The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Samuel — Section 448

imd prayer. " What doth not prayer overcome and conquer? What doth not resist- ance drive back when accompanied by distrust of self and trust in God ? Ami in what battle can he be con~uered who stands in the presence of God with an earnest resolve to please him?' (Scupoli). 11 When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back," &c. (Ps. lvi. 9). III. HE OFTEN DELIVERS THEM AT THE MOMENT OF THEIR GREATEST PERIL. He. does so both in temporal calamity and in spiritual trouble, labour and conflict. At the point of despair deliverance comes (Micah vii. 8). And thereby his interposition is rendered more apparent, the deRigns of the enemy are more signally frustrated, and the gratitude of his servants is more fully excited. "David was delivered at the last hour, it is true; but this never strikes too late for the Lord to furnish in it a proof to those that trust in him that his word is yea and amen when it says, ' I will never leave thee nor forsake thee'" (Krummacher). IV. HE MAKES USE OF VARIOUS AND UNEXPECTED MEANS FOR THEIR DELIVERANCE (ver. 27). Who could have predicted the arrival of such a message? The incursion of the Philistines was the natural result of the course pursued by Sanl in levying war (ver. 8), going out to seek the life of David (ver. 15), and leaving the country ,mprotected; but the message came at the opportune moment by the overruling provide.nee of God. His resources are boundless; he employs his enemies for the preservation of his friends, diverts their attention to other objects, and impels them to spend their strength in conflict with each other. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations" (2 Pet. ii. 9). V. His INTERPOSITION ON THEIR BEHALF SHOULD BE GRATEFULLY RECORDED j as it was in the name which was given to the spot, and still more fully in the psalm ending "With willing mind will I sacrifice unto thee; I. will give thanks to thy name, 0 Jehovah, for it is good. For out of all distress bath he delivered me, And upon mine enemies bath mine eye seen its desire" (Ps. liv. 3, 9). D. Vera. 16-18.-Sweet counsel in time of need. I. TIIE DISCOURAGEMENT OF DAVID. The citizens of Keilah, after he had with his good sword delivered them from the Philistine marauders, were so ungrateful, perhaps so much afraid of sharing the fate of the city of Nob at the hand of Saul, that they were ready to betray the son of Jesse and surrender him to the king. From this danger he no sooner escaped than t,be people of Ziph-though he did not compromise them by entering their town, but encnmped in a wood-were not only willing, but eager, to reveal his hiding-place. And the pursuit was hot. "Saul soug·ht him every dny." To add to the danger, David had with him 600 armed men-too many to be easily concealed, but too few to encounter the force which Saul led against him, nnd which was numbered by thousands. It was therefore a critical time for David; and his poetic, sensitive nature felt the ingratitude and injustice more keenly than he dreaded the actual peril, so that he began to be quite chagrined and disheartened. The Apostle Paul had a similar tendency to depression. He felt ingratitude and calumny most acutely, and was more cast down by these than by any of the physical sufferings and mortal risks that befell him. But Paul was like David too in his quick susceptibility to words of kindness, and in drawing strength from fellowship with congenial minds. II. THE FRIEND IN TIME OF NEED. St. Paul tells, "When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were lightings, within were fears. Nevertheless God, who comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us hy the coming of Titus." In like manner did God comfort David amidst fightings and fears by the coming of Jonathan. This noble-minded prince cheered the fugitive in the forest of Ziph-1. By showing to him a generous human affection. This was love indeed, which clave to Dnvid in exile as closely as ever it had done when he was in the sunshine of public favour, and which was willing to run great risks for the delight of clasping hand in hand and talking face to face. Here was genuine friendship, which is perhaps more rare than love. Cynics point out that tile celebrnted friendships, as of David and Jonathan in the Bible, and Damon and Pyt_hias the Pythag-oreans in Greek story, belong to "the hP,roic and  THE FIRST IlOOK OF SAi\lUEL. [cH. xxm. 14-2~..