Dean Rusk Arrives for SEATO Conference - Lcgmn.com

August, 1966
T be PLAIN TR UTH
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As David and his men cautiously topped a rise on their march to Keilah,
they saw the walled town in the distance. But something more interesting was
much closer. Camped in a ravine out of sight of Keilah was. the company of
Philistines responsible for making the hit-and-run attacks I
There wasn't time to make any special preparations for a charge, because
Philistine lookouts, stationed at high spots on both sides of the ravine, had already
seen the approaching Israelites and were shouting an alarm. David quickly
separated his company into two parts and sent them racing down the steep
sides of the ravine to block the Philistines from escaping at either end. Bottled up
almost before they could move, the hundreds of enemy troops fell before the confident
Israelites in a bloody battle that didn't last very long. (I Samuel 23:5. )
Some of David's men carried the stolen grain back to Keilah. Others herded
back the livestock. The inhabitants of Keilah were spared from what otherwise
would have been a long period of hunger, followed by an eventual attack by the
enemy that would have destroyed them and their town. [11 spite of the help they
hac! been g iven , they seemed a bit backward in allowing David and his men to
come into Keilah. It was plain to David that they were fearful of what Saul
would think.
It wasn't long before Saul learned what had happened. He welcomed the news
that David and his men were staying in Keilah. This meant that Saul had only
to surround the town with his army and close in at will with catapults, battering
rams and a vastly superior number of soldiers. It didn't matter very
much to Saul if he had to destroy a whole town of Israelites in order to get
David.
Realizing that he and his men weren't exactly welcome, David asked Abiathar,
who had accompanied him, to inquire of God if the people of the town
would turn against him if Saul should besiege Keilah. The answer from God
was that the people would do anything to save themselves and their town from
an attack by Saul. David didn't wait for Saul's army to show up. He wisely
left to avoid unnecessary trouble, taking his men southeastward to camp in a
forested , mountainous region at Ziph, south of the ci ty of Hebron in Judah.
This was just a few miles east of David's old hiding place in the forest of Hareth.
(I Samuel 23:7-15. )
Just as Saul set .out for Keilah with an army of thousands, he learned that
David and his men had left the town. There was no way of knowing, at the
time, where he had gone, and Saul was furious. He sent bands of men into most
parts of Judah, but they were unsuccessful in finding the elusive young Israelite.