Chapter VI

_DAVID’S LIFE AS AN OUTLAW._
1 SAM. XVIII.–XXIII. B.C. 1063–1061.

THE victory over Goliath was the turning-point in David’s life. He was now no longer the obscure shepherd of Bethlehem, but the recognised deliverer of Israel, and the chief of Saul’s men of war (1 Sam. xviii. 5). Moreover he now became the devoted friend of Jonathan, the king’s son. The hero of Michmash would naturally sympathise with the daring shepherd of Bethlehem, and _his soul was knit with the soul of David_ (1 Sam. xviii. 1; Comp. 2 Sam. i. 26). The two ratified a solemn vow of undying friendship, and Jonathan bestowed on his new-found friend almost every article of his attire, not only the costly robe that he wore, but even his sword, his bow, and his girdle (1 Sam. xviii. 4).

But the hour of David’s triumph was the signal for the commencement of those embittered relations which subsisted between him and Saul till the day of the latter’s death. As the royal party returned from the Valley of Elah, they were met by companies of Hebrew maidens, who in their songs expressed the discerning feelings of the nation, singing, _Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands_. To the king this was gall and wormwood; in the youthful warrior he saw that _other more worthy than himself_, for whom the kingdom was designed, and _he eyed him from that day and forward_ (1 Sam. xviii. 9).

As the king’s armour-bearer David did not neglect his musical talents, and when Saul’s fits of madness were upon him he soothed him with the strains of his harp. But more than once he did so at the peril of his life, for in a sudden paroxysm of rage the king flung at him the long spear he held in his hand, and would have pinned him to the wall, had he not escaped out of his presence (1 Sam. xviii. 11). Perceiving that the Divine favour was withdrawn from himself, Saul now became afraid of David, and in the hope of getting rid of him gave him the command of a thousand men (1 Sam. xviii. 13), and sent him on several expeditions; but David’s uniform success and the prudence he displayed only won for him still more the favour of the people. The king then tried other expedients. He promised him his eldest daughter MERAB in marriage, on condition that he fought against the Philistines. David went, and instead of falling in battle, only covered himself with fresh glory, but when the time for the marriage came, Merab was given to another (1 Sam. xviii. 19).

Meanwhile MICHAL, the king’s second daughter, had fallen in love with her father’s armour-bearer. As if to bring his previous designs to a positive fulfilment, Saul named as her dowry proof that David had slain a hundred of the Philistines. At the head of his men David went, and slew twice that number, and brought the required proofs of their death. The marriage was celebrated, and David became captain of the royal body-guard, second only, if not equal, to Abner. But the king’s jealousy of his successful rival was only the more increased, and he went so far as to propose to Jonathan and his servants that David should be put out of the way, and was only dissuaded by the moving intercession of Jonathan himself. A partial reconciliation with the king ensued, and David returned to court. But his life was not more secure. On one occasion his own vigilance in eluding the royal javelin, on another the devotion of his wife Michal, alone saved his life. On the last occasion, the officers charged to put him to death had actually penetrated into his chamber, but only to find in the bed, in place of the object of their search, an _image_, or household god, with the head enveloped in a net of goats’ hair[249]. During the night his wife had let him down from the window. (Comp. Ps. lix.)

David now fled away to Naioth[250], the _huts or habitations_ near Ramah, where he enjoyed a brief respite from danger and anxiety in the congenial society of the aged Samuel, whom he had not seen since the occurrence at Bethlehem, and of the company of prophets there gathered together under his superintendence. News of his hiding-place reached the ears of Saul, who forthwith sent messengers to take him. But the sight of the prophets performing their sacred functions under the eye of the venerable Samuel and their strains of sacred melody so wrought upon the messengers, that they could not refrain from joining in their religious exercises. A similar issue attended a second, and even a third deputation. At length Saul went in person to the great well or cistern of Sechu, not far from Ramah, and enquired for the Prophet and the fugitive. But as he drew near the place, he himself could not resist the prophetic impulse, and for the second time justified the enquiry, _Is Saul also among the prophets?_ (1 Sam. xix. 24).

Thus the danger was for the time averted. But this state of suspense was intolerable, and David felt there was _but a step between him and death_. Probably by Samuel’s advice, he now obtained a secret interview with Jonathan at Ezel, a well-known stone near Gibeah. In pathetic language he poured out his whole soul to his friend, and besought him to make an effort to ascertain once for all the real feelings of his father, which he might think had undergone a change after the incidents at Naioth. The morrow was a festival of the New Moon. Saul would hold a solemn feast, and at his table would sit Abner and Jonathan, but David’s place would be vacant. The demeanour of the king on observing his absence was to be taken as an omen. If he acquiesced in Jonathan’s explanation that David was absent at a similar festival under the family roof at Bethlehem, all would be well. If he was wroth, then it would be certain that the old grudge was not healed, and that evil was determined against him. A solemn compact was then ratified between the two. Jonathan undertook to ascertain his father’s mind; David promised to shew kindness not only to Jonathan himself, but to all his posterity (1 Sam. xx. 5–10).

When this compact had been duly ratified, Jonathan suggested an expedient, whereby the news was to be made known to David. Within three days he would again repair to the “great stone” with his bow and arrows, and accompanied by a little lad. He would then shoot three arrows, as though he shot at a mark, and his words to the lad, which David would overhear, must decide the point. If he said to the lad, _Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them_, then David might come forth, and know that all was well. If he said, _The arrows are beyond thee_, then he might go his way, certain that the wrath of the king could not be appeased. The day came, and David repaired to his hiding-place. In due time Jonathan and his little lad appeared, and the three arrows were shot as agreed upon, and as the lad ran to pick them up, he cried, _Is not the arrow beyond thee?_ Then David knew that he must fly, and, when the lad was gone to carry back the bow and arrows to Gibeah, rose from his hiding-place, and with passionate embraces and many tears parted from his friend, who once more commended his posterity to his care (1 Sam. xx. 35–42).

