Continuing a chronological Bible study:
(1 Samuel 23:7) And it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, "God has delivered him into my hand, for he is shut in by entering into a town that has gates and bars."
David had come out of hiding to fight against the Philistines in Keilah. When Saul heard that David was in Keilah, he saw it as a good thing because the city was surrounded by gates and bars, and David would be shut in. However, it had been God who told David to go to Keilah to save them from the Philistines.
(8) And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
Saul called all the people to war. Saul had a huge army of subjects except for those 400 who were disgruntled with Saul and had joined David (1 Samuel 22:2). Saul called for his people to go to Keilah to besiege David and his men.
(9) And David knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him, and he said to Abiathar the priest, "Bring here the ephod."
David knew that Saul was secretly scheming against him, as he always was. He told Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, the only priest to have escaped Saul's slaughter in Nob, to bring the ephod with which he might inquire of the Lord on his behalf.
(10) Then said David, "O Lord God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. (11) Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? Will Saul come down as Your servant has heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech You, tell Your servant." And the Lord said, "He will come down."
David cried out to the Lord that he had heard Saul was coming to Keilah and that he would destroy the whole city just to get David. He asked the Lord if the men of Keilah would deliver him into Saul's hand to save their city. He asked if Saul would indeed come to Keilah, and the Lord answered through means of the Urim and Thummim in the high priest's ephod that Saul would indeed come.
(12) Then David said, "Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?" And the Lord said, "They will deliver you up."
David then repeated his other question about whether or not the men of Keilah would deliver him into Saul's hands. The Lord said that they indeed would, which is sad considering David had just saved them from the Philistines.
(13) Then David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah and went wherever they could go. And it was told Saul that David had escaped from Keilah, and he ceased to go forth.
It appears that David's band had now grown to 600, and they all departed out of Keilah because the Lord had said that the men of Keilah would deliver David into Saul's hands if they stayed. They went wherever they could go, where they might feel safe from Saul. When Saul heard that David had left Keilah, he did not go there.
David had been forced to run away again because Saul pursued him. My chronological study suggests that David may have composed the following psalm at that time:
(Psalm 31:1) (To the chief musician, a Psalm of David) In You, O Lord, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in your righteousness.
I can't imagine that at times like these, David would be thinking of how the chief musician was to play his songs, so I have to believe that he referred to this and other psalms later when he was in a position to direct songs of worship. David began this psalm by telling the Lord that he put his trust in Him. He wanted never to be ashamed. That can have so many different meanings. May the Lord keep him from sinning so that he be not ashamed of his sin. May he never be ashamed to publicly declare and call on his Lord. May the Lord deliver him so that he never be ashamed of having trusted in the Lord. It's not that David would ever be ashamed of his faith in the Lord, but I believe it was a way of saying let his victory be so that his enemy would never have occasion to try to shame him because of his faith in the Lord. David prayed for deliverance because the Lord was righteous, not because there was any righteousness in him.
(2) Bow down Your ear to me; deliver me speedily; be my strong rock for a house of defense to save me.
David implored the Lord to hear his need and deliver him quickly as he must have felt he was in immediate danger. He prayed that his Lord be his strong defense and protection against his enemies in order to save him.
(3) For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore for Your name's sake lead me and guide me.
David declared that the Lord was indeed his strong defense and protection. For the sake of the Lord's own honor, David prayed that the Lord lead him and guide him in ways that would honor his Lord. Let him always be a good witness for the Lord.
(4) Pull me out of the net that they have laid secretly for me, for You are my strength.
David prayed that the Lord deliver him out of the trap his enemies had secretly laid for him, for it was the Lord upon whom David depended on to be his strength in his time of trouble.
(5) Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.
David vowed that he had committed his soul into the hand of his Lord and Savior because He alone had redeemed him. These were the prophetic words that Jesus would later cry on the cross (Luke 23:46) right before He breathed His last breath. Through His plan for Jesus Christ taking upon Himself the sin of the world, David was redeemed as would all Christians be.
(6) I have hated them who regard lying vanities, but I trust in the Lord.
As Jesus would say in Matthew 6:24, no man can serve two masters; he will naturally love one and hate the other. David said he hated those who followed the deceitful vanities, as idols were often called. He trusted and served only the Lord as his Master.
(7) I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, for You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, (8) And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy; You have set my feet in a large room.
David would always be glad, joyful, because of the Lord's love and mercy. The Lord had always been merciful to David in his troubles; He had seen and known him in all circumstances of his life. Nothing takes God by surprise; He is in control even in the midst of adversity. Indeed, the Lord had not allowed David to be completely shut off by his enemies with no way to escape. He had set his feet in a large space, making him free to escape his enemies.
(9) Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble; my eye is consumed with grief, my soul and my belly.
