The cave and the forest

A time to retreat and a time to go

We find in I Samuel 20, 21 & 22 description of David’s final exile from the court of King Saul to where the man of God tells him to get out of the cave and into the forest. In this story there are several parts that give us insight into the character of several people. King Saul of the tribe of Benjamin probably the smallest of the 12 tribes, Jonathan the son of King Saul and friend of David, David the son of Jesse, servant of King Saul and future king of Israel from the tribe of Judah, Doeg the Edomite (from the country of Edom) a descendant of Esau who was the brother of Jacob (the Edomites a people who I am sure were embittered by the selling of their birthright by their patriarch Esau to Jacob and then knowing that Esau’s brother Jacob procured the blessing meant for the first born by means of deception from their father Jacob, we have the man of God in David’s life at the time; Gad the prophet and to add to the mix we have all the distressed, indebted and embittered people that showed up at the Cave of Adullum. Let’s get into the Word and get some more information:

1 Samuel 20 “Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah and came and said before Jonathan, “What have I done? What is my guilt and what is my sin before your father that he is trying to kill me? And he said to him, “Far from it! You will not die! Look, my father does not do anything large or small unless he reveals it to me. Why should my father hide this thing or anything from me?” Then David took an oath again and said, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he thought, ‘Do not let Jonathan know this, lest he worry.’ But as Yahweh lives and as your soul lives, surely there is merely a step between me and death!” Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you wish, I will do for you.” David said to Jonathan, “Look, tomorrow is the new moon, and I should certainly sit with the king to eat. You must send me away so that I can hide myself in the field until the third evening. If your father misses me at all, then you must say, ‘David earnestly asked from me to run to Bethlehem h…”

Run for your life David - you know if you study military history enough you will find that there is a time to fight and a time to run, the same principle applies in our lives. As Tacitus the Roman orator and historian once said, “he who fights and runs away, May turn and fight another day; But he that is slain in battle, Will never rise to fight again.” We find that in his lifetime, did a lot of fighting but, he also did a lot of running. He may have fought and slain, the lion, the bear and the giant Goliath; but he had to run away from King Saul several times until the time that David had to run for his life, leave his house, leave his wife (who was Saul’s daughter Michal, who by the way protected him) and then Jonathan his best friend finally confirms for David what he already knew, Saul was going to kill him no matter what David did, no matter where he was, Saul was going to chase him until he killed him.

The Cave of Adullam - one way in and one way out. Throughout the land of Israel, there are caves, you can see them along the Jordan Valley and in other parts of the land. Out here in Los Angeles, the closest thing we have to caves are the Bronson Caves in the Griffith Park area of the city. Caves are good hiding places, places that you can defend, places that get out of the heat and places where you can light a fire to get out of the cold. The cave of Adullam offered for the fleeing David, a place to hide, a place to find shelter and a place to plead with God as the 57th Psalm tells us: Psalm 57 “For the music director, according to Do Not Destroy. Of David. A miktam. When he fled from Saul into the cave. Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, because in you my soul takes refuge. In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. I will call to God Most High, to God who accomplishes things concerning me. He will send from heaven and save me; he will reproach the one who tramples me. Selah God will send his loyal love and his faithfulness. My soul is among lions. I lie down among those who devour— the children of humankind whose teeth are spears and arrows and whose tongues are sharp swords. Be exalted above the heavens, O God. Let your glory be above all the earth. They have set a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down. They have dug a pit before me; they have fallen into the midst of it. Selah My heart is steadfast, O God; My heart is steadfast. I will sing and give praise. Awake, my glory; Awake, harp and lyre. I will awake the dawn. I will giv…” So we find that most likely, David wrote this “miktam” this deep personal reflection/prayer in the cave of Adullam. He is asking God to be gracious, to cover him and to send his loyal love, the Hebrew word that is used is “hesed”, which in the Hebrew language is used for God’s covenantal love, faithful love, the highest word for love in Hebrew. It is in times like this that God will protect and we also need to be careful about who we attract, because as the old saying goes, “like attracts like” or “misery loves company”. So, 1 Samuel 22:1–2 “David went from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all his father’s household heard, they came down to him there. Every man in distress and every man who had a creditor and every embittered man gathered to him, and he became their commander. Now there were about four hundred men with him.” Every man that came to him, had a grievance of some type against the current leadership (king), yet in David’s time of darkness, he could not afford to become like those that he attracted. We find that he made these men into a small army and he led this army, yet this army and their leader could not remain, embittered, they could not walk in distress, they had to learn to trust in the Lord, because later we find that David has another cave experience, and this time he has the opportunity to kill the man who was trying to kill him, King Saul, yet he did not kill him even though the men that he was leading, basically told him it was God’s will.

Escape to the forest - 1 Samuel 22:5 “Then Gad the prophet said to David, “You should not stay in the stronghold; leave and go into the land of Judah.” So David left and came to the forest of Hereth.” It is time to move out of the cave. God will sometimes lead you to a cave, yet he will not leave you there, what is meant for a certain period of time, cannot remain your permanent address. He had to leave and go into the forest of Hereth, which was in the land of Judah, the land of his people, the land of praise.

Praise is what I do