1 Samuel 23
Today's Passage: 1 Samuel 23
As I read chapter 23, especially after reading chapter 22, I’m reminded of the old saying, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” In chapter 22, Saul killed the priests of Yahweh because they helped David. In chapter 23, David does Saul’s job by protecting the people of Keilah from the Philistines and how does Saul respond? “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” Instead of protecting his kingdom for attack by foreign invaders, Saul tried to take the opportunity to trap David. We’re left with the feeling that this is so wrong—it’s all backwards.
David inquired of the Lord and confirmed that Saul was coming. David and his men escaped, but notice how verse 13 describes their fleeing, “…and they went wherever they could go,” or as the King James puts it, “whithersoever they could go.” Where’d they go? The answer is wherever they could. In the map below from the Holman Bible Atlas, you can see David’s rescue of Keilah as well as the route he took fleeing. The lowest line represents chapter 23.
David evaded Saul for a while, but after the Ziphites tried to gain favor with Saul by telling him David’s location, David and his men found themselves fleeing once again. Saul’s men got so close that Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. David and his men were spared because the Philistines invaded and Saul was called away. They named that place The Rock of Escape, heading from there to Engedi.
Engedi, pictured below from the Homan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, was a paradise. It was literally a tropical oasis on the west bank of the Dead Sea. It’s the kind of place that’s unimaginable when you’re running for your life from a walled city or playing hide and seek with your killer on a mountain slope. It’s a place known for fruit trees and perfuming plants.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes it feels like I’m running and I don’t know where to turn. Even very recently I found myself worrying and anxious in a way with which I don’t normally struggle. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making a one-to-one comparison from my anxious heart to David literally running for his life, but in both scenarios Engedi was hard to imagine. Relief and a way out seemed kind of impossible.
What are you struggling with? Are you, like Saul, dealing with the consequences of sin and poor choices? Is there something for which you need to repent? Or are you like David, on the run. David wasn’t running because of his own sin. In fact, he’s running because of his righteousness. Either way, whatever has you running, struggling, worrying, etc. how are you handling it? Can you trust in the promises of God and our eternal hope? Engedi may be hard to see from where you are, but something much better than that oasis will be ours for eternity.
Written By: Tyler Short
As I read chapter 23, especially after reading chapter 22, I’m reminded of the old saying, “Sin will take you further than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.” In chapter 22, Saul killed the priests of Yahweh because they helped David. In chapter 23, David does Saul’s job by protecting the people of Keilah from the Philistines and how does Saul respond? “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” Instead of protecting his kingdom for attack by foreign invaders, Saul tried to take the opportunity to trap David. We’re left with the feeling that this is so wrong—it’s all backwards.
David inquired of the Lord and confirmed that Saul was coming. David and his men escaped, but notice how verse 13 describes their fleeing, “…and they went wherever they could go,” or as the King James puts it, “whithersoever they could go.” Where’d they go? The answer is wherever they could. In the map below from the Holman Bible Atlas, you can see David’s rescue of Keilah as well as the route he took fleeing. The lowest line represents chapter 23.
David evaded Saul for a while, but after the Ziphites tried to gain favor with Saul by telling him David’s location, David and his men found themselves fleeing once again. Saul’s men got so close that Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. David and his men were spared because the Philistines invaded and Saul was called away. They named that place The Rock of Escape, heading from there to Engedi.
Engedi, pictured below from the Homan Illustrated Bible Dictionary, was a paradise. It was literally a tropical oasis on the west bank of the Dead Sea. It’s the kind of place that’s unimaginable when you’re running for your life from a walled city or playing hide and seek with your killer on a mountain slope. It’s a place known for fruit trees and perfuming plants.
I don’t know about you, but sometimes it feels like I’m running and I don’t know where to turn. Even very recently I found myself worrying and anxious in a way with which I don’t normally struggle. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making a one-to-one comparison from my anxious heart to David literally running for his life, but in both scenarios Engedi was hard to imagine. Relief and a way out seemed kind of impossible.
What are you struggling with? Are you, like Saul, dealing with the consequences of sin and poor choices? Is there something for which you need to repent? Or are you like David, on the run. David wasn’t running because of his own sin. In fact, he’s running because of his righteousness. Either way, whatever has you running, struggling, worrying, etc. how are you handling it? Can you trust in the promises of God and our eternal hope? Engedi may be hard to see from where you are, but something much better than that oasis will be ours for eternity.
Written By: Tyler Short
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