David Went to Mizpah in Mo’av
First Samuel 22: 3-5

1014 BC

Meanwhile, David, sensing a threat to his own family, left Adullam and took them to Mo’av to stay among the relatives of his great grandmother, the Moabitess, Ruth (see the commentary on Ruth, to see link click Bd – Coda: The Genealogy of David). And he said to the king of Mo’av, “Would you let my father and mother come and stay with you until I learn what God will do for me, or until the timing of God making David king became a reality. Then they would be safe to come back into the Land. Until then, Mo’av would be a safe place to keep them from the hand of Sha’ul. Their advanced age would have prevented them from moving freely from David’s mighty warriors.95 So he left them with the king of Mo’av, and they stayed with him as long as David was in the stronghold at Masada (meaning fortress or stronghold), by the Dead Sea, about thirty-five miles southwest of Adullam.

But the prophet Gad (who along with Nathan would be the two prophets of King David) said to David, “Do not stay in Mo’av. It isn’t safe. Go instead into the land of Y’hudah.” Although he was a fugitive in Y’hudah, he must stay within the borders of the Promised Land. It’s that Land, and only that Land, that he was anointed king. So David left and went to the forest of Hereth, east of Adullam, in Judah, no doubt to be among his own people over whom YHVH had appointed him to reign. David was about 26 years old at this time.

This kind of ready obedience to God’s word is the mark of true and living faith. If we are to profess faith in David’s God, then we must be willing to obey as David did when the Bible speaks clearly to our lives. In the arrival of Gad the prophet to his refuge at Adullam, David saw God’s favor in his life. We likewise should treat the Word of ADONAI as the surest sign of His will for our blessing. The Ruach ha-Kodesh will never contradict God’s Word. Therefore, we prize the Scriptures and eagerly believe and obey them.96