not a matter of whether or not you will meet up with “anxiety” or even where you will be at when you meet up with him, (David was in the house of the Lord Saul at his home). No, the real question is whether or not he will take over and control your life! When fear comes in through the window of our hearts faith always leaves through the front door!

 David sought rest in his “refuge” , the cave of Adullam. Accordingly as he wrote a song about this in psalm 142 and verse 4 he declares that “Refuge has failed me” and by that he means that “anxiety” had dislodged all that he had found comforting. Ah but there alone in that cave which overlooked the Valley of Elah where years earlier as a mere boy he ventured out in faith upon the battlefield armed with nothing more than his Lord, a giant was killed. Appropriately psalm 142 verse five declares this transformation in David’s heart as we read concerning the Lord that; “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.” 

Mark this chapter my dear Christian as it reveals to us a contrast of two lives one ruled by faith (David) the other by fear (Saul) and as we shall see a life ruled by anxiety (fear) will always seek to destroy our faith! Ah but the opposite is also true as we are told in 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear”.  

Vs. 6-19 No satisfaction

Vs. 6a Apparently some time has elapsed between David being holed up in the cave of Adullam and Saul discovering his location. Based upon this verse David has not only returned from Gath but God has already gathered to him all that were “stressed out, put out and bummed out” all of which as we saw were no doubt in those conditions from being under Saul’s reign. 

Now I mention this because for “Anxiety” to begin to control our lives several things must be present:

• If our lives are characterized by disobedience to the Lord, as Saul’s was then, “anxiety” will find fertile soil in which to grow. We are told of the Lord’s words to Saul in 15:22-23 “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” 

• Disobedience to the Lord always leaves the door open for anxiety to enter our hearts doesn’t it? Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith”. If that is the state of our heart, though anxiety may enter he will have no place comfortable to take up his residence.  

• Second, time becomes a tool in the hands of anxiety when a life is not centered upon obedience to the Lord. With every passing moment if our hearts are not being lived in obedience to the Lord we will see each and every minute as our enemy. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians that “the Lord direct their hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.” Then in Hebrews 6:12 we are admonished to, “imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” 

• Clearly the revelation that David now had gathered to himself the “stress out, put out and bummed out” played into Saul’s anxiety.  In other words every circumstance we experience while we live in disobedience becomes a curse instead of a blessing. Clearly based upon verse 8 Saul views this as a “conspiracy” as even his own tribe of the Benjamites are against him. Lack of submission to the Lord, plus time always breads the offspring of insecurity! 

Vs. 6b There are five things mentioned here that indicate that Doeg (Anxiety) had already taken up all the space of Saul’s heart:

• “Saul was staying in Gibeah”: Gibeah was the birthplace of Saul and the place of his residence, it is so equated with Saul that it is even referred to as “Gibeah of Saul”. The word means, “hill” and in fact today the site has been excavated in an area called “Tell el-Fûl” or “hill of beans”. Here is where I’m going with this we can see that Saul has allowed “anxiety” to take residence in his heart because he has made a “hill of beans” the house he won’t leave. You’ve heard the expression concerning a person who is in the grasp of anxiety that they make, “Mountain’s out of molehills!” Well Saul was in the grasp of anxiety as he not only made mountains out of a “hill of beans” he made it his residence! How about it dear Christian are you living on a “hill of beans”, majoring in minors instead resting in the Lord. There could be no greater contrast than this between David and Saul, “David fled to Adullam (the cave in the rock) his refuge and Saul stayed fixed upon his comfortable hill of beans”! 

• “Under a tamarisk tree”: Saul was not only living on a “hill of beans” ; we are told that he was staying under a Tamarisk tree. This is the tree that Abraham planted when he called upon the name of the Lord in Genesis 21:33. The tree is noted for having long life, hard wood and evergreen leaves, which was associated with God’s enduring grace, faithfulness and promise keeping. 

• The problem with Saul staying under this tree was that this was just for show and not a reality. Here’s my point: when “anxiety” has taken control of our heart we are more concerned with outward appearances than inward realities. Gibeah of Saul and the tamarisk tree are two opposite things aren’t they? Saul was trying to mask where his heart was by staying under the tree of God’s grace, faithfulness and promises without ever allowing His true heart to be there. 

• “In Ramah”: Matthew refers to Ramah in chapter 2:18 as He quotes Jeremiah 31:15 in reference to the slaughter of the innocent children by Herod in his attempt to kill the two year old Jesus. Jeremiah spoke these words about Ramah 500 years later than this date before us as he was in chains watching the week, poor and the young get massacred by the Babylonians as they lead the Israelites captive hence his words: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.” Simply put Ramah is a place of weeping and captivity because of the destruction that a life lived in disobedience brings. Christian, is that not so in our lives? When anxiety takes control of our hearts destruction of innocent people and weeping are the offspring of our disobedience and fear.         

• “With his spear in his hand”: This is a common thing with Saul is it not? What this reveals is Saul’s paranoia as he is convinced everyone and everything is out to get him so he always has his spear in his hand. This is a classic indication that anxiety has taken residence in a heart, when we begin to view life as everybody and everything being against us. Have you ever run into a person who is always carrying around a spear and they aren’t a bit too shy to let you know that they are armed and ready to poke you?

 I’m afraid that far too often we Christians are seen by the world we live in as walking around with our spears in hand instead of people who are at peace! Jesus told His disciples to be as “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matt. 10:16) but I’m afraid that far too often we have got our animals in the wrong place as we tend to be “wise as doves and harmless as serpents”! 

