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better times

1 Samuel 22:1-5 (JDV)

1 Samuel 22:1 So David left Gath and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. When David’s brothers and his father’s whole family heard, they went down and joined him there.
1 Samuel 22:2 Also, every man who was desperate, in debt, or had a bitter throat rallied around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him.
1 Samuel 22:3 From there David went to Mizpeh of Moab where he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and mother stay with you until I know what God will do for me.”
1 Samuel 22:4 So he left them in the care of the king of Moab, and they stayed with him the whole time David was in the stronghold.
1 Samuel 22:5 Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Don’t stay in the stronghold. Leave and return to the land of Judah.” So, David left and went to the forest of Hereth.

better times

After a pitiful chapter in which David kept acting according to the flesh, we finally see him acting more like the man of God that he was. It is embarrassing to have times when we fail the Lord and each other. We don’t like to remember such times. We would much rather remember the times when we stood up for the truth and protected others, led people faithfully, and were sensitive to the guidance of God’s servants. Such was the time described by today’s text. But the Sacred Scriptures reveal both sides of David’s character. They speak the truth, even when the truth embarrasses us.