David prayed for mercy because of the trouble he was in, and his eyes were probably full of tears. He was consumed with grief, in his belly where one feels strong emotion, and in his very soul.
(10) For my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones are consumed.
David felt that his whole life was consumed with grief and his time was spent in sighing or groaning because of grief. He said his strength, his ability, failed because of his iniquity. David had praised the Lord for His mercy and protection, so perhaps the iniquity he speaks of is his lack of faith in his present situation. The Lord had always delivered him out of the hand of the enemy, so his lack of strength may have been because he was letting his grief overcome his faith that the Lord would again deliver him. His body had given way under his excessive grief.
(11) I was a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and a fear to my acquaintances; they who saw me outside fled from me.
David was reviled by his enemies, but even more so by his neighbors, and he was a fear to his acquaintances when he came out of hiding. Indeed, this could be said of the men of Keilah who would have delivered him into the hand of Saul if he had stayed there. Ahimelech had been fearful when David approached him alone. He had become a reproach to everyone.
(12) I am forgotten as a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel.
A man who was once very alive and virile and held in high regard by all was now forgotten as if he were dead. He was out of sight and out of mind. He was like a broken vessel, useless and irreparable.
(13) For I have heard the slander of many, fear on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they devised to take away my life.
David had heard the slander and lies from all sides, from enemies and neighbors. He feared everyone from all sides as they schemed together against him and devised ways to take away his life.
(14) But I trusted in You, O Lord; I said, "You are my God."
David had always trusted God, and it seemed his faith was revived again under all the discouraging views he had of things.
(15) My times are in Your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
David acknowledged that the times of his life and death were all in God's hand. He prayed that God deliver him once more from the hand of his enemies and those who persecuted him and sought his life.
(16) Make Your face to shine upon Your servant; save me for Your mercies' sake.
David prayed for the presence of God in his life, with all His love, mercy, and blessings. These are the words of the blessing that Aaron was instructed to give to the children of Israel in Numbers 6:25, "The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you..." David asked the Lord to save him, not for his own iniquitous sake, but for His mercies' sake, because of who He was and because He was so loving and merciful to sinners.
(17) Let me not be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You; let the wicked be ashamed, let them be silent in the grave.
Once again, David prayed that he never be ashamed to publicly declare and call on his Lord. May the Lord deliver him so that he would never be viewed as ashamed of having trusted in the Lord. Rather let the wicked be ashamed because they did not trust in Him. Let the wicked be silenced in their graves so that they did not triumph in their wicked ways.
(18) Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
David continued to pray that those lying lips of the arrogant wicked who so proudly and contemptuously slandered the righteous, be put to silence, in their graves, if must be.
(19) How great is Your goodness which You have laid up for those who fear You, which You have wrought for them who trust in You before the sons of men!
How great is the Lord's goodness which He has laid up as treasure to be used for those who reverently fear and follow Him. The greatest single goodness that the Lord wrought was planned and created by Him from the beginning, in the human form of Jesus Christ who made a way for all who trusted in Him to be saved, even in the midst of a wicked world.
(20) You shall hide them in the secret of Your presence from the pride of man; You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues.
I get a picture of the Lord hiding His people under His mighty wings of protection from the arrogant pride of wicked men. He shall protect them and keep them in the safety of His tent, away from contentious and slandering tongues. To quote Paul in Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" Even David said in another one of his psalms, "In God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me." (Psalm 56:4)
(21) Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city.
When we are blessed by the Lord, we are divinely favored and fortunate to have what we have. When we bless the Lord, it's in adoration, reverence, worship, and thanksgiving. David worshiped his Lord in thanksgiving for His marvelous kindness to him in a strong city, which may have referred to Keilah where he was walled in by gates and bars. The Lord had led him out of there.
(22) For I said in my haste, "I am cut off from before Your eyes;" nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to You.
In his first knee-jerk reaction David felt he had fallen into his enemies' hands; he had not held strong to his faith in God to deliver him. Yet, even in his weakness, when he cried out to God, He heard him.
(23) O love the Lord, all you His saints, for the Lord preserves the faithful and plentifully rewards the proud doer.
David called on all the Lord's children, His followers, the Christians, to love the Lord for His goodness and providence. The Lord always preserved His faithful, if not in this life, always in the next in eternity, and He justly rewarded the proud evil-doers.
(24) Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord.
David called on those who had their hope in the Lord to be encouraged that He would not leave or forsake them, but would strengthen their hearts, keeping them from being disheartened. Give the Lord all you can, and He will meet you where you are and carry you through. It reminds me of the man who brought his son to Jesus because he was possessed by an evil spirit (Mark 9:17). Jesus told him if he believed, all things were possible, meaning even the healing of his son. The man cried out, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" Love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul, and He will give you more of what you need.
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