CHAPTER 22 Jul. 9 
David Escapes to the Cave at Adullam
David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2Everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt and everyone who was discontented gathered themselves to him and he became their captain. About four hundred men were with him. 3David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab, and he said to the king of Moab, Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you, until I know what God will do for me. 4He brought them before the king of Moab and they lived with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. 5The prophet Gad said to David, Don’t stay in the stronghold. Depart, and go into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and went into the forest of Hereth.

The Priests of Nob Killed by Saul
6Saul heard that David and his men had been discovered. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tamarisk tree in Ramah with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him. 7Saul said to them, Listen now, you Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse give each of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds? 8Is that why all of you have conspired against me so that there is no-one who tells me when my son makes a treaty with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me or tells me that my son has stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as he does today? 9Then Doeg the Edomite, who stood by the servants of Saul, said: I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10He inquired of Yahweh for him, gave him food, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 11Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub and all his father’s house, the priests who were in Nob; and they all came to the king. 12Saul said, Listen now, you son of Ahitub. He answered, Here I am, my lord. 13Saul said to him, Why have you conspired against me, you and the son of Jesse, in that you have given him bread and a sword, and have inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as he does today? 14Then Ahimelech answered the king, Who among all your servants is as faithful as David, who is the king’s son-in-law, and is taken into your council, and is honourable in your house? 15 Is this the first time I have inquired of God for him? Be it far from me! Don’t let the king accuse his servant or any of the house of my father, for your servant knows nothing at all of all this. 16The king said, You shall surely die Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house. 17The king said to the guards who stood around him, Turn and kill the priests of Yahweh because they have sided with David, and because they knew that he fled, and didn’t tell me. But the servants of the king wouldn’t put forth their hand to strike the priests of Yahweh. 18The king said to Doeg, You turn and attack the priests! Doeg the Edomite turned and attacked the priests, and he killed on that day eighty-five people who wore a linen ephod. 19He struck Nob, the city of the priests, with the edge of the sword, men, women, children and nursing babies, and cattle, donkeys and sheep. 20One of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped and fled to David. 21Abiathar told David that Saul had killed Yahweh’s priests. 22David said to Abiathar, I knew on that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul. I am responsible for the death of all the people of your father’s house. 23Stay with me, don’t be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you will be safe.

Commentary

22:2 David at this time could be likened to Christ in our period of history, still awaiting being enthroned and given the Kingdom promised to Him. Those who followed David at this time would then represent us who follow Christ at this time, when society generally doesn’t accept Him. Those who came to Him were initially spiritually weak, but they developed during their time in the wilderness with Him. And it was those who were loyal to Him in the wilderness who later became the rulers in his Kingdom, as we will in Christ’s Kingdom when it is established on earth (Rev. 5:8). Those who came to David were initially driven to him by their hard experiences in this world, rather than attracted to him for purely spiritual motives; and so it is with many of those who come to Christ. Our motives for doing so change and mature over time.
22:5 Go into the land of Judah- David’s whole experience with Saul was of course led and arranged by a loving Father. The sensible thing would have been for David to get out of Saul’s way and lay quiet- and this is what he tried to do, by going to Moab. But then God tells him to go back into Judah. This was political suicide; it’s similar to how Christ returned to Judea in a similar situation (Jn. 11:7,8). It made no human sense to expose himself to Saul again. And then God tells David to go and fight with the Philistines in order to rescue the people of Keilah (23:2). Yet the men of Keilah weren’t allies worth having- even they were prepared to betray David to Saul, and by this action he made the Philistines hate him yet more, so refuge amongst them was no longer possible. Again and again, God led David into situations that were politically suicidal, that only made things worse for him… because He wanted David to trust in Him alone. And so it happens in our lives. Time and again.
22:22 David had great sensitivity and this led to an almost telepathic ability to enter into other's problems; it became legendary throughout Israel, and this was one of the things which endeared him to his people (see too 2 Sam.14:17,20; 18:13)- and there is a powerful similarity here Christ, whose sensitivity was greater than anyone’s. His ability to know things may have been partly due to direct Divine guidance, but sometimes it may’ve been simply due to His acute sensitivity to people and human situations. We can take comfort that He is the same today as He was yesterday, and is highly sensitive to all our circumstances.