1 Samuel 23 Summary - 5 Minute Bible Study
1 Samuel 23 Summary - A Quick Overview
WHEN:
Israel’s first king, Saul, was appointed in approximately 1050 B.C.
The events documented in 1 Samuel 23 took place between approximately 1015-1010 B.C.
CHARACTERS:
David – He was selected by God to eventually become the second king of Israel.
Saul – The first king of Israel. He hated David and was always trying to kill him.
Abiathar – The son of Ahimelech the priest. He was the only son of Ahimelech to survive Saul’s murder of the priests of Nob (1 Sam 22).
Jonathan – The son of Saul and the best friend of David.
WHERE:
In 1 Samuel 23, David and his men stopped in the city of Keilah, the wilderness of Ziph, the wilderness of Maon, and Engedi.
OUTLINE:
DAVID SAVES THE CITY OF KEILAH (23:1-5):
David received word that the Philistines were attacking a city called Keilah.
He asked God if he should take his men and defend the city, and the Lord told him to go up and fight.
God gave David the victory and he saved the people of Keilah.
SAUL ATTEMPTS TO TRAP DAVID IN KEILAH (23:6-13):
After escaping the slaughter of the priests (1 Sam 22), Abiathar ran to David at Keilah carrying an ephod (priestly garment).
When Saul found out David was in Keilah, he took his army to try to trap David inside the city.
David took Abiathar’s ephod and asked the Lord for direction.
God revealed to him that the people of Keilah would turn him over to Saul if he remained in the city, so David took his 600 men and fled.
SAUL PURSUES DAVID IN HORESH AND MAON (23:14-29):
David went from Keilah to the strongholds in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh.
Jonathan visited him there and encouraged him.
Jonathan said to David, “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. Saul my father also knows this” (23:17).
Sometime after Jonathan returned home, the Ziphites, who lived near Horesh, sent messengers to Saul to inform him David was hiding in their land.
Saul took men and chased David in the wilderness of Maon.
David’s army hurried to escape. At one point they were on one side of a mountain and Saul’s army was on the other side.
But as Saul was closing in, a messenger came to him and reported that the Philistines had started raiding Israelite cities.
Saul had no choice but to withdraw his men and fight the Philistines.
David called the place “the Rock of Escape.”
David left Maon and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.
APPLICATION:
Don’t abandon faith, sometimes God saves at the last moment.
As Saul was closing in on his army to capture them, David could have assumed God’s opportunity to help him had passed.
David probably saw no way out of his predicament, but God had already set his salvation in motion.
When you start to lose hope, when the window of salvation from your problems is getting narrower and narrower, the last thing you want to do is give up faith.
God may have reasons for delivering you at the last moment, rather than delivering you at the first sign of trouble.
