David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. 1 Samuel 22:1, 2 David at the cave of Adullam J. T. Woodhouse. David had strangled a lion, slain a giant, and overcome two hundred Philistines; but he is himself overcome by his needless fear. The fear that terrified David arose as much from his own sin as from Saul's fury. Had David been truthful to the priest at Nob he would not have had to dissemble before the king of Gath, and hide like a traitor in the cave of Adullam. One misstep leads to another. The troubles of life frequently spring from our own folly. I. DAVID'S ESCAPE TO THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. 1. It was a place of perfect safety. 2. It was a place of comparative seclusion. David needed rest and quiet. The tremendous excitement through which he had passed had exhausted both body and mind. 3. It was a place of earnest supplication. If David sinned at Nob, he sincerely repented at Adullam. David sought for forgiveness for his sin. David sought protection from his enemies. David sought deliverance from his prison. There is a cave of Adullam in every life. Doubt may be such a cave. Persecution may be such a cave. Sickness may be such a cave. Bereavement may be such a cave. There is no cave deep and dark enough to shut out God. II. DAVID'S ASSOCIATES IN THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. Notice three things respecting David's followers: 1. It was an affectionate association. In time of trouble God will raise up friends to comfort His believing children. 2. It was a mixed association. 3. It was a faithful association. These men proved both their courage and constancy. When David longed for water from Bethlehem they imperilled their lives to gratify his desire. David's experience agrees in some points with Christ's. David was concealed in a cave, Christ was laid in a manger. David was an outlaw, Christ was despised and rejected of men. David was sustained by men in distress, Christ selected for His disciples men who were poor and unknown. David was made a captain over four hundred, Christ is the Captain and Saviour of all who are in distress. If any man is weary of Satan's service, he may become a soldier of the cross. III. DAVID'S THOUGHTFULNESS IN THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. David was therefore deeply concerned for their safety, and his ardent attachment manifested itself in three ways: 1. By his dangerous journey to promote the comfort of his parents. "David went thence to Moab." This was not a long journey, but it was difficult, to accomplish. 2. By his earnest intercession to obtain protection for his parents. 3. By his special endeavour to secure respect for his parents. "He brought them before the king:" This was a prudent introduction. "And they dwelt with him": This was gracious reception. "All the while that David was in the hold:" This was generous hospitality. We cannot too highly commend David's devotion to his parents. He was willing to sacrifice his life and liberty for their safety. IV. DAVID'S DEPARTURE FROM THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. We may learn three things from David's departure from the cave of Adullam. 1. Good men receive timely direction from God. "Abide not in the hold." God will not disappoint those who wait for his guidance. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. 2. Good men receive minute direction from God. "Get thee into the land of Judah." All the agencies of life — seen and unseen — known and unknown — are regulated by God. 3. Good men promptly obey the direction of God. "Then David departed." Whether God call us to serve or suffer, we must cheerfully obey. We dare not resist, the leadings of Divine providence. There is a time coming when we must all depart. ( J. T. Woodhouse. ) And everyone that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him. 1 Samuel 22:2 A refuge for the distressed E. J. Hardy, M. A. At the period of which the text speaks, David was leading the life of an outcast and an outlaw. Being expelled from Israel and Philistia, nothing remained for him to do but to gather around him a band of equally unfortunate men and defend himself with his sword. Cannot we see in David collecting around him all who were in distress, in debt, or for any reason discontented, a foreshadow of the Friend of publicans and sinners, of Him who said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Again a man's religion may be concealed in his heart, and may not do the good it ought to do as an example till distress come upon him and cause it to be seen in all its power. In many a true believer piety is like a drum, which nobody hears of unless it be beaten. The cave of Adullam was a refuge for debtors, and so is the Church of Christ. The third class of people who came to David at the cave of Adullam were those who were discontented. So, too, there is a "Divine discontent" which brings people to Christ. Are you dissatisfied? Then go to Christ and fill up the hollowness of your soul with Him. This is the truth which is contained in the common saying, that when people become disappointed with the world, it is the last resource to turn saint. The last thing we note about the miserable men who came for refuge to David is that they were taught by him to live good lives. They were a rough, lawless set of men, yet they could be kept in check by the influence of their beloved captain, David. So useful and helpful to their neighbours did these soldiers become, that the servants of Nabal could not help acknowledging as much. "But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we were conversant with them." Now surely if men's lives were made good by coming to David, the effect which coming to Christ should have upon our characters is infinitely more beneficial. ( E. J. Hardy, M. A. ) And the prophet Gad said unto David. 