Episode Details

Three Features of God-Sheltered Life

1 Samuel 23, Remsen Bible Fellowship, 03/21/2021

Introduction

We live in a world preoccupied with the notion of power. Who has power? Who has been deprived of power? Who is using their power to harm others? Whose power is on the rise?

And lest we go decrying the modern world and all its evils, the Bible confronts us with much the same picture of humanity that we find in the news: desperately hungry to get ahead, to protect number one, regardless of the consequences to others. The obsession with power is not modern. It is human. David is facing a serious threat as he is irrationally hated and pursued by power-hungry king Saul. And while David has occasionally looked for shelter in other places, he has only one true source of refuge: the shadow of the Almighty. David is leading a life that is God-sheltered. In our text today, 1 Samuel 23, we will see three features of that life.

Listening Prayer, v1-13

Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” Therefore David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the LORD said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” Then David inquired of the LORD again. And the LORD answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.” And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. When Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 

If you remember from last week, David at this point is in the forest of Hereth, which is in Judah (1 Samuel 22:5). And while he is here, messengers come to him with a report: the Philistines are attacking Keilah. Keilah would be about 18 miles southwest of Jerusalem, which places it out on the western edge of Judea, and thus very close to Philistine territory and prone to raiding. And to have the threshing floors be raided is a huge deal. Not only is this where they are separating the grain from the chaff, this is also likely where all the threshed grain would be stored. It would be the equivalent of someone coming and emptying every grain silo around. What should they do? 

They reach out to that renowned Philistine killer, the slayer of Goliath, David the outlaw. And David seems willing to go, but before he rushes into anything he approaches God in prayer: Shall I go and attack these Philistines?, he asks in verse two. But when God answers in the affirmative, David’s army of 600 men seem less than convinced. David, we’re scared and on the run just hiding out here in the Judean wilderness, why would we go down and engage in battle with the Philistines?

Seems a reasonable response, right? But David is undeterred. He simply asks God again, and the Lord again assures victory. But note the emphasis this time: rather than it being on David saving Keilah (v2), now the emphasis is on what God will do: “I will give the Philistines into your hand” (v4). So David and his men go down, and carry the day. Keilah is saved, and they not only defeat the Philistines but take their livestock (which is interesting, why do the Philistines have livestock here?). God has delivered the city by the hand of David. 

We then get an interesting note in v6, which Dale Ralph Davis argues is the hinge point in verses 1-13. Everything centers around what simply looks like an informational point. Remember that in chapter 22 Doeg the Edomite, under the guidance of King Saul, killed the 85 priests in Nob, and their families, and the only person to esca