1 Sa. 23: Cat and Mouse

1 Samuel 23:12 "Again David asked, "Will the citizens of Keilah surrender me and my men to Saul?" And the LORD said, "They will."

David saves the city of Keilah after asking God if he should go and save them. Of course, because God delivered the Philistines into David's hands. I find this faith very heartening. This is what David does, because of the presence of the phrase "once again" in the sentence. He established a habit of doing this, thus noted by the author. If I consulted God about a decision...I don't know if one could say, "once again, Jon consulted God." You?

But this town betrays David to Saul, in spite of David's heroism. They must have assumed that Saul would reward them handsomely for handing over David, as his feud with Saul must have been highly publicized. Secondly, this makes me think that while David was exceedingly well renowned, apparently not to the point where a city would risk the charge of treason against the king.

This betrayal sets off a ridiculous cat-and-mouse pursuit for Saul after David. So much of Saul's resources are consumed in this chase that the Philistines seize this moment of weakness to attack Israel. Then Saul lets David go for the time being. Makes me think about what pointless chases I go off on, and leave important things unguarded.