1 Samuel 22:5-23 A friend and a foe R. E. Faulkner. I. THE VISIT OF GAD THE SEER. David had been brought very low through his own mistakes. God proved him in the hold. Then He sent to him. Wherever you are, wait for a message from God before you move, II. SAUL'S APPEAL TO HIS SERVANTS. No one answered it but the alien Doeg. Notice, Herod was an Edomite. The race always conspicuous for hatred to Israel. What circumspection is necessary in God's children! Always a Doeg looking on! ( Exodus 23:13 ; 1 Peter 2:12, 15, 16 .) False witness, often nearly true. "A lie that is half a truth is ever the worst of lies" ( Mark 14:55-59 ; Matthew 26:61 ). Built on supposition ( Acts 21:27-29 ). III. "GOD FULFILS HIMSELF IN MANY WAYS." The massacre of Nob, though unjustifiable in Saul, was God's sentence on Eli's house ( 1 Samuel 3:12-14 ; Isaiah 5:7 , etc.) . IV. SECURITY WITH DAVID ( verse 23). This was beautiful faith. The outcast promising protection because the Lord was with him. He was willing to protect him with his life. So was Jesus. He was not only willing, but He did it ( 1 John 3:8, 16 ). ( R. E. Faulkner. ) And Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David. 1 Samuel 22:14 In defence of the king Edward Braislin, D. D. Now, it was for acts of kindness to David, the outcast and fugitive, that Ahimelech the high priest was confronted by the infuriated king. Ahimelech answered the king and said, "And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, the king's son-in-law, who goes at thy bidding and is honourable in thine house? Did I pray for him as against thee? That were far from me. Let not the king accuse me falsely; for as to trouble between Saul and David I knew nothing, less or more." Brave words, O priest! Never did martyr witness more magnificently for the truth, and never with less hope of pardon. The gigantic figure of the king, clad in armour and terrible in wrath, towered before the white-robed priest. It is a vary beautiful, even if it be a very costly, thing to live a righteous life. The whole spirit and range of heroism is to be found in that order of piety which this high priest illustrated and adorned. Analyse this great high priestly life. I. IT WAS A LIFE OFTEN UP IN DEFENCE OF THE KING'S BETTER NATURE AGAINST HIS WORSE NATURE. He aimed to rescue Saul from Saul. It is as if he had said, "Why do you so unking yourself as to injure a man who would not injure you? David is your friend. Jealousy demeans you. Jealousy and not David is your real foe." II. AGAIN, IT WAS A LIFE GIVEN UP IN DEFENCE OF AHIMELECH'S OWN BETTER NATURE AGAINST HIS LOWER NATURE. Doubtless this high priestly life was of value to him who had it. But he made no plea foe it. He pleaded only for the life of the outcast and fugitive. III. IT WAS A LIFE GIVEN UP IN DEFENCE OF THE INNOCENT FUGITIVE. Ahimelech, friend of the king, dared to defend the outcast David. IV. NOW CONSIDER THAT THIS DEFENCE — THREE FOLD — IS WORTH WHATEVER IT COSTS. The defence of my neighbour's better nature against his worse nature; of my own better nature against my worse nature, and of Christ against the world, is worth whatever it may cost. First, because a man's soul, or immortal nature, is of more value to him than any imaginable physical safety or comfort. Second, because my neighbour's better nature is of more value to the world and to me, than anything else I can give to the world, or the world can give me. This world has enough of everything but goodness. It does not need that I give it anything, unless I can give it goodness. Let me help a man to conquer himself and I am a philanthropist. Third, it is worth all it costs because, in defending the outcast against the king, we may be defending the king against the outcast. In the councils of heaven Saul the king is the outcast and David the outcast is the king. This striking reversal of the real and the apparent is one of the most ordinary of processes when heaven looks at earth. Things are not what they seem. However little the evidence of it, Righteousness is the one true monarch over men. ( Edward Braislin, D. D. ).

Benson Commentary 1 Samuel 22:1 David 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 . To the cave of Adullam — Which was a strong hold in the tribe of Judah, 1 Chronicles 11:15 ; Joshua 15:35 . This place, fortified by nature, is so fitted for the security of persons in distress, according to Dr. Delaney, that it hath frequently given a refuge from the Turks to the Christians, who fled thither with their families, flocks, and herds. As it was in the tribe of Judah, and David belonged to that tribe, he might, perhaps, flee to it in hopes of finding some friends in those parts. And his brethren, &c ., went down thither to him — Either to comfort him, or to secure themselves from the fury of Saul, who, they thought, might probably wreak upon them his hatred to David. 1 Samuel 22:2 And 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 . Every one that was in distress — ???? ???? , ish matsok , the man straitened or oppressed. And every one that was in debt — ???? ?? ???? asher lo noshee, the man that had a creditor. Probably poor debtors, whom their creditors were obliged to spare, Exodus 22:25 . And others, whose lands and goods their creditors might seize when their persons were with David. It must be observed that the Jews frequently used their debtors with great severity, (see Nehemiah 5:5 ,) taking forcible possession of their lands and vineyards, and bringing their children into bondage. Every one that was discontented — Hebrew, ?? ???? Mark nephesh, the man bitter of soul, aggrieved in his mind, made uneasy and discontented, “probably,” says Dr. Dodd, “with Saul’s tyrannical government, and his implacable persecution of David, who, by this time, must have been well known to have been the intended successor of Saul.” It