David Delivers Keilah
Now it was reported to David, “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and looting the threshing floors.” Jos 15:44Mic 6:15Neh 3:17-18Deu 28:33Deu 28:51Jdg 6:4Lev 26:16Jdg 6:11
So David inquired of the LORD, “Should I go and attack these Philistines?” 1Sa 23:42Sa 5:192Sa 5:231Sa 23:61Sa 23:9-121Sa 30:8Jer 10:23Jos 9:14
And the LORD 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 if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 1Sa 23:151Sa 23:231Sa 23:26Jer 12:5Psa 11:1
Once again, David inquired of the LORD, and the LORD answered him: “Go at once to Keilah, for I will deliver the Philistines into your hand.” Jdg 7:7Jos 8:71Sa 28:62Ki 3:182Sa 5:19Jdg 6:39
Then David and his men went to Keilah, fought against the Philistines, and carried off their livestock, striking them with a mighty blow. So David saved the people of Keilah.
(Now Abiathar son of Ahimelech had brought the ephod with him when he fled to David at Keilah.) 1Sa 22:201Sa 14:181Sa 14:31Sa 14:36-37Exo 28:30-31
Saul Pursues David
(Psalms 54:1–7)
When Saul was told that David had gone to Keilah, he said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has trapped himself by entering a town with gates and bars.” 1Sa 24:4-61Sa 23:141Sa 26:8-9Job 20:5Psa 71:10-11Exo 14:3Exo 15:9Jdg 16:2-3
Then Saul summoned all his troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.
When David learned that Saul was plotting evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod.” 1Sa 30:71Sa 23:6Num 27:211Sa 14:181Sa 22:20Act 9:24Jer 11:18-19Jer 33:3
And David said, “O LORD, God of Israel, Your servant has heard that Saul intends to come to Keilah and destroy the city on my account. 1Sa 22:191Sa 23:8Est 3:6Gen 18:24Pro 28:15Rom 3:15-16 Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me into his hand? 1 Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD, God of Israel, please tell Your servant.” Jer 33:3Mat 7:7-8Psa 50:15
“He will,” said the LORD.
So David asked, “Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” 1Sa 23:20Psa 31:8Psa 62:11Sa 23:7Ecc 9:14-15Heb 4:13Isa 29:15Psa 118:8
“They will,” said the LORD.
Then David and his men, about six hundred strong, set out and departed from Keilah, moving from place to place. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he declined to go forth. 1Sa 22:21Sa 25:131Sa 30:9-102Sa 15:20
And David stayed in the wilderness strongholds and in the hill country of the Wilderness of Ziph. Day after day Saul searched for him, but God would not deliver David into his hand. Psa 54:3-4Psa 32:7Jos 15:24Jos 15:552Ti 3:11Rom 8:311Sa 23:71Sa 27:1
While David was in Horesh in the Wilderness of Ziph, he saw that Saul had come out to take his life. And Saul’s son Jonathan came to David in Horesh and strengthened his hand in God, Isa 35:3-4Heb 12:12-13Job 4:3-42Ti 2:1Eph 6:10Luk 22:321Sa 30:6Luk 22:43 saying, “Do not be afraid, for my father Saul will never lay a hand on you. And you will be king over Israel, and I will be your second-in-command. Even my father Saul knows this is true.” 1Sa 20:311Sa 24:20Act 28:16Heb 13:6Isa 54:17Job 5:11-15Act 5:39Isa 41:10
So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. And David remained in Horesh, while Jonathan went home. 1Sa 18:31Sa 20:422Sa 21:72Sa 9:11Sa 20:12-17
Then the Ziphites came up to Saul at Gibeah and said, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah south of Jeshimon? 1Sa 26:11Sa 26:3Psa 54:1-71Sa 22:7-8Pro 29:12 Now, O king, come down whenever your soul desires, and we will be responsible for delivering him into your hand.” 1Sa 23:121Ki 21:11-142Ki 10:5-72Sa 3:21Deu 18:6Pro 11:23Pro 29:26Psa 112:10
“May you be blessed by the LORD,” replied Saul, “for you have had compassion on me. 1Sa 22:8Isa 66:5Jdg 17:2Mic 3:11Psa 10:3 Please go and prepare further. Investigate and watch carefully where he goes and who has seen him there, for I am told that he is extremely cunning. Job 5:13 Observe and find out all the places where he hides. Then come back to me with certainty, and I will go with you. If he is in the land, I will search him out among all the clans of Judah.” 1Ki 18:102Sa 17:11-13Jhn 18:2-3Mic 5:2Mrk 14:1Mrk 14:10-11Num 10:36Pro 1:16
So they set out and went to Ziph ahead of Saul. Now David and his men were in the Wilderness of Maon in the Arabah south of Jeshimon, 1Sa 25:2Jos 15:55 and Saul and his men went to seek him. When David was told about it, he went down to the rock and stayed in the Wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard of this, he pursued David there. 1Sa 23:28Jdg 15:8
Saul was proceeding along one side of the mountain, and David and his men along the other side. Even though David was hurrying to get away, Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them. Psa 17:91Sa 19:121Sa 20:382Ch 20:122Co 1:82Sa 15:142Sa 17:21-22Psa 118:11-13
Then a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Come quickly, for the Philistines have raided the land!” 2Ki 19:9Psa 116:31Ch 14:13Deu 32:36Gen 22:14Rev 12:16 So Saul broke off his pursuit of David and went to meet the Philistines. That is why that place is called Sela-hammahlekoth. 2 And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of En-gedi. 2Ch 20:2Jos 15:62Ezk 47:10Sng 1:141Sa 24:1Gen 14:7