Day 59 – 1 Samuel 23:19-29
Scripture Review
1 Samuel 23:19-29
"Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?"
(1 Samuel 23:19)
The Ziphites are men from the wilderness area of Ziph, and they go straight to Saul with information. They know the land, and they use that knowledge against David.
Markers are given for his location. "the hill of Hachilah" and "the south of Jeshimon." Jeshimon means a desolate or waste place, a barren wilderness region. People who know the land are giving his location away.
"Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king's hand."
(1 Samuel 23:20)
Theses Ziphites are eager to please Saul. They speak to him with flattery, "according to all the desire of thy soul." They are feeding his obsession, of course not without a purpose, "our part shall be to deliver him." They are volunteering to hand David over.
"And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the LORD; for ye have compassion on me."
(1 Samuel 23:21)
Saul is again using spiritual language over a sinful plan, "Blessed be ye of the LORD." He speaks as if betrayal is compassion. "ye have compassion on me." Again, everything comes back to himself. He reads loyalty to evil as mercy toward him.
"Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly."
(1 Samuel 23:22)
Saul becomes very methodical. He wants them to "know and see his place." The word "haunt" here means the place where David stays or moves about regularly. Saul wants patterns, not rumors. "he dealeth very subtilly." Saul knows David moves carefully, wisely, and quietly. David is not careless in the wilderness.
"See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah."
(1 Samuel 23:23)
Saul wants total certainty where David is. He wants "all the lurking places." These are the hidden spots, the secret refuges, the places where David tucks himself away. "I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah." That means Saul is ready to use the whole structure of the land, all its clans and divisions, to track down one man.
"And 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."
(1 Samuel 23:24)
The Ziphites go first to scout the area. David has moved to "the wilderness of Maon." Again the setting matters. This is wilderness country-dry, exposed, rough, uncertain. The phrase "in the plain on the south of Jeshimon" places David deep in lonely terrain.
"Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon."
(1 Samuel 23:25)
Saul and his men are now actively seeking David, and David gets word of it. David "came down into a rock." That phrase points to a rocky refuge, some crag or strong rock area where he could hide and maneuver. Again, David's life is tied to wilderness geography. God is preserving him through rough places, not removing him from them.
"And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them."
(1 Samuel 23:26)
Notice the tension here in scripture. Saul is on one side of the mountain, David on the other. They are moving along opposite sides of the same ridge. "David made haste." He is hurrying. And the phrase "compassed... round about" means surrounded, hemmed in, nearly enclosed. David is coming very close to capture.
"But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land."
(1 Samuel 23:27)
I love the word "But." Everything looked closed in, but God was not finished.
The Lord delivers David, through a messenger and through a Philistine invasion. Saul must turn away because the nation is under attack. God's deliverance does not always come in a dramatic miracle from the sky. Sometimes it comes through provision, through timing, interruption, news, events, and pressures God alone controls.
"Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Selahammahlekoth."
(1 Samuel 23:28)
Saul is forced to stop. He "returned from pursuing after David." That is the mercy of God at work."Selahammahlekoth." The name points to a division or separation rock, a place where David and Saul were parted. The place itself became a memorial that the Lord stepped in and separated the pursuer from the pursued.
"And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at Engedi."
(1 Samuel 23:29)
David move again, now to Engedi. Engedi was known for rugged cliffs, caves, and strong natural refuges near the Dead Sea. So again, David is not in luxury. He is in protection. The repeated phrase "strong holds." David's life is still unsettled, but he is preserved. The Lord has not put him on the throne yet, but He is keeping him alive until the promise is fulfilled.
David's life was not one long straight road upward. It was betrayal, wilderness, haste, mountains, near capture, and then sudden deliverance. But over all of it stands the quiet hand of God. Saul hunts, the Ziphites betray, and David runs, but the Lord times everything perfectly.