does not appear, from this description, that these were men of abandoned characters and profligate principles, as some have thought, who joined themselves to David purposely to cheat their creditors, and for the sake of the plunder they were in hopes of getting under him. Indeed, had this been the case, David would not have been able to have kept them under that strict order and discipline under which we find he did keep them, but we should have read of their plundering, and murdering, and committing other outrages. Nor would they have continued with him so long, and abode with him in dreary forests, destitute of most of the conveniences and comforts of life; or have followed him whithersoever he was disposed to lead them. This is not the temper or behaviour of men of profligate principles. And, therefore, there is reason to conclude, that they were persons who were brought into distress and poverty by other causes, such as, in the course of divine providence, are frequently permitted to afflict the best of men, for their trial, humiliation, or correction. But if they were not virtuous when they resorted to David, that they became so by his discipline, influence, and example, is sufficiently evident from their subsequent behaviour. And he became a captain over them — Being forced to take this course in his own defence, that he might not be suddenly surprised. But David did not take these men into his service, till by information from Jonathan, and by many other certain proofs, it evidently appeared that his life was in imminent danger. And then he neither assaulted any place with them, nor sought for an occasion to fight, but avoided it by seeking for secret and secure places of retreat, sometimes in the deserts, sometimes, in foreign nations, always taking care not to hurt his countrymen, and never allowing his men to make incursions upon any but the enemies of Israel. 1 Samuel 22:3 And David went thence to Mizpeh of Moab: and he said unto the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth, and be with you, till I know what God will do for me. 1 Samuel 22:3 . David went from thence to Mizpeh — For the Moabites were at difference with Saul, 1 Samuel 14:47 . Let my father and my mother be with you — David, perhaps, the rather hoped for this kindness to be shown to his aged parents, who were not able to travel up and down, as he was likely to be obliged to do, because he was descended from Ruth, a Moabitess. The filial tenderness of David here deserves our admiration, who makes it his first care to fix his parents in a place of safety and ease, not being able to bear their being exposed to the dangers and hardships which the necessity of his affairs obliged him to undergo. His address to the king manifests his great tenderness to his parents, and his entire submission to the will of God. Till I know what God will do for me — He expresses his hopes very modestly, as one that had entirely cast himself upon God, and committed his way to him, trusting not in his own arts or arms, but in the wisdom, power, and goodness of God. 1 Samuel 22:4 And he brought them before the king of Moab: and they dwelt with him all the while that David was in the hold. 1 Samuel 22:4 . All the while David was in the hold — In holds; the singular number being put for the plural, as is frequent; that is, as long as David was forced to go from place to place, and from hold to hold, to secure himself; for it concerned David especially to secure his father, and he did doubtless secure him for all that time; and not only while he was in the hold of Mizpeh, or of Adullam, which was but a little while. 1 Samuel 22:5 And 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 . The Prophet Gad said unto David — We read nothing of this prophet before; and it is likely God raised him up at this time, on purpose for the support and direction of David. Abide not in the hold — That is, do not shut up thyself here; for he did not merely intend any particular strong place, where David might now be, but in general all those places where he kept himself concealed. Get thee into the land of Judah — As one that confides in God, and in the uprightness of his intentions. Go, show thyself to the people, that thou mayest publicly put in thy claim to the kingdom after Saul’s death; and that thy friends may be invited and encouraged to appear in thy behalf. Hereby also God would exercise David’s faith, wisdom, and courage, and so prepare him for the kingdom. 1 Samuel 22:6 When Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him, (now Saul abode in Gibeah under a tree in Ramah, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him;) 1 Samuel 22:6-8 . Having his spear in his hand — It seems, as an ensign of majesty, for in old times kings carried a spear instead of a sceptre. Ye Benjamites — You that are of my own tribe and kindred, from whom David designs to translate the kingdom to another tribe. Will he distribute profits and preferments among you Benjamites, as I have done? Will he not rather prefer those of his own tribe before you? That all of you have conspired against me — To conceal David’s designs from me, if not to assist him in them. See the nature of jealousy, and its arts of flattering and wheedling to extort discoveries of things which have no existence! That my son hath made a league with the son of Jesse — He suspects Jonathan had made a league with David, but did not certainly know it, much less what the league was. His jealousy even carried him so far as to make him suspect that Jonathan not only sided with David, but had encouraged him to take up arms, and to appear openly, as having many friends and supporters. For since Saul threw the javelin at Jonathan, it is likely the latter had absented himself from court, or did not appear so frequently, or looked discontented when he came into his father’s presence. 