“And David departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam” (1 Sam. 22:11David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. (1 Samuel 22:1)). That is where he composed the beautiful Psalm 142, which expresses the feelings filling his soul in his solitude. “There is no man that knoweth me: refuge bath failed me; no man careth for my soul” (Psa. 142:44I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. (Psalm 142:4)). “In the way wherein I walked have they hidden a snare for me” (Psa. 142:33When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. (Psalm 142:3)), This is written when —what mockery —Saul had the audacity to accuse him, saying: “My son has stirred up my servant as a lier-in-wait against me” (1 Sam. 22:88That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? (1 Samuel 22:8)). But David, found, precisely because all human refuge failed him, a sure refuge for his soul: “I cried unto Thee, Jehovah, I said, Thou art my refuge” (Psa. 142:55I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living. (Psalm 142:5)). He could count on the God of Israel for deliverance from his persecutors, for they were stronger than he (Psa. 142:66Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low: deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. (Psalm 142:6)). Could David ever regret being found at such an extremity, abandoned by all, since there it was it that his soul knew and appreciated the sovereign refuge that is found in God? Thus the psalm ends with the assurance that filled his soul, for his time of solitude and of being forsaken would come to an end. “The righteous,” he says, “shall surround me” (Psa. 142:77Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. (Psalm 142:7)).
After this pouring out of his soul, in that same cave of Adullam David receives the Lord’s answer as the firstfruits of his confidence. He is no longer alone. “And his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, and they went down thither to him” (1 Sam. 22:11David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam: and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him. (1 Samuel 22:1)). David, a type of the rejected Christ, becomes a center of attraction for his brothers. His family, all his relatives, gather themselves around him. They were for David, as for Christ, “the excellent of the earth.” They recognized the Lord’s anointed in him, the one through whom the Lord would save His people, the instrument of grace in Israel. They knew that they, even as the head of their family, could expect nothing from the world but contempt and persecution; so their only resource was to seek refuge in the one who from the human point of view was himself without resource.
But another class of people also sought refuge with David in the cave of Adullam: “And every one in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one of embittered spirit collected round him; and he became a captain over them” (1 Sam. 22:22And every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men. (1 Samuel 22:2)). Not only those related to him because they shared a common origin, but also such who had no such bond, joined David. Their common characteristic was that they had lost everything. Some were “in distress,” not knowing which way to turn; others were “in debt,” unable to pay; and finally, others were “of embittered spirit,” having sorrows for which there was no remedy, created by the state of things in Israel.
All these found a sure refuge with David as is found today with a rejected Christ. But they found much more. David is able to create, to form, the most wretched beings in his own image. The reflection of his moral beauty falls on those who have nothing to bring him but their misery. In the dark cave of Adullam the light shining forth from David shines on these four hundred men who surround him, and that which grace made of them in the day of tribulation will be recognized by all eyes, acclaimed by every mouth in the day of glory which is already approaching. All these outlaws will surround the king’s throne and will be called “David’s mighty men” (2 Sam. 23:88These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time. (2 Samuel 23:8)).
But that was not the full extent of the resources included in the cave of Adullam for the companions of the son of Jesse: Gad the prophet (1 Sam. 22:55And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth. (1 Samuel 22:5)), God’s mouthpiece and the one who bore His testimony, was there with David. The revelation of God’s mind, absent from Saul’s court and from his people, found refuge there. Lastly, the king’s murderous act against Nob drives Abiathar the priest to David (1 Sam. 22:2020And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. (1 Samuel 22:20)). Later he comes to him with the ephod in his hand (1 Sam. 23:66And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand. (1 Samuel 23:6)). The means of approaching God, of consulting Him at all times, of entering into fellowship with Him, is the happy privilege of these vagabond people whom the world dishonors and despises.
Dear reader, have you found refuge with the rejected Christ? A person doesn’t do so until he is without resource and has lost all hope of helping himself. The world in this case will despise you, but not as much as you will despise yourself. And nonetheless you will lack nothing. The felt presence of the Lord Jesus experienced by your soul; the treasures of the Word placed at your disposition and known, as even a Jonathan clinging to Saul’s court was never able to know them; and finally the means of approaching God, furnished by the priesthood of Christ who brings us into fellowship with Him: such are the benefits which our David dispenses during the time of His rejection.
Nothing more is wanting than that He be manifested in glory to the eyes of all, for already He is manifested as the center of His Assembly, even if this, as here, should consist of only four hundred faithful souls united around Him.
In 1 Samuel 22:55And the prophet Gad said unto David, Abide not in the hold; depart, and get thee into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth. (1 Samuel 22:5), David obeys the word that Gad brings him: “Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” Here he is then in the very territory of the enemy, but what does he have to fear and what can Saul do to him? The Lord is with him. What does it matter if he acts contrary to all human prudence? God has designs of grace and blessing in what He commands; our business is to obey.
Saul summons Ahimelech and accuses David of conspiring against himself and of lying in wait for him (1 Sam. 22:7-8, 137Then Saul said unto his servants that stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites; will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards, and make you all captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds; 8That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that showeth me that my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or showeth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? (1 Samuel 22:7‑8)
13And Saul said unto him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? (1 Samuel 22:13)). Ahimelech with noble frankness openly speaks the truth and bears witness to David, that peerless man, who is “faithful... who is the king’s son-in-law, and hath access to thy secret council, and is honorable in thy house.” Surely this is no insulting word, but it is a severe lesson given to Saul. The delicacy of his feelings prevents Ahimelech from mentioning the lie that David had used to have the bread and sword given to him: a lie that would have compromised him in Saul’s eyes. But it is this lie which finally leads to the ruin of the priest and all his house. David is well aware of this when he tells Abiathar: “I am accountable for all the lives of thy father’s house” (1 Sam. 22:2222And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house. (1 Samuel 22:22)). Thus he judges himself. But at the same time he is from God’s side a type of the One who is the believer’s safeguard: “Abide with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks thy life; for with me thou art in safe keeping” (1 Sam. 22:2323Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard. (1 Samuel 22:23)). This is a perfect compensation for what Abiathar and his father’s house had to suffer for the sake of the Lord’s anointed.
This is where Psalm 52 comes in. David had learned that “Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David came to the house of Ahimelech.” And so he announces judgment without mercy on the Edomite, Israel’s sworn enemy. But that does not at all destroy the confidence and assurance of the man of God. Much to the contrary, against the dark background of this wickedness the believer’s blessed portion stands out in all its splendor: “But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I will confide in the loving-kindness of God forever and ever. I will praise Thee forever, because Thou hast done it; and I will wait on Thy name, before Thy godly ones, for it is good (Psa. 52:8-98But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for ever and ever. 9I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name; for it is good before thy saints. (Psalm 52:8‑9)).