221 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. 2 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. 3 And David went thence to Mizpeh in Moab, and said to the king of Moab, Let my father and my mother, I pray thee, come forth amongst you, till I know what God will do for me. 4 And he brought them before the king of Moab; and they abode with him all the while that David was in the stronghold. 5 And the prophet Gad said to David, Abide not in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah. Then David departed, and came into the forest of Hareth.
6 And Saul heard that David was discovered, and the men that were with him. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah under the tamarisk upon the height, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing by him. 7 Then Saul said to his servants that stood by him, Hear now, ye Benjaminites: will the son of Jesse give every one of you also fields and vineyards? Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds, 8 that all of you have conspired against me, and there is none that informs me when my son has made [a covenant] with the son of Jesse; and there is none of you that is sorry for me, or informs me that my son has stirred up my servant as a lier-in-wait against me, as at this day? 9 Then answered Doeg the Edomite, who was set over the servants of Saul, and said, I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 And he inquired of Jehovah for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine. 11 Then the king sent to call Ahimelech the priest, the son of Ahitub, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nob; and they came all of them to the king. 12 And Saul said, Hear now, son of Ahitub. And he answered, Here I am, my lord. 13 And Saul said to him, Why have ye conspired against me, thou and the son of Jesse, in that thou hast given him bread, and a sword, and hast inquired of God for him, that he should rise against me as a lier-in-wait, as at this day? 14 And Ahimelech answered the king and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and has access to thy secret council, and is honourable in thy house? 15 Was it to-day that I began to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king charge anything to his servant, [nor] to all the house of my father; for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more. 16 And the king said, Thou shalt certainly die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father's house. 17 And the king said to the couriers that stood about him, Turn and put the priests of Jehovah to death; because their hand also is with David, and because they knew when he fled, and did not inform me. But the servants of the king were not willing to put forth their hand to fall on the priests of Jehovah. 18 And the king said to Doeg, Turn thou, and fall on the priests. And Doeg the Edomite turned, and fell on the priests, and put to death that day eighty-five persons who wore the linen ephod. 19 And Nob, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, infants and sucklings, and oxen, and asses, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
20 And one of the sons of Ahimelech the son of Ahitub, named Abiathar, escaped, and fled after David. 21 And Abiathar informed David that Saul had slain Jehovah's priests. 22 And David said to Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would certainly tell Saul: I am accountable for all the lives of thy father's house. 23 Abide with me, fear not; for he that seeks my life seeks thy life; for with me thou art in safe keeping.
231 And they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshing-floors. 2 And David inquired of Jehovah, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And Jehovah said to David, Go and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah. 3 But David's men said to him, Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines? 4 And David inquired of Jehovah yet again. And Jehovah answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will give the Philistines into thy hand. 5 And David and his men went to Keilah, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7 And it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. Then Saul said, God has cast him off into my hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a city that has gates and bars. 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9 And when David knew that Saul devised mischief against him, he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring the ephod. 10 Then said David, Jehovah, God of Israel, thy servant hath heard for certain that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake. 11 Will the citizens of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? Jehovah, God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And Jehovah said, He will come down. 12 And David said, Will the citizens of Keilah deliver up me and my men into the hand of Saul? And Jehovah said, They will deliver [thee] up. 13 Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, and he forbore to go forth.
14 And David abode in the wilderness in strongholds, and abode in the mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand. 15 And David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life; and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood. 16 And Jonathan Saul's son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, Fear not; for the hand of Saul my father will not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; and that also Saul my father knows. 18 And they two made a covenant before Jehovah; and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
19 And the Ziphites came up to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Does not David hide himself with us in strongholds in the wood, on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of the waste? 20 And now, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and it will be for us to deliver him up into the king's hand. 21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of Jehovah; for ye have compassion upon me. 22 Go, I pray you, make yet more sure, and know and see his place where his track is, who has seen him there; for it is told me that he deals very subtilly. 23 And see, and ascertain all the lurking-places where he hides himself, and come ye again to me with sure information, that I may go with you; and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout the thousands of Judah. 24 And they arose and went to Ziph before Saul; but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of the waste. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek [him]. And they told David; and he came down from the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And Saul heard [that], and he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain; and David made haste to get away from Saul; and Saul and his men sought to surround David and his men to take them. 27 But there came a messenger to Saul, saying, Haste thee and come; for the Philistines have made a raid against the land. 28 And Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines; therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth. 29 And David went up from thence, and abode in the strongholds of Engedi.