David now betook himself to Nob, a sacerdotal city in the tribe of Benjamin, and situated on an eminence near Jerusalem. Here the High-priest Ahimelech resided with the Tabernacle, and trembled when he saw the captain-general of the royal troops approaching alone, and unattended by his usual retinue. But David disarmed his suspicions by pretending a secret mission from the king, and in this character obtained, in the failure of other bread, the sacred[251] loaves of Shew-bread, which having served their turn in the weekly course, were about to be replaced by new loaves. With these and the sword of Goliath, which was brought forth from its receptacle behind the ephod, he fled away, resolved to seek refuge amongst his enemies the Philistines[252].

On his arrival at the court of Achish, king of Gath, he was recognised by the royal guards as the famous champion of Israel, and the sword he carried doubtless recalled bitter memories of the Valley of Elah. He was accordingly thrown into prison[253]. But in this dilemma he changed his behaviour, scrabbled on the doors of the gates, let his spittle fall upon his beard, and gave every sign of being insane. The oriental respect for madness[254] procured him his release, and he was suffered to depart.

From the Lowlands of the Philistines he now betook himself to the town of Adullam (Josh. xv. 35), at the foot of the mountain-range of Judea, and found a secure retreat in one of the extensive caves, with which the limestone cliffs of the neighbourhood are pierced[255]. News of his coming reached Bethlehem (1 Sam. xxii. 1), and straightway his brethren and all his father’s house, feeling perhaps insecure from Saul’s vengeance, came down to his stronghold from the Judean hills. These probably included his nephews, the sons of Zeruiah, JOAB and ABISHAI; but besides these, were 400 men who joined him from various motives, some from distress, others to avoid exacting creditors, others from some private sorrow. Not considering, however, his aged father and mother secure even in this secluded spot, David hastily crossed the Jordan, and conveyed them into the friendly territory of Moab, and there consigned them to the king, who agreed to protect them (1 Sam. xxii. 3, 4).

By the advice of his friend the prophet Gad, he now retired to the forest of Hareth, not far from Adullam. It was probably while he was here in hold that the sons of Zeruiah performed the memorable exploit recorded in 2 Sam. xxiii. 14–17, 1 Chr. xi. 16–19. A garrison of the Philistines had established themselves even in David’s native town of Bethlehem. One day, sorely tried by thirst, he expressed a longing for the delicious water of its well near the gate. Upon the word the three heroes burst through the Philistine forces, and returned with the much-coveted draught[256]. But their leader would not drink of the blood of the men that _had gone in jeopardy of their lives_, and poured it forth as a libation before the Lord.

Other bands now joined him. Amongst these were eleven mighty men, _their faces like the faces of lions, their feet as swift as the roes upon the mountains_ (1 Chr. xii. 8), from the uplands of Gad beyond Jordan, who swam that river when it had overflowed all its banks (1 Chr. xii. 15), and found their way to his hold. They were followed by men, not only from the tribe of Judah, but from that of Benjamin, with their chief Amasai. This defection of members of Saul’s own tribe at first excited David’s suspicion, but the straightforward, honest words of their leader convinced him of their sincerity, and he associated them in the command of his band of six hundred faithful followers (1 Chr. xii. 16–18).

Meanwhile the Philistines attacked Keilah, a town of uncertain situation in the lowland district of Judah, and robbed the threshing-floors. At first David’s men, in spite of a Divine assurance of success, feared to relieve the place, and so incur the hostility of their powerful foe. A second assurance restored their courage. Keilah was rescued, and the Philistines defeated with great slaughter. Whilst here David was joined by another and an important ally in the person of Abiathar, the son of the high-priest Ahimelech, bearing sad intelligence. On the day of David’s visit to Nob, there was a stranger watching intently all that took place between him and the high-priest. This was Doeg, an Edomite, and the chief of Saul’s herdmen (1 Sam. xxi. 7). When the king was deploring at Gibeah the defection even of his own tribe, Doeg poured into the royal ear _his_ version of what had occurred at Nob. Transported with rage the king sent for Ahimelech, and all the priests of the line of Ithamar, and charged them with befriending his enemies. In vain the high-priest repelled the charge. Saul sentenced the entire body of the priests to instant death, and gave the signal to his guard to execute it. But they declined to imbrue their hands in such a bloody murder. Thereupon he called on Doeg, who straightway obeyed, and falling upon the unresisting priests slew in one day _fourscore and five persons that did wear a linen ephod_. Not content with this, the king put the entire population of the place to the sword, _both men and women, children and sucklings_ (1 Sam. xxii. 19). Such was the sad news which the solitary survivor of the house of Ithamar now announced to David. _I knew it_, replied the latter, _I knew it, that day when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul; I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father’s house_[257]. From this day forward Abiathar remained with David, and having brought with him the high-priest’s ephod, was enabled by his oracular answers materially to aid David’s movements on occasions of difficulty or danger. Meanwhile the entry of his rival _into a town that had gates and bars_ (1 Sam. xxiii. 7) inspired Saul with the hope of at length capturing David. Summoning his forces, as if for a regular military expedition, he marched down to Keilah, to besiege him and his followers. Aware of the king’s secret designs, David consulted the Divine Will by means of the ephod, and thus ascertaining the intention of the townspeople to betray him, he and his men departed, _and went whithersoever they could_ (1 Sam. xxiii. 13).