DAVID SUPERIOR TO HIS ASSOCIATES WHO WERE AFRAID!
DAVID SUPERIOR TO HIS ASSOCIATES WHO WERE AFRAID!
1 Samuel 23 v 1/4 "Then they told David, saying, "Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, AND ARE PLUNDERING THE THRESHING FLOORS. So David inquired of the Lord, saying, "Shall I go and attack these Philistines?" And the Lord said to David, "Go and attack the Philistines, and deliver Keilah." BUT DAVID'S MEN SAID TO HIM, "BEHOLD, WE ARE AFRAID HERE IN JUDAH. HOW MUCH MORE THEN IF WE GO TO KEILAH AGAINST THE RANKS OF THE PHILISTINES?"
Keilah was situated about six miles southeast of Adullam. The Hebrew meaning of the word Keilah is 'fortress; enclosed; sling. Let the faint be alienated'! It is here that David's men try to discourage him ..... he has to master his own heart and its sorrows.... DAVID HAD TO LEARN TO BE SUPERIOR TO THE UNBELIEF OF HIS ASSOCIATES!
David's men were saying that they were even afraid in JUDAH (in hb - 'the LORD be praised)! How could these frightened men move on even in the presence of David?
In our own lives we also have to learn to disregard the 'unbelief' in our fellow Christian's hearts! The attack was on the people dwelling in a 'walled city' (a place of separation) and the 'threshing floors' were being plundered! This is a type of the 'separated' believer who needs the corn, the wheat, the Word of God every day! Since our glorious salvation we also are called to guard His precious Word and attack th enemy who would try to plunder GOD'S LIVING WORD from our hearts!
The Philistines in Hebrew 'the land of wanderers, land of strangers: Rolled in dust. Wallowing' - they represent who will always fill the wells which we have dug by faith with EARTH! (Genesis 26 v 15).
We are to confidently HOLD THE THINGS THAT GOD HAS REVEALED TO US EVEN IN THE PRESENCE OF THE PHILISTINES - they truly are 'strangers' to the truth of the 'threshing floors' in our lives that they are seeking to plunder!
In verse 4 David asks the LORD ONCE MORE...! HALLELUJAH! The answer to the whole hearted David who had just left the caves of Adullam was "Arise, go down to KEILAH (down not above!) FOR I WILL GIVE THE PHILISTINES INTO YOUR HAND."
In verse 5 David and his men are victorious but only after the 'man after God's own heart' had rejected the counsel of fear and unbelief and sought his LORD again! HALLELUJAH!
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