241 And it came to pass when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi. 2 And Saul took three thousand men, chosen out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet; and David and his men were abiding in the recesses of the cave. 4 And David's men said to him, Behold the day of which Jehovah said to thee, Behold, I will give thine enemy into thy hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good to thee. And David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's robe secretly. 5 And it came to pass afterwards that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul's skirt. 6 And he said to his men, Jehovah forbid that I should do this thing to my master, Jehovah's anointed, to stretch forth my hand against him, for he is the anointed of Jehovah. 7 And David checked his men with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. And Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on [his] way. 8 David also arose afterwards, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king! And when Saul looked behind him, David bowed with his face to the earth, and did obeisance.
9 And David said to Saul, Why dost thou listen to words of men, saying, Behold, David seeks thy hurt? 10 Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that Jehovah had given thee this day into my hand in the cave; and they bade me kill thee; but [mine eye] spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Jehovah. 11 And see, my father, yes, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand. For in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou liest in wait for my life to take it. 12 Jehovah judge between me and thee, and Jehovah avenge me of thee; but my hand shall not be upon thee. 13 As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked; but my hand shall not be upon thee. 14 After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a single flea. 15 Jehovah therefore shall be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and do me justice [in delivering me] out of thy hand.
16 And as soon as David had ended speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I; for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18 And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me, forasmuch as when Jehovah had delivered me up into thy hand, thou didst not kill me. 19 For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore Jehovah reward thee good for that thou hast done to me this day. 20 And now behold, I know that thou shalt certainly be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thy hand. 21 Swear now therefore to me by Jehovah, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father's house. 22 And David swore to Saul. And Saul went home; and David and his men went up to the stronghold.
121 In those [times], the myriads of the crowd being gathered together, so that they trod one on another, he began to say to his disciples first, Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy; 2 but there is nothing covered up which shall not be revealed, nor secret that shall not be known; 3 therefore whatever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light, and what ye have spoken in the ear in chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
4 But I say to you, my friends, Fear not those who kill the body and after this have no more that they can do. 5 But I will shew you whom ye shall fear: Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell; yea, I say to you, Fear him. 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria? and one of them is not forgotten before God. 7 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore, ye are better than many sparrows.
8 But I say to you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, the Son of man will confess him also before the angels of God; 9 but he that shall have denied me before men shall be denied before the angels of God; 10 and whoever shall say a word against the Son of man it shall be forgiven him; but to him that speaks injuriously against the Holy Spirit it shall not be forgiven. 11 But when they bring you before the synagogues and rulers and the authorities, be not careful how or what ye shall answer, or what ye shall say; 12 for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in the hour itself what should be said.
13 And a person said to him out of the crowd, Teacher, speak to my brother to divide the inheritance with me. 14 But he said to him, Man, who established me [as] a judge or a divider over you? 15 And he said to them, Take heed and keep yourselves from all covetousness, for [it is] not because a man is in abundance [that] his life is in his possessions. 16 And he spoke a parable to them, saying, The land of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly. 17 And he reasoned within himself saying, What shall I do? for I have not [a place] where I shall lay up my fruits. 18 And he said, This will I do: I will take away my granaries and build greater, and there I will lay up all my produce and my good things; 19 and I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much good things laid by for many years; repose thyself, eat, drink, be merry. 20 But God said to him, Fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee; and whose shall be what thou hast prepared? 21 Thus is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
22 And he said to his disciples, For this cause I say unto you, Be not careful for life, what ye shall eat, nor for the body, what ye shall put on. 23 The life is more than food, and the body than raiment. 24 Consider the ravens, that they sow not nor reap; which have neither storehouse nor granary; and God feeds them. How much better are ye than the birds? 25 But which of you by being careful can add to his stature one cubit? 26 If therefore ye cannot [do] even what is least, why are ye careful about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I say unto you, Not even Solomon in all his glory was clothed as one of these. 28 But if God thus clothe the grass, which to-day is in the field and to-morrow is cast into [the] oven, how much rather you, O ye of little faith? 29 And ye, seek not what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink, and be not in anxiety; 30 for all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that ye have need of these things; 31 but seek his kingdom, and [all] these things shall be added to you.