1 Samuel 22:7 Then 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; 1 Samuel 22:8 That all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that sheweth 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 sheweth unto me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day? 1 Samuel 22:9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, which was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 1 Samuel 22:10 And he inquired of the LORD for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 1 Samuel 22:10 . He inquired of the Lord for him — Some think Doeg slandered Ahimelech in this, because we read nothing of it in the foregoing chapter; and David in the Psalms speaks of his false tongue. But whether or not, he was guilty of great wickedness in concealing part of the truth, which in this case he ought to have declared, for Ahimelech’s just defence; namely, the artifice whereby David had deceived him, making him believe that he was going on the king’s business; so that the service which Ahimelech did to David was designed in honour of Saul. And gave him victuals, &c. — Very innocently, as Doeg very well knew. But he represented these as acts whereby Ahimelech had aided and abetted David in a conspiracy; which are the lies that David lays to his charge, nothing being further from the truth. 1 Samuel 22:11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob: and they came all of them to the king. 1 Samuel 22:11 . The king sent to call Ahimelech and all his father’s house — The priests of the house of Eli, whom God had threatened to cut off, chap. 1 Samuel 2:31 ; and which threatening, by a strange chain of providences, was now about to be fulfilled. 1 Samuel 22:12 And Saul said, Hear now, thou son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am , my lord. 1 Samuel 22:13 And 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 22:14 Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king's son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house? 1 Samuel 22:14 . Ahimelech said, Who is so faithful, &c. — Or, rather, Who was so faithful, &c. for it cannot be supposed, after Saul had just accused David of a conspiracy against him, that the high-priest would say he was then faithful. His apology, which sufficiently shows his innocence as to the things of which Saul accuses him, is, that since David had been held by all to be a most loyal subject, as well as a person of great honour, and in high favour with the king, having married his daughter, what could he think but that David was sent by the king, as he said he was, upon some business of public concern? Thus he does not take upon him to determine the difference between Saul and David, nor affirm what David now was; but only declares what David had formerly been, and what he was still, for any thing he knew to the contrary. 1 Samuel 22:15 Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. 1 Samuel 22:15 . Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? — These words do not necessarily imply that Ahimelech had inquired of God for David. Doeg indeed charged him with doing it, but as the sacred historian has made no mention of any such thing, it is probable that he charged him falsely and maliciously, and with a view to heighten the king’s resentment against the priests. Ahimelech’s words may be very naturally so interpreted, as Dr. Dodd has observed, as to imply an absolute denial of the charge. “Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? Be it far from me. I never did it before, nor did I begin to do it now.” The verb ??? , hechel, (from ??? , chelel, ) which we render begin, is frequently a mere expletive, denoting not the first beginning of an action, but the action itself, as begun and finished. “This vindication was honest and sufficient; but what was the effect of it? A resolution worthy the tyrant that made it.” — Chandler. Thy servant knew nothing of all this — Of any design against thee. 1 Samuel 22:16 And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. 1 Samuel 22:16-17 . Thou shalt surely die, thou and all thy father’s house — A cruel resolution; for what had the rest of the priests done to deserve such a bloody execution? The servants of the king would not, &c. — In this, undoubtedly, they were praiseworthy; but had been more so had they courageously taken the part of these innocent persons, and remonstrated to Saul against his cruelty, as contrary to all the laws of God and man. And if their reasons and prayers had proved ineffectual, they should have treated this command as the dictate of Saul’s melancholy or evil spirit, and have given the priests some opportunity to escape out of his hands, instead of standing tamely to see them fall, contrary to all laws, divine or human, by the hands of a ruffian, the minister of a tyrant’s cruelty. 1 Samuel 22:17 And the king said unto the footmen that stood about him, Turn, and slay the priests of the LORD; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not shew it to me. But the servants of the king would not put forth their hand to fall upon the priests of the LORD. 1 Samuel 22:18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and he fell upon the priests, and slew on that day fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod. 1 Samuel 22:18 . Doeg the Edomite turned and fell upon the priests — The country of Doeg is very properly here mentioned, and again repeated, to wipe off the stain of this butchery from the Israelitish nation, and to show why he was so ready to do it; because he was one of that nation which had an implacable hatred against all Israelites, and against the priests of the Lord. And slew on that day fourscore and five persons — “The massacre of these innocent men was so outrageous, so bloody, and so horrible, that it paints the character of Saul in the blackest colours, and exposes him as a warning, not only to tyrannical monarchs, but likewise to private persons, who give a loose to the instigations of jealous suspicions and intemperate wrath.” — Chandler. That did wear a linen ephod — That is, ministered unto the Lord; but we are not to understand by the ephod such a garment as the high-priest wore, for this is distinguished from the high-priest’s ephod by the matter of it, which was merely linen. The priests had probably all put on this habit, on account of appearing before the king. 1 Samuel 22:19 And Nob, the city of the priests, smote he with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. 