1 Samuel 23 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: 1 Sam 23:1-6

1 When David was told, ‘Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are looting the threshing-floors,’ 2 he enquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Shall I go and attack these Philistines?’

The Lord answered him, ‘Go, attack the Philistines and save Keilah.’

3 But David’s men said to him, ‘Here in Judah we are afraid. How much more, then, if we go to Keilah against the Philistine forces!’

4 Once again David enquired of the Lord, and the Lord answered him, ‘Go down to Keilah, for I am going to give the Philistines into your hand.’ 5 So David and his men went to Keilah, fought the Philistines and carried off their livestock. He inflicted heavy losses on the Philistines and saved the people of Keilah. 6 (Now Abiathar son of Ahimelek had brought the ephod down with him when he fled to David at Keilah.)

A. Find Out:

1. What was happening to Keilah? v.1
2. What did David first do? v.2
3. How did his men feel about it? v.3
4. So what did David do? v.4
5. So what did David do and with what result? v.5
6. What had David got with him? v.6

B. Think:

1. What sort of people had come to David? (See 22:2)
2. What does it say about David that he had made them an army?
3. What is the overwhelming lesson of this passage?

C. Comment:

     Keilah was a town of Judah which, at this time, was behind enemy lines. Because of that it was vulnerable to attacks from the Philistines. It should have been Saul who was defending the towns of Judah, but it is the Lord’s anointed, David, who rises to the task.

     His approach is to first enquire of the Lord, quite probably via Abiathar who had the ephod with him, which was used for seeking the guidance of God. The Lord gave them the go ahead and so David presumably told his men in preparation.

     Now they have obviously been getting trained by David but they have not yet put it into practice, and so they are somewhat nervous about the prospect. Instead of pushing them, David simply turns back to the Lord for confirmation of the guidance – and gets it!  When they then attack Keilah they are completely successful and save the town from the Philistines.

     Two things should be noted here: first that David has created a successful fighting force out of a ragbag of discontents. No mean task! Do we see the potential in others?

      Second, David sought the Lord constantly for guidance for this venture. The example of this man in this respect is so clear that it hardly needs further comment.

D. Application:

1. Do we look for potential in others or do we write off the weak and those who have failed in the past?
2. Do I seek God for His guidance in every project I’m involved in?

Passage: 1 Sam 23:7-14

7 Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, and he said, ‘God has delivered him into my hands, for David has imprisoned himself by entering a town with gates and bars.’ 8 And Saul called up all his forces for battle, to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men.

9 When David learned that Saul was plotting against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, ‘Bring the ephod.’ 10 David said, ‘Lord, God of Israel, your servant has heard definitely that Saul plans to come to Keilah and destroy the town on account of me. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me to him? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? Lord, God of Israel, tell your servant.’

And the Lord said, ‘He will.’

12 Again David asked, ‘Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?’

And the Lord said, ‘They will.’

13 So David and his men, about six hundred in number, left Keilah and kept moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he did not go there.

14 David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hills of the Desert of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God did not give David into his hands.

A. Find Out:

1. What did Saul believe and so do? v.7,8
2. To who did David turn for help? v.9,10
3. What did he ask? v.11
4. What did he then ask? v.12
5. How many men did David now have with him? v.13
6. Who was protecting David? v.14

B. Think:

1. How was it obvious that the Lord was with David?
2. What can we learn about asking for guidance from this passage?
3. How are “state and religion” seen to be working together here?

C. Comment:

     Presumably David and his men are taking the opportunity to rest up at Keilah. The word gets back to Saul, and he makes preparations to come to capture David. David in turn hears of this and seeks the Lord. Whatever else we may say of those days, communications across the land seemed good, possibly with both men having informers working for them.

     David sought God and received His guidance again and acts upon it and escapes before Saul can arrive. The guidance seems to have come through the use of the Urim and Thummin which were kept in a pouch fastened to the ephod worn by the priest. It appears to have been a form of casting lots for guidance, but whatever it is, the Lord obviously honours it and four times in the first 12 verses of this chapter David receives correct guidance from this priest.

     The main lesson yet again must be that of seeking the Lord for our guidance. There are some things where God wants us to use common sense, but there are other things when only the Lord knows the best course to take, and it is a wise Christian who seeks the Lord. It also requires faith to respond to the guidance, risking what may be your misunderstanding, but that is always the risk of faith.

D. Application:

1. Yes, do we seek God for our daily guidance?
2. Do we move in faith in response to what we think He says?

Passage: 1 Sam 23:15-29

15 While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. 16 And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him to find strength in God. 17 ‘Don’t be afraid,’ he said. ‘My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You shall be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this.’ 18 The two of them made a covenant before the Lord. Then Jonathan went home, but David remained at Horesh.

19 The Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah and said, ‘Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hakilah, south of Jeshimon? 20 Now, Your Majesty, come down whenever it pleases you to do so, and we will be responsible for giving him into your hands.’

21 Saul replied, ‘The Lord bless you for your concern for me. 22 Go and get more information. Find out where David usually goes and who has seen him there. They tell me he is very crafty. 23 Find out about all the hiding-places he uses and come back to me with definite information. Then I will go with you; if he is in the area, I will track him down among all the clans of Judah.’

24 So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the Arabah south of Jeshimon. 25 Saul and his men began the search, and when David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Desert of Maon. When Saul heard this, he went into the Desert of Maon in pursuit of David.

26 Saul was going along one side of the mountain, and David and his men were on the other side, hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his forces were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, ‘Come quickly! The Philistines are raiding the land.’ 28 Then Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why they call this place Sela Hammahlekoth. 29 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En Gedi.

A. Find Out:

1.  Why did Jonathan come to David? v.16
2. Of what was he sure? v.17
3. What did the Ziphites promise to do? v.19,20
4. What did Saul ask them to do? v.23
5. How close to David did Saul get? v.26
6. What stopped it happening? v.27,28  

B. Think:

1. How would you describe David’s position at this time?
2. Yet how was he encouraged?
3. How would you describe the Ziphites?

C. Comment:

     The ministry of encouragement is a very precious one, and Jonathan proves his friendship with strong and encouraging words. The tragedy is that he ever left David. This was his last contact with David and soon Jonathan would be dead, alongside his father. If he was certain about David’s future he should have stayed with him. Perhaps he was still torn in two by his loyalty to his father, but that was really being torn in two between righteousness and unrighteousness, and he should have separated himself to the righteous one.    

At the same time there are others who were misguidedly loyal to Saul, the inhabitants of Zip, another town of Judah. Their perception of David is interesting! They obviously see him as a rebel upstart who is a threat to the stability of the kingdom. The important thing to note is that they have no idea that he is the Lord’s anointed king to replace Saul. They are the people of God, but they have no idea of the purposes of God. There is a strong challenge here! The Lord often does things that appear new to us, things that we don’t understand and our temptation, even as the people of God, is to write off what is happening as rebellious dissension instead of part of the purpose of God to bring His rule more fully to the earth. 

D. Application:

1. Are we encouragers? Will we attach ourselves to righteousness?
2. Do we understand the purposes of God in other around us?