1 Samuel 23:15-29--Saul Pursues David

1 Samuel 23:15-29
English Standard Version

Saul Pursues David
15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul's son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 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. Saul my father also knows this.” 18 And the two of them made a covenant before the LORD. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

19 Then the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of Jeshimon? 20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart's desire to come down, and our part shall be to surrender him into the king's hand.” 21 And Saul said, “May you be blessed by the LORD, for you have had compassion on me. 22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

​Now David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the Arabah to the south of Jeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. 29  And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi.

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David is again hiding in the wilderness.  It seems that although Saul has no idea where to find David, Saul's son Jonathan, who is David's best friend, knows exactly where to find David and goes to him to give him comfort and aid.  They renew their covenant with each other and Jonathan assures David that not only will Jonathan be sure to give the throne to David, but he will stand next to David to protect and serve him (this is not God's plan, but it is a strong pledge for the one who has the birthright to the throne to say that they will both abdicate the throne to another and serve the new king).  Jonathan went home and returned to his father's house after renew his covenant with David.

​Now the people of the region of Ziph where David has been hiding go to Saul and tell him that it is known to them that David is in their region, but has been moving all around so that no one knows exactly where he will be at any one time, but they are sure that if Saul brings in the army and scours that region, that he would find them.  Saul wants more actionable intelligence though, and sends the Ziphites back out as scouts to note David's exact movements and places that he liked to stay to see if there was any pattern that Saul could exploit to let him know where David would be and when he would be there.  He did not want to go out only to be embarrassed again by David outsmarting him (notice he's not giving any credit to God for saving David, because he thinks it's God's will that he kill David). 

David was told that Saul and his men were in the area, so he changed things up and he and his men went to the wilderness of Maon in the Arabah desert which is south of Jeshimon (near Carmel) and due south of where he had been in Ziph.  Saul hears where David has gone to and gives pursuit but there is a mountain between then with David and his men on one side of the mountain and Saul and his men on the other side of the mountain.

Just as Saul's men were about to catch David, a messenger comes to Saul to tell him that he needs to quickly break off his pursuit of David because the Philistines had made a raid against the land and the king and the army needed to go fight against the invading Philistines.  So, Saul broke off his pursuit and instead pursued the Philistines.  Therefore the place where David and his men were is known as the Rock of Escape, for there it was that the LORD provided a way of escape for David an his men by way of the Philistines raiding and the messenger getting to Saul at just the right time.

David and his men moved on from there and lived in the strongholds of Engedi (along the Dead Sea).  We'll pick up there next time as Saul will immediately come back to pursuing David after he has dispatched the Philistines raiders.