1 Samuel 23:1-5
Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”
Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?”
And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”
Then David inquired of the Lord again.
And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
1 Samuel 23:1-5
David and his band of 400 misfits (1 Samuel 22:2) were hiding away from Saul in the forest (1 Samuel 22:5). Abiathar and his brothers had just escaped slaughter at the city of Nob by Saul who was on the hunt for David and his supporters (1 Samuel 22:11-19).
Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are robbing the threshing floors.”
Therefore David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?”
1 Samuel 23:1-2
David’s question to God is “Should I go?” – I – me – David, that is.
And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
1 Samuel 1:2
God replies something like “Yes, [you] go and attack and save the people.”
David’s ragtag army of 400 was afraid. They were afraid of the fight, but also, coming out to fight meant that Saul might track them down.
David, the leader that he is, heard their concerns and went back to God. After all, in this case, it was David’s idea to go fight back against the Philistines. This mission didn’t originate as a command from the Lord.
Then David inquired of the Lord again.
And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
1 Samuel 23:4
After David double-checks with God, God confirms the plan. But that is not all. Did the plan change after David passed along the message from his men?
And the Lord said to David, “[You] Go and [you] attack the Philistines and save Keilah.”
1 Samuel 23:2 with insert
And the Lord answered him, “Arise, [You] go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
1 Samuel 23:4 with insert and emphasis
Initially, David was going and attacking. He asked if he should and the Lord, in turn, approved that he should do both. But by the end of this exchange, God says that David should “go down” because (“for”) God himself will (“I will”) give the Philistines up to David.
But what comes next flips back to David fighting. Who is fighting? David or God?
And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
1 Samuel 23:5
David “fought” and “struck them with a great blow” and even “saved” the people.
Did David save the people? Or did God?
God did, but he enjoys including his people in the experience. Nothing changed, rather, God rephrases the original request and original response: “Ok David, since your men are afraid, let me clarify how this actually works…”
It’s not incorrect to say that David fought and saved, but it is more precise to say that God caused and allowed David’s will, skill, and absolutely every other factor involved in this situation.
God didn’t need David. God doesn’t need you or me.
Over and over again, we see that God can accomplish everything he desires with or without our help. God does not need anything. God chooses to include us in his plan because he loves us and wants us to learn about and appreciate his excellence.
God could have, in an instant, made the Philistines vanish. He could have changed the hearts of the Philistines and had them turn over all of their possessions to the people they had just begun attacking.
Praise God, who chooses to include us in his plans for our good and His glory with mercy and patience.
A few more references
Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?
Lamentations 3:37
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:36
I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
Job 42:11
The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.
Proverbs 21:1
for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.‘
Acts 17:28