1 Samuel 22:19 . Both men and women, children and sucklings — In all the life of Saul there is no wickedness to be compared to this. He appears now to be wholly under the power of that evil spirit which had long tormented him. And this destruction could not but go to the heart of every pious Israelite, and make them wish a thousand times they had been content with the government of Samuel. Josephus, in relating this, reflects on the depravity of human nature, which, when it is in a private station, often strictly and willingly confines itself within the bounds of right and justice; but when it has gained an uncontrollable power, thinks it has a right to trample upon all laws, as well divine as human. We ought therefore to pray, as Justin Martyr says, that kings and rulers, together with a royal power, may be found having a sober mind. Or, as Le Clerc observes, we ought never to put such a power into any persons’ hands as to enable them to trample upon all laws and the common rights of mankind. Whether the Israelites assisted in the execution upon the inhabitants of Nob, does not appear; or whether it was performed by Doeg the Edomite, and the rest of Saul’s hirelings. But it was sufficiently shameful to the Israelites that they did not even stand up to prevent such a cruel massacre. 1 Samuel 22:20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. 1 Samuel 22:20 . Abiathar escaped and fled after David — He, by his father’s death, was now high-priest, and is the person referred to Mark 2:26 , where we find him described by an office which he did not bear till after the event alluded to, Ahimelech, as we have seen, being high-priest when David took the show-bread. In what has been just related we have a remarkable instance of God’s turning the worst devices of the wicked to the purposes of his providence; for in all this was fulfilled the threatening denounced by the Lord against the house of Eli; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not; see 1 Samuel 2:31 ; and 1 Samuel 3:13 . 1 Samuel 22:21 And Abiathar shewed David that Saul had slain the LORD'S priests. 1 Samuel 22:22 And 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 22:23 Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary 1 Samuel 22:1 David 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. CHAPTER XXIX. DAVID AT ADULLAM, MIZPEH, AND HARETH. 1 Samuel 22:1-23 . THE cave of Adullam, to which David fled on leaving Gath, has been placed in various localities even in modern times; but as the Palestine Exploration authorities have placed the town in the valley of Elah, we may regard it as settled that the cave lay there, not far indeed from the place where David had had his encounter with Goliath. It was a humble dwelling for a king's son-in-law, nor could David have thought of needing it on the memorable day when he did such wonders with his sling and stone. These "dens and caves of the earth" - effects of great convulsions in some remote period of its history - what service have they often rendered to the hunted and oppressed! How many a devout saint, of whom the world was not worthy, has blessed God for their shelter! With how much purer devotion and loftier fellowship, with how much more sublime and noble exercises of the human spirit have many of them been associated, than some of the proudest and costliest temples that have been reared in name - often little more - to the service of God! If David at first was somewhat an object of jealousy to his own family in this the day of his trials they showed a different spirit, "When his brethren and all his father's house heard of it, they went down thither to him." As the proverb says, "Blood is thicker than water," and often adversity draws families together between whom prosperity has been like a wedge. If our relations are prospering while we are poor, we think of them as if they had moved away from us; but when their fortunes are broken, and the world turns its back on them, we get closer, our sympathy revives. We think all the better of David's family that when they heard of his outlaw condition they all went down to him. Besides these, "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." The account here given of the circumstances of this band is not very flattering, but there are two things connected with it to be borne in mind: in the first place, that the kind of men who usually choose the soldier's calling are not your men of plodding industry, but men who shrink from monotonous labour; and, in the second place, that under the absolute rule of Saul there might be many very worthy persons in debt and discontented and in distress, men who had come into that condition because they were not so ready to cringe to despotism as their ruler desired. Mixed and motley therefore though David's troop may have been, it was far from contemptible; and their adherence was fitted greatly to encourage him, because it showed that public feeling was with him, that his cause was not looked on as desperate, that his standard was one to which it was deemed safe and hopeful to resort. But if, at the first glance, the troop appeared somewhat disreputable, it was soon joined by two men, the one a prophet, the other a