1 Then they told David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines, and save Keilah.” 3 But David’s men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David inquired of the Lord once again. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.”
1. So why should David care about the “threshing floors” of Keilah?
Keilah was about three miles southeast of Adullam in the Shephelah, the foothills between the coastal plain on the west and the hill country of Judah on the east. The Philistines were plundering the threshing floors there. The threshing floors were places where the Israelites stored their threshed grain after threshing it. David sought to defend his countrymen and fellow Judahites from their hostile foreign enemy even though he was also watching out for Saul. Saul should have come to their rescue since he was the king, but there is no mention of him doing so. CN
David’s servants bring him word that Keilah is under attack by the Philistines. Actually it is King Saul’s responsibility to deal with the Philistines (1 Samuel 9:16), but he is more interested in killing Israelites than dealing with the Philistine invaders. In a much more kingly response, David feels an obligation to come to the aid of his Israelite brethren and seeks divine guidance about whether he should engage the Philistines in battle. The Lord instructs David to attack the Philistines and deliver Keilah. RD
2. How does God communicate with David?
It is not clear how David inquired of the Lord, since Abiathar did not come until David was already in Keilah (v. 6). Perhaps he inquired through the prophet Gad (cf. 22:5), or directly in prayer.ESV
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! Psalms 27:7
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” Psalms 30:10
3. Why would David’s men be afraid?
David’s men are uneasy about the decision to fight the Philistines, and they let David know it. Their apprehension is not really hard to understand. After all, this small force of 600 men (23:13) is not a highly trained group of soldiers, but a rag-tag group of discontented men who have fled from Saul (22:2). Most of these men joined forces with David while he was hiding in the cave of Adullam. More likely this cave was most likely in Philistine territory, and if not, on the very fringe of Israel’s territory. From here David and his men went to Moab, where they hid out in the “stronghold” (22:4-5). The prophet Gad instructed David to cease hiding out in foreign nations and to return to the land of his own tribe, Judah, which he did by hiding out in the forest of Hereth (22:5). In the dense, difficult terrain of this forest, David’s men must still feel relatively safe out of Saul’s reach. But it is an entirely different matter when David is instructed to fight the Philistines at Keilah. This is a much more difficult and dangerous venture. They will have to come out of hiding and out into the open to fight the Philistines, knowing this will expose them to an attack by Saul’s forces. Since Keilah is located approximately 20 miles southeast of Gath, David and his men will no longer be in the mountains hiding safely in the forest, but rather in the lowlands, out in the open, where they can be seen by Saul’s army and opposed by Philistine chariots. When David’s men protest the decision to rescue the people of Keilah, they seem to do so on the basis of the greatly increased risk. This is not the safe thing to do. It would be far safer to hide from Saul in the forest than to attack the Philistines on the open plains. RD
4. Is it proper to question the LORD twice?
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Many times through various means God gives us direction but we question and doubt Him. The difficulty of the situation or influence of “nay sayers” can cause us to second guess God.
5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 6 Now it happened, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David at Keilah, thathe went down with an ephod in his hand. 7 And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 Then Saul called all the people together for war, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. 9 When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, “They will deliver you.”13 So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.
5. So what’s the deal with the ephod?
The writer recorded in this passage that David inquired of the Lord four times. He placed himself under God’s authority, though Saul did not. For this reason God could and did work through David as His vice-regent. God manifested His will through the Urim and Thummim in the priestly ephod. The Urim (lit. lights) and Thummim (lit. perfections) were evidently two stones or similar objects, one light and the other dark in color. The high priest carried them in the pocket on the front of his ephod (apron). He ascertained God’s will by drawing one out after mentally assigning a meaning to each. Evidently Abiathar interpreted the will of God for David. CN
Such inquiries were made using the sacred lots, the Urim and Thummim, stored in the priestly ephod which Abiathar had brought to David (v. 6)
6. Why would the men of Keilah deliver David over to Saul after David had just rescued them from the Philistine?
Saul had destroyed Nob on a lesser pretext, so he was certainly willing and presumably able to destroy Keilah. From the standpoint of the men of Keilah, David had brought more trouble than relief for them. The Philistines, after all, had gone after only grain. ESV
The willingness of the people of Keilah to hand their savior over to Saul demonstrates base ingratitude for David’s deliverance of them. It also reveals how fearful they were of Saul who had recently destroyed another town, Nob, for harboring David. CN
God knew the situation and that these guys would rat on David when push came to shove.
