DAVID ACTED OUT of desperation for self-preservation by human reasoning and effort in 1 Samuel 21 through lying to Ahimelech the priest (1 Sam 21:1-9) and seeking asylum from an enemy (1 Sam 21:10-15). But despite David’s weakness and wavering faith, God spoke to him indirectly. Firstly through “the sword of Goliath” (1 Sam 21:9): “Remember the God of 1 Samuel 17!” And then through the Philistines’ words of acknowledgement: “David the king of the land” (1 Sam 21:11), reminding him of his calling. But now God spoke directly to David through “the prophet Gad” (v.5). God’s troubled people still hear His voice through “the prophetic word made more sure” in “Scripture” (2 Pet 1:19-21), that “through perseverance and through the encouragement” of Scripture “we may have hope” (Rom 15:4). God’s word to David was a “command stated as a categorical prohibition” as in the Ten Commandments (“You shall not”)
15: “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart and go into the land of Judah” (v.5). God commanded David to return to Judah because He viewed his departure from Judah “as contrary to his divinely ordained destiny”
16. It was realignment to the will of God. The “stronghold” that God commanded David to leave was “a Moabite fortress”
17. God was telling David that his true “stronghold” is ultimately God Himself: “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer” (2 Sam 22:2-3).
15 Robert D. Bergen, 226
16 Robert B. Chisholm Jr., 143
17 Robert D. Bergen, 226