priest, whose adherence must have brought to it a great accession of moral weight. The prophet was Gad ( 1 Samuel 22:5 ), who next to Samuel seems to have stood highest in the nation as a man of God, a man of holy counsel, and elevated, heavenly character. His open adherence to David (which seems to be implied in ver. 5) must have had the best effects both on David himself and on the people at large. It must have been a great blessing to David to have such a man as Gad beside him; for, with all his personal piety, he seems to have required a godly minister at his side. No man derived more benefit from the communion of saints, or was more apt to suffer for want of it; for, as we have seen, he had begun to decline in spirituality when he left Samuel at Naioth, and still more when he was parted from Jonathan. When Gad joined him, David must have felt that he was sent to him from the Lord, and could not but be full of gratitude for so conspicuous an answer to his prayers. It would seem that Gad remained in close relation to David to the close of his life. It was he that came from the Lord to offer him his choice between three forms of chastisement after his offence in numbering the people; and from the fact of his being called "David's seer" ( 2 Samuel 24:11 ) we conclude that he and David were intimately associated. It was he also that instructed David to buy the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, and thus to consecrate to God a spot with which, to the very end of time, the most hallowed thoughts must always be connected. The other eminent person that joined David about this time was Abiathar the priest. But before adverting to this, we must follow the thread of the narrative and especially note the tragedy that occurred at Nob, the city of the priests. From the mode of life which David had to follow and the difficulty of obtaining subsistence for his troop at one place for any length of time, he was obliged to make frequent changes. On leaving the cave of Adullam, which was near the western border of the tribe of Judah, he traversed the whole breadth of that tribe, and crossing the Jordan, came to the territories of Moab. He was concerned for the safety of his father and mother, knowing too well the temper of Eastern kings, and how they thirsted for the blood, not only of their rivals, but of all their relations. He feared that they would not be let alone at Bethlehem or in any other part of Saul's kingdom. But what led him to think of the king of Moab? Perhaps a tender remembrance of his ancestress Ruth, the damsel from Moab, who had been so eminent for her devotion to her mother-in-law. Might there not be found in the king of Moab somewhat of a like disposition, that would look with pity on an old man and woman driven from their home, not indeed, like Naomi, by famine, but by what was even worse, the shameful ingratitude and murderous fury of a wicked king? If such was David's hope, it was not without success; his father and his mother dwelt with the king of Moab all the time that David was in the hold. But it was not God's purpose that David should lurk in a foreign land. The prophet Gad directed him to return to the land of Judah. It was within the boundaries of that tribe, accordingly, that the rest of David's exile was spent, with the exception of the time at the very end when he again resorted to Philistine territory. His first hiding-place was the forest of Hareth. While David was here, Saul, encamped in military state at Gibeah, delivered an extraordinary speech to the men of his own tribe. "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; that 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 that showeth me that my son hath stirred up my servant against me, to lie in wait, as at this day?" It would have been difficult for any other man to condense so much that was vile in spirit into the dimensions of a little speech like this. It begins with a base appeal to the cupidity of his countrymen, the Benjamites, among whom he was probably in the habit of distributing the possessions of his enemies, as, for instance, the Gibeonites, who dwelt near him, and whom he slew, contrary to the covenant made with them by Joshua ( 2 Samuel 21:2 ). It accuses his people of having conspired against him, because they had not spoken to him of the friendship of his son with David, although that fact must have been notorious. It accuses the noble Jonathan of having stirred up David against Saul, while neither Jonathan nor David had ever lifted a little finger against him, and both the one and the other might have been trusted to serve him with unflinching fidelity if he had only given them a fair chance. It indicates that nothing would be more agreeable to Saul than any information about David or these connected with him that would give him an excuse for some deed of overwhelming vengeance. Did ever man draw his own portrait in viler colours than Saul in this speech? There was one bosom - let us hope only one - in which it awoke a response. It was that of Doeg the Edomite. He told the story of what he had seen at Nob, adding thereto the unfounded statement that Ahimelech had inquired of the Lord for David. Ahimelech and the whole college of priests were accordingly sent for, and they came. The charge brought against him was a very offensive one; in so far, it was a statement of facts, but of facts placed in an odious light, of facts coloured with a design which Ahimelech never entertained. Oh, how many an innocent man has suffered in this way! Even in courts of justice, by pleaders whose interest is on the other side, and some- times by judges (like Jeffreys) steeped in hatred and prejudice, how often have acts that were quite innocent been put to the account of treason, or put to the account of malice, or cunningly forged into a chain, indicating a deliberate design