Dean Rusk Arrives for SEATO Conference - Lcgmn.com

August. 1966
The PLAIN TRUTH
37
As David moved his army through the mountains south of
Hebron, inhabitants of that area watched him closely, at
the same time sending messengers to make reports to Saul
with the hope of being richly rewarded.
When David found
out that Saul's army was
very close, he hid his men
on the most obscure side
of a mountain. Informers
then told Saul where
David had gone, and Saul
rushed in pursuit to that
particular mowltain, but
no one was in sight on
the side he approached.
IS
"If that foxy rebel
near this mountain,"
Saul observed, "then he
must be on the other side.
If that's the way it is,
then we'll outfox him by
dividing forces and swinging
around both shoulders
of the mountain!" (I Samuel
23 : 24-26.)
If Saul's orders had
been carried out, David's
army would have been
trapped between two companies
of soldiers.
But
God didn't intend that
such a thing shou ld happen. Just as the troops were about to start out to encompass
the mountain from two directions, a messenger arrived to inform Saul that Philistine
troops were pouring into Canaan from the west.
Vexed and disappointed, Saul gave the order for his men to rejom m one
company and set off to the northwest to contact the enemy. If he had known for
certain that his quarry waS on the other side of the mountain, he undoubtedly
would have ignored the Philistines, for a time, in order to at last overtake and
destroy David. (I Samuel 23 :27-28.)