(Read Luke 12:1-12)
A firm belief of the doctrine of God's universal providence, and the extent of it, would satisfy us when in peril, and encourage us to trust God in the way of duty. Providence takes notice of the meanest creatures, even of the sparrows, and therefore of the smallest interests of the disciples of Christ. Those who confess Christ now, shall be owned by him in the great day, before the angels of God. To deter us from denying Christ, and deserting his truths and ways, we are here assured that those who deny Christ, though they may thus save life itself, and though they may gain a kingdom by it, will be great losers at last; for Christ will not know them, will not own them, nor show them favour. But let no trembling, penitent backslider doubt of obtaining forgiveness. This is far different from the determined enmity that is blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, which shall never be forgiven, because it will never be repented of.
(Read Luke 12:13-21)
Christ's kingdom is spiritual, and not of this world. Christianity does not meddle with politics; it obliges all to do justly, but wordly dominion is not founded in grace. It does not encourage expectations of worldly advantages by religion. The rewards of Christ's disciples are of another nature. Covetousness is a sin we need constantly to be warned against; for happiness and comfort do not depend on the wealth of this world. The things of the world will not satisfy the desires of a soul. Here is a parable, which shows the folly of carnal worldling while they live, and their misery when they die. The character drawn is exactly that of a prudent, worldly man, who has no grateful regard to the providence of God, nor any right thought of the uncertainty of human affairs, the worth of his soul, or the importance of eternity. How many, even among professed Christians, point out similar characters as models for imitation, and proper persons to form connexions with! We mistake if we think that thoughts are hid, and thoughts are free. When he saw a great crop upon his ground, instead of thanking God for it, or rejoicing to be able to do more good, he afflicts himself. What shall I do now? The poorest beggar in the country could not have said a more anxious word. The more men have, the more perplexity they have with it. It was folly for him to think of making no other use of his plenty, than to indulge the flesh and gratify the sensual appetites, without any thought of doing good to others. Carnal worldlings are fools; and the day is coming when God will call them by their own name, and they will call themselves so. The death of such persons is miserable in itself, and terrible to them. Thy soul shall be required. He is loth to part with it; but God shall require it, shall require an account of it, require it as a guilty soul to be punished without delay. It is the folly of most men, to mind and pursue that which is for the body and for time only, more than that for the soul and eternity.
(Read Luke 12:22-40)
Christ largely insisted upon this caution not to give way to disquieting, perplexing cares, Matthew 6:25-34. The arguments here used are for our encouragement to cast our care upon God, which is the right way to get ease. As in our stature, so in our state, it is our wisdom to take it as it is. An eager, anxious pursuit of the things of this world, even necessary things, ill becomes the disciples of Christ. Fears must not prevail; when we frighten ourselves with thoughts of evil to come, and put ourselves upon needless cares how to avoid it. If we value the beauty of holiness, we shall not crave the luxuries of life. Let us then examine whether we belong to this little flock. Christ is our Master, and we are his servants; not only working servants, but waiting servants. We must be as men that wait for their lord, that sit up while he stays out late, to be ready to receive him. In this Christ alluded to his own ascension to heaven, his coming to call his people to him by death, and his return to judge the world. We are uncertain as to the time of his coming to us, we should therefore be always ready. If men thus take care of their houses, let us be thus wise for our souls. Be ye therefore ready also; as ready as the good man of the house would be, if he knew at what hour the thief would come.
