David Escapes to the Cave at Adullam
First Samuel 22: 1-2
DIG: Where was Adullam? Why was it a good hiding place? Why did David’s family and four hundred other men join his band of rejects? Are they likely to be reliable?
REFLECT: Are you a follower or a leader? What qualities make a good leader? What leadership qualities did David possess? Where do you go when you are in distress, in debt or embittered? When you go there do you believe that God is there with you?
When David was about 26 when he left Gath, escaping with his life by pretending to be insane, and took refuge in a cave near the town of Adulam (which means refuge), about half way between Gath and Bethlehem (David’s home town). This was near the Philistine border, so it was a very good place to hide, like a no-man’s-land right between two armies. It was an area known for its caves, which provided a natural shelter for the homeless David, though his movements were traced. David was at least in friendly territory, and the fighting men of Judah and Benjamin came to join his band (First Chronicles 12:16-18).
When his seven brothers and the rest of his father’s family heard of it, they went down to see him there for they were then in danger from Sha’ul as well. Then all the people in distress, in debt or embittered began gathering around him, and he became their leader; there were about four hundred with him. David trained a loyal army. They were attracted to the charismatic leader. Later in First Samuel 23:13 this number will grow to six hundred men. He appears to have accepted all comers. This is the beginning of David’s mighty men (to see link click Ej – David’s Mighty Warriors), and resulted in David writing another psalm (see Bb – David Prayed When He Was in the Cave of Adullam).
True leaders attract the best people who see in the leader those qualities of character that they most admire. The people around David would never have been noticed in history were it not for their association with him, just as our Lord’s disciples would have died unknown had they not walked with Jesus. God usually doesn’t call the great and the powerful to be His servants, but those who have the heart for Him and an eagerness to obey His will (First Corinthians 1:26-31). David’s little band of rejects represented the future of the nation, and YHVH’s blessing was with them. History reveals that it is the devoted remnant, small as it might be, that holds the key to the future of ADONAI’s work on this earth.92
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