14 And David stayed in strongholds in the wilderness, and remained in the mountains in the Wilderness of Ziph. Saul sought him every day, but God did not deliver him into his hand. 15 So David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. And David was in the Wilderness of Ziph in a forest. 16 Then Jonathan, Saul’s son, arose and went to David in the woods and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 18 So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in the woods, and Jonathan went to his own house.
7. How did Jonathan know that Saul would not be able to capture David?
Jonathan visits David during this difficult time. You shall be king over Israel. Though David’s position is much worse than in ch. 20, Jonathan sees even more clearly than before that David will be king. Jonathan’s trust in the Lord makes him able to accept anything the Lord has in store for him, so he can encourage David in God. ESV
In ancient Hebrew thinking, once God said something it was as though it was already done and could not be rescinded. In Jonathan’s mind David was already the king and it was just a question of time before the it became reality.
19 Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is David not hiding with us in strongholds in the woods, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon? 20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of your soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.” 21 And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me. 22 Please go and find out for sure, and see the place where his hideout is, and who has seen him there. For I am told he is very crafty. 23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hides; and come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. And it shall be, if he is in the land, that I will search for him throughout all the clans of Judah.” 24 So they arose and went to Ziph before Saul. But David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. 25 When Saul and his men went to seek him, they told David. Therefore he went down to the rock, and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued David in the Wilderness of Maon. 26 Then Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. So David made haste to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them. 27 But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hasten and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 28 Therefore Saul returned from pursuing David, and went against the Philistines; so they called that place the Rock of Escape. 29 Then David went up from there and dwelt in strongholds at En Gedi.
8. Why do people like the men of Keilah and the Ziphites keep turning on David and how did that make David feel?
Evidently the Ziphites thought that they would be better off if they informed Saul of David’s presence in their area than if the king discovered that he was there. He might have blamed them for sheltering David and taken revenge on them as he had on the people of Nob. CN
The Ziphites were Judahites, David’s own tribe, but they apparently were not happy to have David and his men in the area. Psalm 54 was in response to this occasion. ESV
Psalm 54
1 To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Contemplation of David when the Ziphites went and said to Saul, ‘Is David not hiding with us?’
Save me, O God, by Your name, And vindicate me by Your strength. 2 Hear my prayer, O God; Give ear to the words of my mouth. 3 For strangers have risen up against me, And oppressors have sought after my life; They have not set God before them. Selah4 Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life. 5 He will repay my enemies for their evil. Cut them off in Your truth. 6 I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your name, O Lord, for it is good. 7 For He has delivered me out of all trouble; And my eye has seen its desire upon my enemies.
9. Is David lucky or what? What are the odds that the Philistines just happen to attack and draw Saul away from capturing David?
Suddenly, when Saul’s men are almost close enough to touch, a shout is heard. A messenger is calling out to Saul, informing him that Israel has come under attack by the Philistines. It must not be at Keilah, for Saul doesn’t seem to care about this city’s problems with the Philistines. Could it be much closer to Gibeah, Saul’s home? The situation is viewed as being so serious that Saul breaks off his pursuit, just seconds away from success. He orders his men to turn around and go back down the mountain to assemble to march out to confront the Philistine army.The suspense is so intense, so thick, one could almost cut it with a knife. David and his men look like goners, but God spares them. The irony is that while Saul is David’s enemy, the Philistines are unwittingly his allies. Their attack is God’s means of delivering His anointed king, David, from the grasp of King Saul.
Who would ever believe it? Who would imagine that Saul could get so close to killing David, and then turn back at the last possible moment?Who would have believed a hostile attack against Israel would be God’s means for preserving the life of her next king? Those who know God believe it. In fact, we should almost expect it. God’s resources are so infinite, He is not forced to deliver His chosen ones in the same boring fashion, endlessly repeating one miracle over and over. God often saves when all human hope is gone, and then in ways we would never have predicted or expected. He does so because He is God, because His resources are unlimited, and because His way of doing things is beyond our wildest imaginations.
Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing? 2 The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,3 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.Psalms 2:1-4 (NKJV)
· ACC …. Adam Clarke’s Commentary
· CN …… Constables Notes
· ESVN………….ESV Study Bible Notes
· Gill………..John Gill Exposition of the Bible
· JFB…………..Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
· JVM ….J Vernon McGee,
· MH………..Matthew Henry Commentary
· MSBN…….MacArthur NASB Study Notes
· NET………Net Bible Study Notes.
· RD………….Robert Deffinbaugh bible.org
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