David is driven into the wilderness by Saul, the failed King pursuing the true King. David will not kill Saul because he remains the LORD’s anointed. Not so Saul, who persecutes David. Christ David is tested by God, but also protected by God. David’s hardship fit him to be the Christ. God guides David through Priest and Prophet. Not so Saul. Likewise, our Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit to suffered 40 days temptation in the desert. This fitted Christ Jesus to be our Christ, who endured the testing and did not take the kingdom the way offered by Satan.
A test cricketer is dropped from the team. An athlete goes through a form slump, or suffers an injury. A musician or a band, after a fantastic first CD, goes for years unable to put out their follow up album. A long successful celebrity goes into rehab.
One of the metaphors used is ‘walking through the desert. These were my wilderness years.’
We know from such metaphors that the wilderness is a time of testing. A time in the wilderness is a difficult period of being tested and tried. A person is forced through circumstance to reassess their lives.
Israel as a nation had their time in the wilderness. After Israel came out of Egypt, for 40 years, Israel was tested and tried in the desert. They suffered hunger and thirst, attacks from without and rebellion from within. They had to learn that they lived not by bread alone, but by every word from the mouth of God.
Christ Jesus had his time in the wilderness. After his baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness. And for 40 days he fasted, and he was tested by the devil.
The devil showed Jesus in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said:
‘I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’ (Luke 4:6-7 NIV)
Christ Jesus had a choice. To reach out and take the kingdoms of this world. Or to resist, and to wait, and suffer. To wait for God to give him the Kingdom after his suffering.
And Christ David has a similar choice. Will he take the Kingdom the human way? By reaching out and taking it. Or will he wait on God, and let Yahweh give it to him? That was also David’s temptation in the wilderness.
At the time of our reading, Israel has two Christs, two kings. They have the failed King, Christ Saul. Saul has been rejected by God. And they have the Christ in the wilderness, the Christ on the run, Christ David.
Humanly speaking, it is Saul who drives David into the wilderness. But God is sovereign over David being driven away. We are told that an ‘Evil Spirit from the Lord’ comes upon Saul (1 Samuel 19:9) [1].
Now an ‘Evil Spirit’ from the Lord seems a contradiction in terms. But God can use the devil and even sin for his good purposes. Remember:
Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. (Matthew 4:1 NIV)
God is in control, but he uses the devil. And the Old Testament Christ was led every step of the way in the desert by the Spirit. And that time was a time of testing.
We don’t know exactly how old David was when he ran away. David may have been on the run 3 years, or 15 years. Either way, a good chunk of his 20s was spent on the run.
David first goes to Samuel[2] for protection. The Anointed one finds refuge with the anointing one. The Kingmaker Samuel protects the true King David. The Holy Spirit is a good guard. Saul’s men come to arrest Christ David. But God’s Spirit comes upon each group, and they can’t arrest Christ. They can only prophesy. Finally, Saul goes himself to arrest Christ. And the Spirit comes even upon Saul. God directly saves David, through the Holy Spirit and Samuel.
After visiting Jonathan (1 Samuel 20), David flees to the Priests[3] (1 Samuel 21:1). The Priests, Eli’s descendants, were now at Nob[4]. And the Priest Ahimelech provides Christ David with bread, a sword, and guidance. God through his Priest Ahimelech is guiding his Christ[5].
Later, Saul hears that the Priests have helped David (1 Samuel 22:6-23). Saul calls them, and kills them all.
This is sin. But under God’s sovereignty, Saul’s sin does two things. First, it fulfills God’s word against the holuse of Eli[6]. And second, the sole survivor of Saul’s slaughter, Abiathar, finds David, and joins him. Saul has driven the surviving Priest of Yahweh to his enemy David. Saul by his evil has given the means of God’s guidance to David.
David, not Saul, respects the anointing of God. This is shown by Saul killing God’s anointed priests. David, not Saul, has the Priest of Yahweh with him. David, not Saul, gets God’s guidance. David, not Saul, is the true Christ, guided by God in the wilderness.
Twice during David’s time in the wilderness, David returns home. He returns to the wilderness of Judah.
First, David flee to a cave[8] not far from home. He’s about 15 kilometres from Bethlehem. And his brothers and father’s household went down to him. But they weren’t the only ones. 1 Samuel chapter 22 verse 2:
All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered round him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him. (NIV)
David’s army grows to 400 men, with family, and malcontents. Some of his best and most loyal lieutenants join him at the cave (2 Samuel 23:13; 1 Chronicles 11:15). David gathers together a remnant of a new Israel. And they are the rejects, the hopeless cases, the bottom of the barrel. Just like us. The Christ always builds the Israel of God not with the wise and powerful, but the despised, the poor, the weak (1 Corinthians 1). Us, the little people, Christ chooses to shame the wise and powerful[9].
The Holy Spirit shows Christ David his way. So David takes his parents to the safety of the King of Moab. And in 1 Samuel 22 verse 5...
