1 Samuel 22:1-5--David at the Cave of Adullam

1 Samuel 22:1-5
English Standard Version

David at the Cave of Adullam
22 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.

3 And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” 4 And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

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David did not stay in Gath for very long, but he escaped quickly and headed towards the cave of Adullam.  Apparently, it was no secret where he ended up, because his brothers and all his father's house heard about it, and they all went down to meet him for a big family reunion.  Not only did David's family come to him there, but everyone who was in distress and everyone who was in debt, and and everyone who was bitter in soul--everyone that was looking for a new king that could, in their eyes, fix all their problems because people often fail to look inside themselves to their sin and sin nature for the reasons that their lives are falling apart.  They want to blame something external to themselves and say "if only this situation or circumstance would go away, be fixed, or at least become someone else's responsibility, then I could be happy."  All these people had reached the end of themselves, and they were turning to David when they should have been turning to God (though David will help them see that they need to turn to God).  David will become the commander of these 400 men that don't seem to have much to offer to anyone, especially to someone seeking to become king.

David went from the cave of Adullam and went to Mizpeh of Moab and spoke to the king of Moab, asking Moab to harbor his family for him until he knew what God would do for him.  It would not be safe for his family to stay out in the open when Saul was trying to kill David or anyone loyal to him, and it would be safe to assume that all of his family would be loyal to him.  For as long as David remained in the stronghold (in Adullam), David's family stayed in Moab.  However, the prophet Gad was sent to David to give him instructions from the LORD to tell him not to remain in the stronghold, but that he should return to Judah (the wording of the text would seem to indicate that David's family left Moab at that same time, possibly even returning to Judah with him).  David did not go home though, but instead went to the Forest of Hereth.  This was just to the southeast of the cave in which he had originally found refuge in Adullam.  I'll include a map from ​https://bibleatlas.org/hereth.htm for reference.  You'll see Hebron to the southeast which should be a name you recognize from the book of Joshua, as that is in the land of Judah where Caleb and his descendants from the tribe of Judah wanted to settle.