Slowing Down to God's Speed: 1 Samuel 22:1-2
The only thing God requires from us is to slow down and follow His lead. We do need to follow Him and obey His call. The point isn’t that God wants us to do nothing and let Him work. The point is that we are far more productive when we wait for Him and follow His plan rather than force our ways upon the world.
Fleeing the Philistines, David heads to the caves at Adullam. This area between Bethlehem, David’s original stomping grounds, and Gath, a city among the Philistines, has limestone hills where water runoff carved caves into the landscape. It has always been a natural place for people to hide or attempt to arrange ambushes. While being a well-known locale for avoiding people, the territory is perfectly made for the task and people still successfully used it even when others knew to look for them there.
While David is in Adullam, this family finds him. It is likely David found a shepherd he trusted and sent word to his family, who came to him. We are not told Saul treated David’s family poorly, but it would not be out of Saul’s character to make life hard for Jesse and his sons. Saul almost killed his own son because of David, who knows how his anger could rage against David’s family.
David’s family weren’t be the only focus of Saul’s wrath. Unable to control his emotions, Saul easily littered his kingdom with targets. Saul’s commanders and servants could continue Saul’s emotional efforts, creating pariahs among the people. Saul made easy victims for bullies because no help would come from their emotional king. Word about David began to spread through the Hebrew community of Saul’s exiles. God quickly wrapped a community of needy outcasts around David.
When David ran away from Saul and tried to solve his own problems, he was alone and forced to lean on his own understanding. When David returns to the land God promised him, God surrounds him with followers. David may have felt alone as the target of Saul’s fury, but the reality is Saul actively made more enemies than just David. All David needed was to slow down and let God show him the solution to his problems.
David found himself the commander of a band of four hundred men. Their families were probably also around, hiding in the caves. God created a community living counter-culturally to the community Saul formed. This is exactly what David needed. The people around him were united. Their persecution from Saul’s regime brought them together and gave them the bond they needed to form community.
God knows the best way through our troubles. God can solve our problems using resources we don’t even know exist. God can knit hearts together through situations people may not realize they have in common. God is the master of finding light in the darkness. The only thing God requires from us is to slow down and follow His lead.
