David at the Cave of Adullam

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

1 Samuel 22:1-2
1 David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him.
2 And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.

David departed from there, from Achish, after having acted mad in front of King Achish and his servants. David had sought refuge from a former enemy, and when push came to shove, he resorted to deception, seemingly in reaction mode, having just begun his flight from the King of Israel.

He was a bandit, an enemy of the state, a rebel and a threat to his nation. He was rejected by his own nation and at this time, without a place of safety granted by his neighbor nation. David would return to Achish later, but without acting out in such a way as he did here.

Yes he ran from King Achish, escaping from his influence and ending up in a cave in Adullam. This cave was near a small settlement called Adullam, approximately 16 miles southwest of Jerusalem, between Israel and Philistia, a sort of no-mans land. It was an isolated location providing some anonymity for David. Or at least he may have thought so.

But it was not to be so. David was a natural born leader and news of his location began to spread. Although the cave, according to my research was large enough to fit 40 men, was clearly not enough once the word got out.

Soon, the cave was the central meeting place for the band of men that would become his fighting men, his militia, his comrades.

And of course, only the finest men came, those of high standing, wealthy, highly trained men with good blood lines. No – this is not so, for those who came to David were of three descriptions.

Those in Distress

These men who came to David were in distress, or in other words, anguish. They were undergoing personal trials, and may have looked to David for solutions, or at the very least to provide an escape from the conditions they wanted out of.

This does not bode well for the “value” these men brought to David, for they may have initially been more of a burden to the future king than a benefit.

Yet David took them in, accepting them and became their commander, their leader, their master. I may be overextending the message here, but I have noticed that those who are under the greater pressure in their lives, if given a place to focus their thoughts and lives, actually shake off the distress they may have experienced.

Those in Debt

Our second group on individuals who congregated around David were those who had no personal resources to bring to the fight. They had a baggage of debt, and though it may have been circumstantial, it may also indicate one who is not a responsible man, one who does not have a disciplined life. These who came with debt may have been born into it, without any connection to the circumstance of the debt. In both these cases, David became their commander. Those who were born into debt, and those who allowed / created their own debt. Both were now with David.

Those bitter in soul

Bitterness. It speaks of anger, of a discontented spirit. A certain hostility towards life.

I find it instructive that when David was on the run from his own son years later, Hushai described the king and his men as enraged like a bear.

2 Samuel 17:8 Hushai said, “You know that your father and his men are mighty men, and that they are enraged, like a bear robbed of her cubs in the field. Besides, your father is expert in war; he will not spend the night with the people.

Enraged. This bitterness spoken of in this passage leads me to see some amongst David’s fighting men as men who are on the edge, furious, ready to lash out, even possibly somewhat out of control.

These that came to David were not of the highest quality of men, but how they came to David and what they became are two different stories. David became their commander, and as they followed David, they found themselves becoming a fighting force, a group of men who coalesced about a leader, on the path to the Kingdom.

Of course, this is such a beautiful picture of the greater David, associating with 12 men who may not have been the most illustrious, powerful and influential of men, but by being with Him, they turned the world upside down!

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Is it not so for the modern man too, for if we seek to be with Him, our life will change. It matters not where we start in life, what hole we may be in, what moral depth we may have fallen into, what personal hell we are experiencing. He is there to accept us and to lead us into His Kingdom.

1 Corinthians 1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.

Yes – He is there to accept you, change you and lead you into His Kingdom.

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