And David departed thence, and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And his brethren and all his father's house heard [it], and they went down thither to him.
David has just fled Gath, where he escaped a Philistine king by pretending to be insane. Now the anointed king of Israel hides in a cave, and that cave becomes the place where people gather to him.
David had nowhere left above ground. Yet at the moment he could promise nothing, people came.
He was a wanderer from home. Above ground there was no place safe from Saul's settled hatred. So he had to find a resting place below it, in a cave in the earth. There he went, and there he became the centre of attraction. He was the rallying point for his brothers and his father's house, and also for everyone in distress, in debt, or discontented. God now began to show that He would gather people to His anointed one. As Saul rightly observed, the son of Jesse had nothing outward to offer his followers. David could promise no one fields or vineyards yet. Service, with hardship, was all he could guarantee them, and still God drew hearts to him.
The cave was also where David wrote. One commentator ties this verse to Psalm 142. There David's abandonment teaches him where his true safety lies.
The cave is where he composed the beautiful Psalm 142, which expresses the feelings that filled his soul in his loneliness. "No one takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for my soul" (v. 4)… But every human refuge failed him. That is exactly why he found a sure refuge for his soul: "I cry to you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my refuge'" (Ps. 142:5)… Could David ever regret reaching such an extreme, abandoned by everyone? It was there that his soul came to know and value the sovereign refuge found in God.
One commentator reads the second half of the verse as the Lord's reply. Notice who moves first.
After pouring out his soul like this, in that same cave of Adullam David receives the Lord's answer as the first fruits of his confidence. He is no longer alone. "And when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him" (1 Sam. 22:1). David, a picture of the rejected Christ, becomes a centre of attraction for his brothers… They knew that they, like the head of their family, could expect nothing from the world but contempt and persecution. So their only resource was to take refuge in the one who, humanly speaking, had no resources himself.
One writer asks who these relatives picture.
"His brothers and all his father's house" are like the Jewish believers of the early Christian church. They were the true "Israel of God." They were the first to come to Christ and hang their hopes and everything on the rejected One.
While David lived at court, loyalty cost nothing. His move outside changed that for everyone in Israel.
In reality, David was forced into the place of separation. As one rejected by man and anointed by God, we see him as a picture of Christ in His present rejection. He was, in principle, God's king, and man's hostility drove him into exile to escape death. The cave of Adullam became the great gathering point for all who loved David and were tired of Saul's unrighteous rule. As long as David stayed in the king's house, nothing called anyone to separate. But the moment the rejected David took his place outside, no one could stay neutral.
Even the name of the cave carries a message for gathering today.
Adullam, which means "their testimony," was the gathering place for those in relationship with the man after God's own heart. It was really the outside place — outside the camp — the place of rejection and testimony. David was the attractive centre… And it is the same now. God gave and sent His beloved Son. Men despised and rejected Him, and they still refuse Him. He is the real centre of gathering for all who are in relationship with Him. We remember His precious words: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
Someone is missing from this verse: Jonathan. One writer treats that absence as a warning.
David was God's king. Jonathan should have fully identified himself with him, no matter what it cost on earth… He goes out into the field and speaks with David. But he does not go with him to the cave of Adullam (1 Sam. 22:1-2). He is held back by his home ties, by natural affection, like too many half-hearted Christians today.
- Down — Driven from Gath, David sinks to a cave in his own land, with nothing above ground left to him.
- Prayer — In that cave he learns that when every human refuge fails, God Himself is the refuge (Psalm 142).
- Answer — His brothers and his father's house come down to him. The Lord answers his confidence, and the lonely man has company.
- Centre — The rejected, anointed man becomes the gathering point. Christ, rejected by men, is that centre now.
- Decision — Once David is outside, neutrality ends. Some go down to the cave. Jonathan, held by home ties, never does.
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; and there were with him about four hundred men.
Saul has driven David out of his court, and the moment David is outside, people start coming to him — not the strong or the settled, but the ruined. Two questions follow: who comes to a rejected king, and what does he make of them?
Three descriptions cover the whole company, and one thing ties them together.
Those who joined David were not only his relatives; people with no family tie to him came too. What they all had in common was that they had lost everything. Some were "in distress," not knowing which way to turn. Others were "in debt," unable to pay. Others were "of embittered spirit," carrying sorrows that had no cure — sorrows created by the state of things in Israel.
Older translations read "discontented" where the ESV has "bitter in soul." The list sounds like a write-off, but not to everyone.
Notice three things that mark them. They were "in distress," "in debt," and "discontented." They seemed a sorry lot. But they picture exactly the people Christ receives and welcomes. "This man receives sinners."
While David stayed in the palace, a person could admire him and still keep his place at court. Once he left, that option closed.
David was forced into the place of separation. Rejected by man and anointed by God, he is a picture of Christ in His present rejection. David was, in principle, God's king, and as such he met man's hostility. It drove him into exile to escape death. The cave of Adullam became the great gathering point for all who loved David and were tired of Saul's unrighteous rule. While David stayed in the king's house, no one had to separate. But the moment the rejected David took his place outside, no one could stay neutral.
Coming to David brought relief, but it also meant submission. Older translations read "he became a captain over them"; the ESV has "commander." The word carries a weight that returns in the New Testament.
The word "captain" means one who exercises dominion. That is the sense of the word the New Testament uses so widely for "Lord" — one who has supreme authority. Philippians 2 speaks of a coming day when "every tongue" in heaven and on earth and under the earth will "confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." But how very happy it is for us to confess His supremacy now.
By appearance the gathering was wretched. By who was there, it held everything of value in the nation.
The beginning of this chapter opens with a most miserable scene — everyone in distress, in debt and discontented, gathering to David in the cave of Adullam. But with these outcasts we find God's prophet, God's priest, and God's king: all that God really owned was there.
The prophet and the priest brought real resources into exile.
Gad the prophet (v. 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. Then the king's murderous act against Nob drives Abiathar the priest to David (v. 20). Later he comes to David with the ephod in his hand. So the way to approach God, to consult Him at any time, to enter into fellowship with Him, is the happy privilege of these wandering outcasts whom the world dishonors and despises.
They arrived with nothing to offer. They did not stay as they arrived.
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 from David falls on the four hundred men around him. What grace made of them in the day of trouble, every eye will see and every mouth will acclaim in the day of glory that is already approaching. All these outlaws will surround the king's throne and will be called "David's mighty men" (2 Sam. 23:8).
Standing with him meant accepting how the company looked to everyone else.
David's followers were not the people the world called respectable. In the eyes of the wise and prudent, it was a disreputable company. Quite true, and there was only one redeeming feature among them. But in God's sight that was everything: they were with David, and he was their captain… Yet the cave of Adullam held the forerunners of those to whom the Lord said, "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).
- Lost. Distress, debt and bitterness were not credentials. The four hundred shared one thing: they had all lost everything.
- Left. Once the rejected king stepped outside, no one could stay neutral. You were with Saul's court or with David in the cave.
- Led. He became captain over them. Coming to him meant coming under him — the word carries the sense the New Testament gives to "Lord."
- Loaded. The cave looked empty and held the most — prophet, priest and king, the mind of God and the way to approach Him.
- Made. David formed the wretched into his own likeness. The outlaws of the cave became the mighty men around the throne.