1 Samuel 23:1-13

Hey, good morning, good morning. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. This morning we are at 1 Samuel chapter 23, the first 13 verses. We're going to find out a little bit about David and how he operates on a daily day. How does he lead the troops? He's got a ragtag group of guys with him. How does he lead them?
Let's have some coffee, we'll pray, and we'll get into God's Word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word, and we pray that as we read your word, your Holy Spirit would please be with us. We pray that you would teach us, that you would watch over us, that you would, Lord, that you indeed would be the one who would open our eyes to see, that we might understand and believe and live. In Jesus' name, amen. Here we go, 1 Samuel chapter 23.
Then they told David, saying, Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors. Therefore David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and attack these Philistines? And Jehovah said to David, Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah. But David's men said to him, Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the army of the Philistines?" Then David inquired of Jehovah once again. And Jehovah answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.
And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines. struck them with a mighty blow and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. Now it happened when Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, fled to David at Keilah that he went down with an ephod in his hand.
And Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah. So Saul said, God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars. Then Saul called all the people together for war to go down to Keilah to besiege David and his men. When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, bring the ephod here.
Then David said, O Yehovah God of Israel, your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down as your servant has heard? O Yehovah God of Israel, I pray, tell your servant. And Jehovah said, he will come down. Then David said, will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, they will deliver you. So David and his men, about 600, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah. So he halted the expedition. We need to ask ourselves our questions. A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to this? So what is this about?
Well, David hears the Philistines, these enemies of God's people. They're raiding Keilah. This is famine type stuff. You raid the threshing floors. That means it's harvest time. They're out there. They're beating the grain. This is their food and also the seed for the next year. This means starvation. This is life and death. And so David's like, let's go. And it's been like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We're up in the hills. We go down to the plains. We lose our advantage. We could die.
So what does David do? He asks the Lord, should I go? Do it. He's been like, David, we don't know. Hold on. Should we really go? We're safe up here, but we're afraid. We go down there. And the Lord says, go. And so what happens? Well, then things change.
For I will deliver the Philistines out of your hand. And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and they took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. And you might think, this is great, right? They're going to welcome him. They're going to love him. This is wonderful. But then old jealous Saul finds out, ah, David's down there. He gets ear that David's down in Keilah. I'm going to go kill him. Now he's made his misstep. Now is the time for Saul to trap him in. So what does David do?
David pleads with the Lord. Abiathar, the priest who's fled to him, bring the ephod and they pray. I'm guessing it's Abiathar who's wearing it and they're pleading with the Lord. God answers, yeah. It's interesting. He asks if the people of Kila will betray him, and the Lord says, yes, they're going to betray you.
So what does David do? David flees. Tells his guys, hey, scatter. Get out of here. They all scatter. They go. They're going to rendezvous another place some other time. So all I hear is that David has slipped through his fingers and he calls off the expedition. Okay, forget it. Never mind. What's the point here? David knows that God is omniscient and he depends upon the Lord. I don't know exactly how David prays and he hears the Lord speaking to him.
He gets direction directly from the Lord. David definitely has this office of being a king. And yet in many ways we see that he operates as a prophet as well. I mean half, more than half, a huge sum of the Psalms are written by David. We know that he's inspired by the Holy Spirit and so he's...
This is one of these weird things about David's life. But the point being is that he hears, he listens to, he obeys the Lord. It's very different than Saul who's kind of doing whatever Saul wants to do. So, what's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I think in my Bible, I would underline, Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and attack these Philistines?
Maybe you would underline something different, but in my mind, that's what reminds me of what this section. There goes her yawns again. Man, I'm getting an old man or something. I even got more sleep last night. This is what happens, right? That's why I underlined that in my Bible, because it reminds me that David's trusting in the Lord. The Philistines are at hand. He goes and inquires of the Lord. That's what happens with Keilah. By the way, Keilah is like 13 miles south and to the west of Bethlehem, so you're kind of getting out of the hills and towards the plains.
So, what are we called to do? Seek calling? What's our call to action? Or how does this point us to Jesus Christ, right? Lean not on your own understanding, but trust in the Lord. David is this type of Christ. He's the Messiah. God has a wonderful plan for his life. God is moving him more and more towards the throne, having him slip out of the hands.
But I just want to also encourage you. Sometimes you may do amazing and great and helpful things for people and they may not respond back well. They may betray you. And who knows what the motivations of the, I don't know what you call the people from Keilah, the Keilithites or something, right? Why God knew that they would betray him. But God does know. Maybe it was out of fear of Saul. Maybe they had just gone through one war and they didn't want to have another war. So the Lord knows their hearts. But I think the point here is God is showing us a David who's at his best, relying on the Lord.
Do we rely on the Lord? Do we trust Him? I'm not telling you to go and work yourself up into some type of spiritual or emotional high, or go sniff some glue or something, whatever, and wait until you hear the word of the Lord, whether or not you should shave in the morning. No. The point is, do you go to God in prayer, expressing your desires to Him, Is your heart open to, and your mind, and your being open to, ready to hearing from the Lord and His word?
I can't say how many times it's been amazing to me when in my life I'll be listening to a sermon and it's like, ah, okay. I get it, Lord. Or when I'm reading the scriptures, and I was like, okay, I don't like that. Or somebody will bring up a passage at church, or we're studying in a Bible study or whatever, and it's like, okay, Lord, I get it.
I think the Lord speaks to us by His Holy Spirit now, applying His word to our hearts in our lives. And so even maybe right now, maybe you've gotten a little too autonomous. Maybe you're resting on your own understanding, going on your own ways instead of saying, if the Lord wills, I'll do such and such a thing.
Rest in the Lord, brothers and sisters. He's good. Father, we thank you so much that you are such a good and loving and wonderful Father. Lord, you are the one who is omniscient. We just don't know how much we don't know, but you know all. Father, please guide our paths. Lead us in your ways. Let us follow after you. Make us tender toward the prompting of the Holy Spirit, even in your word. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. May the Lord bless you. May you walk with confidence and with peace, knowing that God is omniscient and sovereign and cares for you. I'll see you next time. Bye.