1 Samuel 23:1

It would have been more natural for them to tell King Saul. This was his job, you might say. God had raised him up and made him responsible to protect Israel and to lead them in the Lord's battles against the Philistines. But no! heart and conscience told Israel that there was no hope in the king. The outcast man he pursued was the one to whom all hearts turned and thoughts tended… God was not only preparing the people morally for David; He was also training David himself to depend on Him more deeply.

The meaning of Keilah is given as "refuge"… The Philistines were robbing the threshing-floors. When Israel gathered the golden grain and beat it out there, these enemies would come down on them and take away all their food.

David could have stayed out of it and left the trouble of helping them to Saul. But holding back like that is far from the thoughts of this man of faith. Here the rejected David becomes a savior to Israel. He stands in the breach, but not without having consulted the Lord. Abiathar had not yet come down with the ephod, so David still lacked this God-given way of consulting Him. The outward resources may be beyond reach but access to God will never be, for this is free and wide open to all. David speaks with God as with a friend.

When David left the land of Judah for the sake of his parents, the motive in itself was innocent, but he neglected the first of all duties. When God has His rightful place, we refer everything to Him: "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." This must stand at the head of all obedience, and this was the lesson David was taught by his failure. As soon as he reached the forest of Hareth, he heard that the Philistines had attacked Keilah and were plundering the threshing floors. He did not want to repeat his fault, so he inquired of the Lord.

Whatever the pressure or trial of our own position, our soul may still be in the state Psalm 57 describes. If so, we could not hear of the distress of any of God's people we could relieve without being ready to help them… The man of real strength, who has known God's help, brings the matter to God before he starts anything. David's men try to discourage him. After mastering his own heart and its sorrows, he must also learn to rise above the unbelief of his companions.

Sitting with folded hands and trembling at the evil that is coming is never the way of safety. Safety lies in going forward in the plain path of duty, relying on God. Indeed, personal safety is the last care of faith.