Fugitives
Blinded by jealousy, King Saul tries repeatedly to murder David. Even though David faithfully serves Saul, having remarkable military success against Israel’s enemies. And even though David is Saul’s own son-in-law. What is he jealous of?
And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” And Saul eyed David from that day on. (1 Samuel 18:7-9)
Soon after, Saul tries to kill David for the first time. He fails but makes more attempts, and eventually sends a squad of soldiers to assassinate David at his home.
David runs, becomes a fugitive. He hides out in caves, he keeps moving. He gets help now and then, but it’s usually only temporary.
But David isn’t alone.
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. And 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. (1 Samuel 22:1-2)
It’s very telling that David’s family leaves home and joins him. What makes people abandon everything and become refugees? Saul must have decided to go after the family when he couldn’t track down David. This is really vile. So David appeals to the king of Moab to shelter his family (verses 3-4 – remember, David’s great-grandmother was Ruth the Moabite).
But it isn’t only the family that joins David out in the wild. Who are these others? Most translations read, “those in distress, those in debt, those who are discontented.”
Are these folks simply malcontents, grumblers? The Hebrew words, as far as I can determine relying on lexicons, seem to be stronger.
“Distress” can be pretty bad, and the Hebrew word behind it is sometimes rendered “anguish”. Think about how bad your anguish would have to be, that you take off to live on the run.
The next category is “debtors”, which seems to mean just that. But again, how deep is your debt, how threatening is your creditor, that you would leave everything behind? Taking your chances with the one designated the most wanted criminal in the country?
The translation “discontented” may perhaps flavor our thinking about these people. The literal meaning of the Hebrew is “bitter in soul”, as in the ESV translation quoted. That sounds way worse than simple discontent.
We need to ask: however severe the distress or anguish, however deep the debt, however bitter life has become—what makes these people join David? It seems to me that the government, under Saul, has made conditions really, really terrible. But they know David, at least by reputation, and they know he’s a leader they can follow.
Who are the refugees? Well, they’re just people. Farmers, artisans, traders, so forth. What happens when they run to David? As we continue with his story through the rest of 1 Samuel, we see that somehow, David molds these people into a fighting force, and not just an armed rabble. They are an elite force that piles up victories over armies of Israel’s enemies. In what David does with these men, we get a glimpse of what a terrific general David is. A superb tactician, an outstanding trainer and organizer, a leader who inspires fierce loyalty.
Why do the runaways flock to David? Where else can they go?
But it’s more than that. Way back at the beginning, the unnamed person in Saul’s court who first brought attention to David, says this:
One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.” (1 Samuel 16:18)
That last phrase is the key. “The Lord is with him.” And people could see it.
In our own lives, whatever the distress or anguish, whatever the debt (probably not money), whatever the bitterness of soul that may afflict us, we have someone to run to. The anointed Son of David can take us in, can make us part of his loyal group, can mold us into something effective. Can change us from whatever we were before into people who fight his (spiritual) enemies. Because the Lord is with him.
Why the Son of David? Where else could we go?
Love, Paul