Deeper Reflection
HAVING HEARD that David was in Keilah, Saul sought to “destroy the city” on David’s account, so as to force Keilah to surrender David to him (vv.10-11). David suspected that this might happen and so he inquired of God about this, whereupon the divine reply was, “They will surrender you” (v.12). One would expect Keilah to be grateful to David for having delivered them from the Philistines and would not betray him, but stand on his side. Wisdom tells us: “Many will say they are loyal, but who can find one who is truly reliable?” (Prov 20:6, NLT). In this regard, we make a two-pronged application. On one hand, we seek to be truly reliable, but the other hand, we should not be surprised when people let us down, even though they have claimed to be loyal. David the fugitive had sought refuge with human beings, but only to discover that humans are unreliable and will do what is expedient even when they should be grateful for past favours.⁴⁵ God alone is a dependable refuge. In His intense struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus sought the support of the disciples closest to Him, but they let Him down in their slumber (Matt 26:36-38, 40, 43). Jesus knew that an hour would come when all His disciples will be scattered and will “leave Me alone”. But Jesus’ strong and steadfast conviction was: “Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me” (Jn 16:32).

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⁴⁵ Robert B. Chisholm Jr., 154