One of the Bible’s great heroes, King David, had to flee on several occasions, and there are some interesting lessons to be learned from these events. We begin with David’s escape to the cave of Adullam:
“1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. 2And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.”
(1Sa 22:1-5)
David had recently been anointed the future king of Israel, killed Goliath, became commander of the army of Israel, defeated the Philistines, married the king’s daughter, and made a covenant with the king’s son Jonathan. The future certainly looked good! But as David’s success grew, King Saul became increasingly jealous of David and wanted to kill him. David went from being a celebrated hero to having to flee for his life and hide in a cave.
When David must flee, he heads to the cave of Adullam, an underground cave system of limestone that was probably located about a mile from Bethlehem, near the border with Philistine at the beginning of the mountains of Judea. The cave is on a hill with a long view of the landscape, perfect for spotting approaching enemies.
The word ”Adullam” means “refuge”. Perhaps David found these caves when he was herding sheep as a young boy and thought he could hide there if he ever found himself in danger. Now these caves come in handy!
An interesting detail is that when David went to the cave of Adullam, he had to pass the very place where he had defeated Goliath. Surely David was thinking about how quickly he had gone from being a celebrated hero to having to flee for his life.
While hiding in the Cave of Adullam, David wrote Psalm 142, which gives us a poignant insight into what it means to be a refugee:
“A Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer. 1With my voice I cry out to the Lord; with my voice I plead for mercy to the Lord. 2I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. 3When my spirit faints within me, you know my way! In the path where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. 4Look to the right and see: there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul. 5I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low! Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me! 7Bring me out of prison, that I may give thanks to your name! The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.”
(Ps 142:1-7)
When David found himself in a life-threatening and very vulnerable situation, he began his prayer by crying out to the Lord. David opens his heart to the Lord and tells of all his troubles, that his enemies are pursuing him and that there is no longer any refuge for him anywhere, but that he trusts God as his refuge. Finally, David asks God to deliver him from his enemies.
There is much to learn from David’s prayer in a difficult situation. When you and I are surrounded by enemies and must flee or retreat, where do we go? We can learn from David that we can “hide” with the Lord and pray for his help and deliverance.
Just as we saw in chapter 12 how God worked on the character of the prophet Elijah when he hid at the brook Cherith, so it seems that God is working on the heart of David when he is on the run and hiding in the cave of Adullam. It is often when we find ourselves in difficult situations that we humble ourselves before the Lord and grow in our faith. Therefore, difficult situations are not necessarily negative, at least not for our spiritual well-being.
When David’s family hears of the trouble David is in, they come to him. When David was little, his father and brothers didn’t care much for him. So it must have been a very good feeling for David that now, when he is in trouble, his family comes to him. It’s when life gets hard that you find out who your real friends are.
Maybe his family can’t do much to save him from King Saul, but they can be by his side now that David is in a very difficult and vulnerable situation. In a similar way, you and I can be at the side of today’s refugees and be their families, even if we often wish we could have done something more concrete to change the situation. But for those who have a caring family when they are alone on the run, caring can prevent them from falling into apathetic depression and instead gaining strength to think about the future.
But not only David’s family came to him, but also “everyone who was in distress”. David must have been very surprised when different kinds of disgruntled people started coming to him. If David himself had been given 400 men to choose from, he might not have chosen these particular people, but now it seems that God sent them to him. These people were “in distress”, they had their own problems and worries. They were “in debt”, they had failed in life and had financial troubles. They were “bitter in soul”, their lives were difficult, and they saw no way to have a better life unless they left it and followed David instead. Even today, people in trouble, with financial worries and dissatisfied with life, come to the church, and ask God to be their refuge and deliverance.
David becomes the leader of these 400 people. They came to David not when he was rich and celebrated, but when he was in the most difficult time of his life and remained loyal to him for the rest of his life.
David could certainly have turned these 400 into a band of robbers, but instead he turned them into brave heroes and warriors.[i] In the same way, you and I can come to church and appeal to God for deliverance from a difficult situation. At first, we are in difficulty and discontent, but gradually God changes our situation and makes us heroes for the kingdom of God.
Anyone who wants to be a “hero of God” today and do great deeds for the Lord, needs to be as loyal to Jesus as David’s heroes were to David. A hero of God needs to come to God when life is difficult, let God be your refuge and be transformed from a vulnerable refugee into a hero of God.
When God is going to do his great works on earth, he usually first calls a leader after his heart, anoints him with his Holy Spirit, and then makes him a leader for people who want to follow God.
But in the process of forming a leader after God’s heart, one must sometimes pause the life of success to retreat to the cave of Adullam and spend time alone with the Lord.
You have read a free chapter of my book Friend of Strangers. If you like this book, please consider purchasing the ebook through Amazon. Since English is not my native language, there may be some linguistic inaccuracies. Please contact me if you find any.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[i] 2Sam 23:8–39