…the prophet Gad said to David, ‘Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah.’ (NIV)
God is guiding David through Gad, the prophet. Just as God protected David when he was with Samuel the Prophet. Just as God directed David through Ahimelech the Priest. Just as God provided Abiathar, the only remaining Priest of Nob. Bottom line: God is protecting and guiding David by prophet and priest, not Saul[10].
David can’t stay hiding in Judah. Because David is Israel’s true King. He must protect God’s people from the Philistines. The Philistines are about to attack a walled city in Israel[11]. Saul is busy murdering the priests of Yahweh. But David saves the people in Keilah. If the King's job is to fight for Israel, David, not Saul, is the true King.
Crags and hills and caves might be David’s home. But David is the true King. 1 Samuel chapter 23 verse 14:
David stayed in the desert 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. (NIV)
God is in control. It looks like Saul is in control. Saul has the army and is in pursuit. But God is in charge. The Christ must be tested before he enters into his Kingdom. But God is keeping his Christ safe. And the Christ is keeping his people safe.
After Christ Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, angels came and attended him (Matthew 4:11). And during Christ David’s testing, two human messengers, angels of a sort, strengthen David. They are Jonathan and Abigail.
The first angel is Jonathan Those great mates, David and Jonathan will meet one last time. The failed father Saul can’t find David. But the faithful friend Jonathan can. 1 Samuel chapter 23 verses 15 to 17:
While David was at Horesh in the Desert of Ziph, he learned that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul's son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. "Don't be afraid," he said. "My father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you. Even my father Saul knows this." (NIV)
Jonathan is the angel tending Christ in the desert temptations. Through Jonathan, David finds strength in God.
The Christ in the wilderness needs to hear the promise of God. And Jonathan ministers the promise of God to him. God said to David through Samuel, ‘You will be King’. And now, at David’s time of great stress and despondency, David hears that promise spoken again by a flesh and blood minister, and is strengthened. Jonathan ministers the word of God to David.
That’s the same reason you come to church and read your bible. So you can hear the promise of God, and find strength in God. And we do that by standing on the promises of God.
Christ Jesus did the same thing in the wilderness. Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
Our second ‘angel’ appears in 1 Samuel 25. David is tested, this time not by Saul, but by the foolish Nabal. Nabal, a rich landowner, was mean, stingy and disrespectful. Nabal refused David hospitality, though he owed David much Worse, Nabal dishonoured David as Christ. He insulted David’s envoys, treating David as a runaway slave. He didn’t treat David as God’s Christ, and not through ignorance, either. So David arms 400 of his men to avenge himself.
Fortunately, Abigail, Nabal’s sensible and beautiful wife, loses no time. She takes a caravan of the choicest fare loaded on donkeys to David.
Abigail knows that ‘the LORD will give David a lasting dynasty’ (verse 28). Like Jonathan, she reminds David that God will fulfill his promise. David will become leader over Israel (verse 30). But her wise words bid David to look beyond that. Chapter 25 verses 30 and 31:
When the LORD has done for my master every good thing he promised concerning him and has appointed him leader over Israel, my master will not have on his conscience the staggering burden of needless bloodshed or of having avenged himself. (NIV)
Abigail’s plea is, ‘You avenge yourself, you defile your conscience. You will be King, but what about your conscience.’ Abigail’s wise words keep David from sin and his conscience clean.
And these are wise words when we are faced with sin. After the sin, then what? What about your conscience? You will have to live with yourself. And in response, David said to Abigail in verses 32 to 33:
‘Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands.’ (NIV)
Again, God has kept David from sin. God has provided David a way out of the temptation. David can stand up under the temptation through the angel Abigail.
They say offence is the best type of defence. David can turn defence into attack. David is presented with two opportunities. He can surgically remove Saul, and put an end to this whole stupid pursuit[12].
The first occurs at En Gedi (1 Samuel 23:29). Saul again comes after David, with 3,000 crack troops (1 Samuel 24:2). But during the chase, Saul has to go to the toilet (1 Samuel 24:3). So Saul goes into the cave to do his business. And in the back of the cave, watching, waiting, is David and his men.
And David’s men say to David, ‘Now is your chance. God has given your enemy into your hand. Kill him now’.
So while Saul sits on his throne, David creeps up behind Saul. David cuts off a corner of Saul’s robe. And then we learn something about David, Chapter 24 verses 5 to 6:
Afterwards, David was conscience-stricken for having cut off a corner of his robe. He said to his men, "The LORD forbid that I should do such a thing to my master, the LORD's anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is the anointed of the LORD." (NIV)
David’s conscience has kept him from sin. And David proves that he is no threat to Saul. David had Saul in his power, and didn’t kill him. The piece of royal robe is proof.
David does want justice. But Yahweh, not David, is judge. Verse 12:
May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. (NIV)
David doesn’t take revenge but leaves room for God’s wrath. David is an example of Romans chapter 12 verse 19:
Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. (Romans 12:19 NIV)
David loves his enemy and does good to those who hate him. And David’s undeserved mercy illicits some overdue sense from Saul. 1 Samuel chapter 24 verse 20:
I know that you will surely be king and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hands. (NIV)
Finally, Saul is treating Christ David as he deserves. But Saul’s commitment to being kind to David is a ‘non-core promise’. It’s a promise Saul feels he can break. He will go back on his word as soon as the jealousy next overtakes him.