to injure another! It can never be too earnestly insisted on that to be just to a man you must not merely ascertain the real facts of his case, but you must put the facts in their true light, and not colour them with prejudices of your own or with suppositions which the man repudiates. The conduct of Ahimelech was manly and straight- forward, but indiscreet. He admitted the facts, with the exception of the statement that he had inquired of the Lord for David. He vindicated right manfully the faithful, noble services of David, services that ought to have excluded the very idea of treason or conspiracy. He protested that he knew nothing of any ground the king had against David, or of any cause that could have led him to believe that in helping him he was offending Saul. But just because Ahimelech's defense was so true and so complete, it was most offensive to Saul. What is there a despot likes worse to hear than that he is entirely in the wrong? What words irritate him so much as those which prove the entire innocence of someone with whom he is angry? Saul was angry both with David and with Ahimelech. Ahimelech had the great misfortune to prove to him that in both cases there was no shadow of ground for his anger. In proportion as Saul's reason should have been satisfied, his temper was excited. What an uncontrollable condition that temper must have been in when the death of Ahimelech was decreed, and all his father's house! We do not wonder that no one could be found in his bodyguard to execute the order. Did this not stagger and sober the king? Far from it. His fit of rage was so hot and imperious that he would not be baulked. Turning to Doeg, he commanded him to fall on the priests. And this vile man had the brutality to execute the order, and to plunge his sword into the heart of fourscore and five unarmed persons that wore the garments which even in heathen nations usually secured protection and safety. And as if it were not enough to kill the men, their city, Nob, was utterly destroyed. Men and women, children and sucklings, oxen and asses and sheep- a thorough massacre was made of them all. Had Nob been a city of warriors that had resisted the king's armies with haughty insolence, harassed them by sorties, entrapped them by stratagems, and exasperated them by hideous cruelty to their prisoners, but at last been overpowered, it could not have had a more terrible doom. And had Saul never committed any other crime, this would have been enough to separate him from the Lord forever, and to bring down on him the horrors of the night at Endor and of the day that followed on Mount Gilboa. This cruel and sacrilegious murder must have told against Saul and his cause with prodigious effect. There could not have been a single priest or Levite throughout the kingdom whose blood would not boil at the news of the massacre, and whose sympathies would not be enlisted, more or less, on behalf of David, now openly proclaimed by Saul as his rival, and probably known to have been anointed by Samuel as his successor. Not only the priests and Levites, but every right-minded man throughout the land would share in this feeling, and many a prayer would be offered for David that God would protect him, and spare him to be a blessing to his country. The very presence in his camp of Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, who escaped the massacre, with his ephod, - an official means of consulting God in all cases of difficulty,- would be a visible proof to his followers and to the community at large, that God was on his side. And when the solemn rites of the national worship were performed in his camp, and when, at each turn of public affairs, the high priest was seen in communication with Jehovah, the feeling could not fail to gain strength that David's cause was the cause of God, and the cause of the country, and that, in due time, his patient sufferings and his noble services would be crowned with the due reward. But if the news of the massacre would tend on the whole to improve David's position with the people, it must have occasioned a terrible pang to David himself. There was, indeed, one point of view in which something of the kind was to be looked for. Long ago, it had been foretold to Eli, when he tolerated so calmly the scandalous wickedness of his sons, "Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, but there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in My habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel: and there shall not be an old man in thy house forever." Ahimelech was a grandson of Eli, and the other massacred priests were probably of Eli's blood. Here, then, at last, was the fulfillment of the sentence announced to Eli; doomed as his house had been, their subsistence for years back was of the nature of a respite; and here, at length, was the catastrophe that had been so distinctly foretold. That consideration, however, would not be much, if any, consolation to David. If the falsehood which he had told to Ahimelech was really dictated by a desire to save the high priest from conscious implication with his affairs - with the condition of one who was now an outlaw and a fugitive, it had failed most terribly of the desire defect. The issue of the lie only served to place David's duplicity in a more odious light. There is one thing in David, when he received the information, that we cannot but admire - his readiness to take to himself his full share of blame. "I have occasioned the death of all thy father's house." And more than that, he did not even protest that it was impossible to have foreseen what was going to happen. For at the very time when he was practicing the falsehood on Ahimelech, he owns that he had a presentiment of mischief to follow. "I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul." Nor did he excuse himself on the ground