1 Samuel 23:7 Commentary and Bible Study

‘And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.’ This is amazing! Saul is astonishing. He didn’t feel ashamed of himself that he had failed to protect Keilah, and that David, ill-equipped and ill-supported, had needed to act in his place. He didn't take note of the miracle that David with four hundred men was able to deal with a whole Philistine incursion, and deliver Keilah. He doesn't seem to get any kind of message from this. All he says is, ‘Right, now he is in Keilah, he is accessible to my troops, and we can throw a ring round the city easily, and trap him. And he is in a town; he has gone into a town that has gates and bars. Get the authorities in Keilah to shut him in.’ That is obviously in his mind.He decided to call up his troops, a huge force, to go to Keilah to besiege David and his men. David suspected it, and he seeks God's will, making use of Abiathar who has the ephod with him. There is this wonderful passage here. ‘Then, said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down as thy servant hath heard?’ David appeals, and the Lord answers the question in a reverse manner. The Lord answers the second question first. ‘He will come down’, and that is all he answers. David has to ask again, ‘Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.’ So David and his men, who have now increased from four hundred to six hundred have to escape, and run from Keilah. Here is another instance – and there will be more and more of them – where David is a type of Jesus Christ, the son of God. The men of Keilah! He saved their lives; he saved their crops, and yet if Saul comes near, they will immediately trap him and hand him over to Saul, because of their lack of faith and their lack of gratitude and supportiveness. ‘Then David and his men’ – they are now numbered at six hundred – ‘arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.’ Saul abandons his pursuit for the moment. David has escaped and Saul’s spies, who are everywhere, have reported back to him. He is frustrated again, and he is going to continue to be frustrated, for he is fighting against the revealed will of God: that David will be king, and therefore he cannot be destroyed. Saul has only one purpose in life, and his paranoia is in control of all he does. He will besiege a whole city, even a city of his own people to capture one man. The difference between David and Saul is stark. David comes to deliver Keilah out of the hands of the Philistines, and Saul comes to besiege them to gratify his hatred.