Finally, we come to our reading was from 1 Samuel 26. This was David’s second opportunity to kill Saul. Again, Saul is encamped in the desert with his 3,000 crack troops. This time David and Abishai snuck into the camp at night. God puts Saul’s whole army in a deep sleep (verse 12). And Abishai says to David, ‘God has given your enemy into your hand. Let me pin him to the ground.’ And David again says, ‘No.’
The LORD forbid that I should lay a hand on the LORD's anointed. (verse 11 NIV)
Again, David takes some proofs. The spear and a water jug near Saul’s head. They prove David could have killed Saul (verses 11-12). David shows them as proofs he would never harm Yahweh’s anointed.
The Old Testament Christ David had a similar temptation to the New Testament Christ Jesus. For the devil led Jesus up to a high place in the wilderness (Luke 4:5-7). And then Satan showed Jesus in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And Satan said to Christ Jesus:
‘I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours.’ (NIV)
Again, it was the same temptation. 'Don’t wait for God to give you the kingdom. Take it yourself. Take it the human way. Compromise, and grasp it.' The Old Testament Christ, David, said no. And the New Testament Christ, Jesus, said no.
Jesus in the garden had 12 legions of angels at his beck and call. Yet he stayed his hand, and told Peter to put away his sword. (Matthew 26:53)
Both of them wait to receive the Kingdom in God’s time. For David, it means waiting 7 and a half years after Saul’s death. For Jesus, it means enduring the humiliation of the cross. And while Christ Jesus is now enthroned as King at the right hand of God, yet He still waits for his enemies to be made a footstool for his feet (Psalm 2, 1 Corinthians 15). Christ is still patiently waiting to receive his kingship. David had to. And Jesus is still doing it, waiting, patiently giving people a chance to repent and see that Jesus is the Christ.
The two Christ’s, David and Jesus, show patient endurance. Both bore unjust accusations, disgrace and abuse. Both put up with the persecution and being pursued. Both withheld their hand from revenge.
And Christ’s patient endurance gives us an example to follow. If Christ must wait patiently for his Kingdom, how much more us. 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 21 to 23:
Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ... When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:21-23 NIV)
Both Christs show us how to turn the other cheek. And Jesus is the ultimate example, going to the cross as a silent lamb. So let us also leave room for God’s anger. For it is God’s to avenge. God will repay.
Let’s pray.
[1] Psalm 59 speaks of David’s attitude to the watchers who Saul sent to watch his house, and his hope in Yahweh at that time.
[2] In Naioth in Ramah, 1 Samuel 19:18-24.
[3] David goes alone to Nob, but he says that he has companions. Jesus says that he has companions with whom he shared his bread (Matthew 12:4; Mark 2:26 Luke 6:4). Is this also part of David’s lie? It depends on whether we take Luke and Jesus’ words at face value. I think we should, contra Woodhouse, 612-3 n 9 and 613 n 18, who suggests David is a master of deception and that Jesus was viewing the incident in terms of David’s words to Ahimelech, and from Ahimelech’s perspective. It is possible that before David left Naioth in Ramah to meet Jonathan, he pre-arranged a meeting with some young men as he suggests, and shared the bread with them subsequently. Indeed, why cannot David sprinkle truth in the midst of his deception?
[4] Probably, the Sanctuary at Shiloh was destroyed, and Nob has become the city of the priests (1 Samuel 22:19).
[5] Now, it is true David deceives Ahimelech to receive his help. The Priests don’t know David is running from Saul. Deception will be David’s mode of operating during his desert years. By lying, David obtains five loaves, a sword, and no further questions (1 Samuel 21:8-9). This vindicates the priests.
[6] 1 Samuel chapter 2 verse 33: Every one of you that I do not cut off from my altar will be spared only to blind your eyes with tears and to grieve your heart, and all your descendants will die in the prime of life. (NIV)
[7] Compare Psalm 57; 142.
[8] The Cave of Adullam
[9] David at this time takes his parents to Moab (1 Samuel 22:3-4). David honours his mother and father, taking them back to the land of his great-grandmother, Ruth. Saul, the wicked King, brings a reversal. Ruth obtained shelter under the wings of the God of Israel. Now Ruth’s grandson needs to shelter under the wings of Moab.
[10] Note the contrast between Saul, who never successfully enquires of Yahweh, and David who constantly enquires of Yahweh and receives divine answers: Mark J Boda, After God’s Own Heart: The Gospel According to David, 72, and 1 Chronicles 10:13-14, which criticizes Saul who ‘did not enquire of the LORD’. Compare 1 Chronicles 13:3, ‘Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not enquire of it during the reign of Saul.’
[11] That city is called Keilah.
[12] The chase around the Mountain (1 Samuel 23:19-29) would be ridiculous, if wasn’t so serious. Ironically, David is saved by the Philistines, because when Saul hears news of the attack, Saul leaves off the pursuit.