 “And all his servants standing about him”: The last thing that indicates that “Anxiety” has taken residence in our hearts is when we begin to view every body as our servants sent to protect us. Often you will see this within the walls of a Church when little factions gather together that are about serving self-interests. All those servants just standing around him at his beck and call ready to do whatever he wanted. Anxiety in the human heart tends to cause us to want to surround ourselves with “yes men” that take up our agenda instead of viewing ourselves as servants of the Lord! How interesting that some of those fellows left Saul as “Stressed out, Put out and Bummed out” to come into the refuge and become worshipers of the Lord.    

Does this describe you, dear saint? Are you making your home on a “hill of beans” pretending to stand by God’s grace but in reality your life is causing the innocent to weep while you walk a round paranoid thinking that everybody exists to serve you? If that describes you then anxiety has taken up his residence in your heart and trusting the God of all grace and love has left through the front door!  

Vs. 7-8 This manifests itself in Saul’s comments to his fellow countrymen the Benjamites. He engages in a five-fold public relations campaign reminiscent of a political campaign. There is in my mind a direct correlation between anxiety in the heart and having to do a little PR to get people to follow you, wouldn’t you agree? 

• Vs. 7a “Hear now, you Benjamites”: “Hey, I’m one of you!” That is Saul’s first appeal as he himself is a Benjamite and as we have discovered some of his fellow tribesmen sided with David and made up part of the 400. Saul makes this appeal to that of loyalty and family connections.    

• Vs. 7b “Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds”: “I promise if I’m elected to give you just what you ask for.” Notice how again he plays the family connection care as David was from the tribe of Judah and Saul says would be less likely to show the favoritism that Saul had. That is how politicians get reelected year after year apart from their dismal record.  

• Vs. 8a  “All of you have conspired against me, and there is no one who reveals to me that my son has made a covenant”: “You better elect me because if you don’t vote for me I’ll get back at you!” Oftentimes when bribes don’t work threats will come out and that is exactly what Saul tries.

• Vs. 8b “With the son of Jesse”: Notice the use of the words “son of Jesse” as it suggests that Saul is saying that David is not qualified for the job. So here we Saul waging a dirty campaign smear the name of the man who he himself appointed!  

• Vs. 8c “There is not one of you who is sorry for me or reveals to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as it is this day”: Finally Saul engages in trying to rise some sympathy by claiming that he is a victim. Hard to imagine this working in light of what is about to happen in the killing of 85 priests and their families.  

Vs. 9-10 With the condition of Saul’s heart revealed, Doeg (Anxiety) seizes the opportunity. Doeg (anxiety) will always be hanging around waiting for an opportunity to control your heart won’t he? In comparing David with Saul and how they handled anxiety we see that both got to a place that they felt as no one cared for them but David ends up seeking shelter in his “refuge” where he rediscovers that the Lord is his refuge and portion. But Saul doesn’t; instead he allows Doeg to hang around him and take over his life. 

Hey Christian be aware of this just as Doeg (anxiety), was waiting for the opportunity to advance his own self so too anxiety is always hanging around at the door of your heart. You remember Jesus’ words to Simon Peter in Luke 22:31-32 when He said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 

Doeg makes three accusations against Ahimelech and his aiding of David:

• “He inquired of the LORD for him”: Gave him perspective 

• “Gave him provisions”: Provided provisions

• “And gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine”: Supplied Protection

These words of Doeg to Saul who had already accused his son of disloyalty, his subjects of apathy and David of conspiracy was more than enough to get Saul to act upon his fear. 

Vs. 11-13 Notice Saul calls Ahimelech the “son of Ahitub” who was the Grandson of Eli and the son of Phinehas who with his brother were destroyed because of their sins. Simply put Saul is calling the kettle black with this reference as Samuel’s prophecy was that there would not be an old man in Eli’s house, (1 Sam 2:31). So in other words you have outlived your welcome and I’m going to fulfill the Lord’s will by killing you. By indirectly quoting Samuel prophecy Saul is failing to recognize that Samuel also spoke of his dethronement. 

Vs. 14-19 There was of course no “conspiracy” in fact Ahimelech was unaware that David was a wanted man, furthermore David lied about his needs for provisions and protection. 

Folks, when we are in the grips of fear and anxiety we are blinded to the innocence of others. In what can only be called a massacre of innocent people, 85 men plus women and children, all because fear had taken hold of a heart. In chapter 15:9 Saul was disobedient when it came to carrying out the Lord’s word in destroying the wicked but here he has no problem in killing the innocent. Why does Saul do such an atrocious thing? Well because the one that Saul really wanted to kill was God so the next best thing was to slaughter those that served Him.

 And of course Doeg is all too ready to do so and did not stop at just the 85 priests but went right down to their livestock. Which is reminiscent of the word of the Lord by Samuel 20 years earlier in 15:3, which Saul disobeyed. Christian that is what will happen to us if we allow anxiety to take up residence in our hearts through disobedience you will end up as Isaiah said in 5:20 “calling evil good, and good evil”. 

Vs. 20-23 Safe with the Savior

Vs. 20-23 We close with David’s response to the massacre told him by the Abiathar. David admits that his giving into fear was the reason for the death of all of Abiathar’s family. Friend, once we have picked the fruit of anxiety and fear it can not be placed back upon the tree and all that is left is to eat of it or let it rot upon the ground. No matter what it will always leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth or stink! So David takes in Abiathar as his companion, swearing to protect at all costs. 

There is grace to this story even after the failure of David, as he becomes David’s lifelong friend, High Priest and the one who would bring the Ark into Jerusalem. Here then is the lesson to those who still turn to the Lord even after allowing “anxiety” to take up residence in our hearts; the Lord can make friends even out of our failures if we so allow Him.