David Saves Keilah
1 Kingdoms 23, verse 1. And it was told to David, saying, “Look, the Philistines are at war against Keilah. They are robbing and trampling upon the threshing floors.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 2. Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack these Philistines and save Keilah.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 3. But David's men said to him, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more so if we go to Keilah, to go after the plunder of the Philistines?” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 4. Then David inquired of the Lord once again. And the Lord answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hands.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 5. And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, and the Philistines fled from his presence, and David carried off their livestock and struck them with a mighty blow. David saved the inhabitants of Keilah. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 6. Now when Abiathar the son of Abimelech fled to David and was with David at Keilah, he went down with an ephod in his hand. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 7. And Saul was told that David went to Keilah. So Saul said, “God sold him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with gates and bars.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 8. Then Saul charged all the people to go down to war against Keilah and to hold David and his men as prisoners. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 9. When David knew Saul had not kept silent about the evil against him, David said to Abiathar the priest, “Bring the ephod of the Lord.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 10. Then David said, “O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city because of me. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 11. Will he close in upon me? Will Saul come down now, as Your servant has heard? Lord God of Israel, tell Your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will close in upon you.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 12. So David and his men, about four hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and went wherever they could go. Then it was announced to Saul that David had escaped from Keilah; so he halted the expedition.
David Hides in the Desert
1 Kingdoms 23, verse 13. And David stayed in the strongholds of the wilderness and remained in the mountain of Ziph, which was dry country. Saul sought him every day, but the Lord did not deliver him into his hands. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 14. So David saw that Saul had come out to seek him. And David was on the arid mountain in New Ziph. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 15. Then Jonathan, Saul's son, arose and went to David in New Ziph and strengthened his hands in the Lord. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 16. And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. Even my father Saul knows that.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 17. So the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. And David stayed in New Ziph, and Jonathan went to his own house. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 18. Then the Ziphites came up from the dry places to Saul, who was upon the hill, saying, “Behold, is David not hiding with us in Messara, in the strongholds in New Ziph, in the hill of Hachilah on the south of Jeshimon? 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 19. Now come down to us, according to all the desire of the king.” They cornered him in for the hands of the king. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 20. And Saul said, “Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have toiled on my account. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 21. Please go and make more preparations. See the place where his hideout is and tell me quickly, lest by any means he escape through cunning. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 22. See therefore and know, and we will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search for him among the thousands of Judah.” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 23. So the Ziphites arose and went before Saul. But David and his men were in the Desert of Maon, in the wilderness of Maon, westward and to the right of Jessaemon. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 24. So Saul and his men went to seek him. It was reported to David, and he went down to the rock in the Desert of Maon. And Saul heard and pursued David in the Desert of Maon. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 25. Then Saul and his men went on one side of this mountain, and David and his men on the other side of this mountain. And David was hiding himself to get away from Saul, for Saul and his men were encircling David and his men to take them. 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 26. But a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hasten and come here quickly, for the Philistines have invaded the land!” 1 Kingdoms 23, verse 27. Therefore Saul turned back from pursuing David and went to meet the Philistines in battle. So they called that place the Rock of Dividing.