that the massacre was the fulfillment of the longstanding sentence on Eli's house He knew well that that circumstance in no degree lessened his own guilt, or the guilt of Doeg and Saul. Though God may use men's wicked passions to bring about His purposes, that in no degree lessens the guilt of these passions. It seems as if David never could have forgiven himself his share in this dreadful business. And what a warning this conveys to us! Are you not sometimes tempted to think that sin to you is not a very serious matter, because you will get forgiveness for it, the atoning work of the Saviour will cleanse you from its guilt? Be it so; but what if your sin has involved others, and if no atoning blood has been sprinkled on them? What of the youth whom your careless example first led to drink, and who died a miserable drunkard? What of the clerk whom you instructed to tell a lie? What of the companion of your sensuality whom you drove nearer to hell? Alas, alas! sin is like a network, the ramifications of which go out on the right hand and on the left, and when we break God's law, we cannot tell what the consequences to others may be! And how can we be ever comforted if we have been the occasion of ruin to any? It seems as if the burden of that feeling could never be borne; as if the only way of escape were, to be put out of existence altogether! The superscription of the fifty-second Psalm bears - "Maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, David is come to the house of Ahimelech." There is not much in this title to recommend it, as the information that was given by Doeg to Saul is not stated accurately. We might have expected, too, that if Doeg was alone in the Psalmist's eye, the atrocious slaughter of the priests would have had a share of reprobation, as well as the sharp, calumnious, mischievous tongue which is the chief object of denunciation. And though Doeg, as the chief of Saul's bondmen, might be a rich man, that position would hardly have entitled him to be called a mighty man, nor to assume the swaggering tone of independence here ascribed to him. Whoever was really the object of denunciation in this psalm, seems however to have belonged to the same class with Doeg, in respect of his wicked tongue and love of mischief. It is indeed a wretched character that is delineated: the Psalmist's enemy is at once mischievous and mighty; and not only is he mischievous, but he boasts himself in it. He is shameless and without conscience, bent on doing all the evil that he can. Let him only have a chance of bringing a railing accusation against God's servants, and he does it with delight. But his conduct is senseless as it is wicked. God is unchangeably good, and His goodness is a sure defense to His servants against all the calumnious devices of the greatest and strongest of men. It is the tongue of this evil man that is his instrument of mischief. It is utterly unscrupulous, sharp as a razor, cunning, devouring. A liar is a serious enemy, one who is utterly unprincipled, clever withal, and who trains him- self with great skill to do mischief with his tongue. It is painful to be at the mercy of a calumniator who does not launch against you a clumsy and incredible calumny, but one that has an element of probability in it, only fearfully distorted. Especially when the calumniator is one that deviseth mischief, who loves evil more than good, to whom truth is too tame to be cared for, who delights in falsehood because it is more piquant, more exciting. To those who have learned to regard it as the great business of life to spread light, order, peace, and joy, such men appear to be monsters, and indeed they are; but it is a painful experience to lie at their mercy. To this class belonged Doeg, a monster in human form, to whom it was no distress, but apparently a congenial employment, to murder in cold blood a very hecatomb of men consecrated to the service of God. No doubt it would appall David to think that such a man was now leagued with Saul as his bitter and implacable enemy. But his faith saw him in the same prostrate position in which his faith had seen Goliath. Men cannot defy God in vain. Men dare net defy that truth and that mercy which are attributes of God. "God shall likewise destroy thee for ever: He shall take thee .away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling-place, and root thee out of the land of the living. The righteous also shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him." What became of Doeg we do not know. The historian does not introduce his name again. Before David came to power, he had probably received his doom. Had he still survived, we should have been likely again to fall in with his name. The Jews have a tradition that he was Saul's armour-bearer at the battle of Gilboa, and that the sword by which he and his master fell, was no other than that which had slain the priests of the Lord. As for the truth of this we cannot say. But even supposing that no special judgment befell him, we cannot fancy him as other than a most miserable man. With such a heart and such a tongue, with the load of a guilty life lying heavy on his soul, and that life crowned by such an infamous proceeding as the massacre of the priests, we cannot think of him as one who enjoyed life, but as a man of surly and gloomy nature, to whom life grew darker and darker, till it was extinguished in some miserable ending. In contrast with such a career, how bright and how much to be desired was David's anticipated future: - "I am like a green olive-tree in the house of my God: I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. I will praise Thy name for ever, because Thou hast done it: and I will wait on Thy name, for it is good before Thy saints." "Many sorrows shall be to the wicked; but he that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.