I generally remember David as a man hiding from Saul, gathering a few mercenaries around him…waiting for the day when God will replace Saul. But as you read this passage you discover that’s not exactly accurate.
A couple of things stand out that I want to remember. First, Jerusalem was an occupied city before David conquered it. It says here that he defeated the original inhabitants, so it had been under the same people group since it’s beginning. Back in Genesis 14, and again in Hebrews 7 we learn of Melchizedek, a priest of “God most High”. I hadn’t thought too much before this about David conquering Melchizedek’s city. Apparently at one time the city served the Lord, but they must have drifted away…and now God is replacing them with righteous David. When I have walked through Jerusalem before I always think of Jesus, rarely of David…and never of Melchizedek. But he belongs in the narrative, he served the Lord here first, and Jesus “follows” in his pattern. Jerusalem was originally Salem….a place of peace. The prefix to the name, either Jeru or Uru…generally means “the foundation of”. So this city is “the foundation of peace”…that name goes back far beyond David, all the way back to the original founders of the city. God has always had a plan for Jerusalem. When the people who lived there were no longer worthy of inhabiting it…God drove them out. Rather like the garden of eden, huh?
As I began to write today I said to myself “It was 7 years after Saul’s death before the whole nation “came around”. You see the large lists of fighting men who came to Hebron to make David king. Well, If they are saying these kind things now, where were they then?” Then I read more carefully through the list and drew a different conclusion.
There is a place in the life of a leader where you begin to attract people who believe in the cause who are better at their part of the job than you are. In my opinion, that’s when ministry really takes off. Here in Youngsville we have such people. All of them are better at their jobs than I am, in some way. They move the ministry forward with God’s blessing far beyond what I could ever hope to do. My role is to support them, and give them room to minister. I think that’s what was happening with David.
David was steadily collecting warriors during the time he was estranged from Saul. I don’t know who came first, but I am sure that eventually word got around that “commander so-and-so” had left Saul and was joining David. Apparently, this happened steadily over the 15 years he was hiding from, or “on the outs” with Saul. David was 15 when he was anointed king by Samuel, and by the time he was 20 he must have been attracting military commanders. That’s quite a feat. David must have been a fearsome warrior in his own right. Which seems unusual, for a person content to herd sheep and write poetry. David must have appealed to large group of people, his interests were so varied. It isn’t hard to see why all of Israel wanted him as king. I think he appealed to a large group of people…the common people, the warriors, the poets, the musicians, the folks who cheer the underdog, the people who love a winner……David was all of these and more.
Along a different train of thought: The cave at Adullam was the “stronghold”. It bordered the Valley of Elah, where David fought Goliath. The whole scene is west by southwest of Jerusalem. David had collected up discontented citizens here and turned them into a fighting force. (1 Samuel 22). When David left Jerusalem to go the the stronghold, he was moving closer to the Philistines. I wonder if he still had a weapons cache stored away in the stronghold. The stronghold was both a hiding place and a staging area. At the stronghold David would remember all the battles he had fought before, and how God had helped him to be victorious.
I wonder if I have a “stronghold” in my life. There’s a movie out called “The War Room” that speaks of a place of prayer. I wonder if the two are related. Perhaps the war room is in the stronghold. The place I go to regroup, plan my next move, resupply and be refreshed. We all need a stronghold.
David was a great example of godly leadership. When he poured out the water his “mighty men” had risked their lives to get, he won hearts and minds. And…who risks their life to get the commander a drink? David must have been something really special in his men’s eyes. I am certain that they loved and trusted him.
More later..