David's escape from Gath to the cave of Adullam marks a fresh starting point in his career. Henceforth he led the life of an independent outlaw at the head of a band of armed men. He was openly and continually persecuted by Saul, under the illusion that he was aiming at the crown, although he neither rebelled nor encouraged rebellion against his authority. He was thereby kept prominently before the minds of the people, and must have fixed the attention of the most observant and devout upon him, as, in contrast to Saul (whose government became more and more arbitrary, inefficient, and ungodly), the man who alone was worthy to be "captain over the Lord's inheritance;" and the experience through which he passed served to prepare him for his destination. "This very period of his deepest sufferings becomes the decisive turning point of his whole history, at which it enters upon a true upward course, thence to rise ever higher and higher; while his real destiny, viz., to rule, is now for the first time not only foreshadowed, but already begun, though only on the smallest scale; and the clearest proof that this actually is his destiny is found in the fact that he begins to work it out without consciously exerting himself to do so" (Ewald). He may be considered as representing, in some respects, the good man under persecution, and as -

I. PROTECTED FROM THE VIOLENCE OF PERSECUTORS, with which the servants of God have been threatened in every age.

1. Underneath the personal and ostensible grounds of such violence lie the opposition of "the kingdom of darkness" to the kingdom of God, and the enmity of the evil heart against righteousness and goodness. David was "the representative of the theocratic principle for which he suffers and endures; Saul of the antitheocratic principle." Like Moses, David bore "the reproach of Christ," who was in him and suffered with him (Acts 9:4; Colossians 1:24; Hebrews 11:26, 32-38).

2. It is limited in its power, and is always ultimately defeated. "Be not afraid of them that kill the body," etc. (Luke 12:4).

3. God himself is the Refuge of the persecuted, and provides varied, wonderful, and effectual means for their deliverance. "Thou art my refuge" (Psalm 142:5). "Thou hast delivered my soul from death," etc. (Psalm 56:13). The operation of Divine providence was displayed in a remarkable manner in the preservation of David throughout the whole course of his persecution by Saul.

II. SYMPATHISING WITH THE MISERY OF THE OPPRESSED. "His brethren and all his father's house," endangered by Saul's jealousy as well as by the Philistine garrison at Bethlehem (2 Samuel 23:13, 14), "and every one that was in distress" (outwardly impoverished and harassed), "and in debt" (to avaricious usurers, and not necessarily through any fault of his own), "and discontented" (inwardly embittered and dissatisfied with the existing state of things), owing to bad government. "Surely oppression maketh a wise man mad" (Ecclesiastes 7:7), and incites and justifies the adoption of a course which, under other circumstances, would be highly culpable. They did not gather to David in vain.

1. Sympathy with suffering is usually felt in an eminent degree by those who have themselves suffered (Hebrews 2:18).

2. It is always shown, when it is genuine, in practical effort for its alleviation (2 Corinthians 1:4).

3. It generally produces in those toward whom it is shown a peculiarly strong and enduring attachment. "Pain is the deepest thing we have in our nature, and union through pain has always seemed more real and more holy than any other" (A.H. Hallam). "I do not know where a better home could have been provided for David than among those men in distress, in debt, in discontent. If it behoved a ruler to know the heart of his subjects, their sorrows, their wrongs, their crimes, - to know them and to sympathise with them, - this was surely as precious a part of his schooling as the solitude of his boyhood, or as any intercourse he had with men who had never faced the misery of the world, and never had any motive to quarrel with its laws. Through oppression, confusion, lawlessness he was learning the eternal, essential righteousness of God" (Maurice).

III. ASSUMING THE LEADERSHIP OF THE FAITHFUL. "He became captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men" - afterwards six hundred (1 Samuel 23:13); including his nephews, Abishai (1 Samuel 26:6), Joab, Asahel, and Amasa, Ahimelech the Hittite, the "three mighty men" who "broke through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem" (2 Samuel 23:16), many of those whose names are recorded in the list of David's heroes (1 Chronicles 11:10 47), Gadites "whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains," Benjamites and men of Judah, under Amasai, on whom "the Spirit came, and he said, Thine are we," etc.; "for thy God helpeth thee" (1 Chronicles 12:8-18). Some of them possessed, perhaps, little religious principle, and were ready for any adventurous enterprise; but most of them were young, free, noble spirits, resenting the tyranny of Saul, and sympathising with all that was best in the nation - "the unconscious materials out of which a new world was to be formed." David's leadership was -

1. Exercised by virtue of his peculiar position, eminent godliness, and surpassing ability.

2. Accepted by them voluntarily, and followed with fidelity and enthusiasm.

3. Contributed to their discipline, improvement (Psalm 34:11), and future service against the common enemy, as well as his own moral force and power of organisation and rule. "The effect of such a life on his spiritual nature was to deepen his unconditional dependence on God; by the alternations of heat and cold, fear and hope, danger and safety, to temper his soul and make it flexible, tough, and bright as steel. It evolved the qualities of a leader of men, teaching him command and forbearance, promptitude and patience, valour and gentleness. It won for him a name as a founder of a nation, and it gathered around him a force of men devoted to him by an enthusiastic attachment, bred by long years of common dangers and the hearty friendships of many a march by day and nightly encampment round the glimmering watchfires beneath the lucid stars" (Maclaren).

IV. DEVOTED TO THE SERVICE OF GOD. The effect of persecution on a good man is to cause him to draw nigh to God in -

1. Renewed confidence and hope.

2. Intense desire for the manifestation of his glory in "bringing the wickedness of the wicked to an end and establishing the just" (Psalm 7:9). He wishes above all things and strives for the setting up of the kingdom of God upon earth.

3. Earnest prayers and thanksgivings, such as are expressed in the "cave songs" of David. Psalm 142., 'A cry of the persecuted to God' (see inscription): -

"With my voice to Jehovah do I cry,
With my voice to Jehovah do I make supplication.
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I." Psalm 57, 'Trusting in the protection of God' (see inscription): -

"Be gracious unto me, O God, be gracious unto me,
For in thee hath my soul found refuge;
And in the shadow of thy wings will I find refuge
Until the destruction passeth by.
Be thou exalted above the heavens, O God,
Thy glory above all the earth." When his companions in arms were carousing or asleep, he sat by his lamp in some still retreat, or 'considered the heavens' as they spread above him, or meditated on the law, or engaged in prayer, or held intimate communion with God, and composed and wrote (though he thought not so) what shall sound in the Church and echo through the world to all time (Binney). - D.

At the period of which the text speaks, David was leading the life of an outcast and an outlaw. Being expelled from Israel and Philistia, nothing remained for him to do but to gather around him a band of equally unfortunate men and defend himself with his sword. Cannot we see in David collecting around him all who were in distress, in debt, or for any reason discontented, a foreshadow of the Friend of publicans and sinners, of Him who said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Again a man's religion may be concealed in his heart, and may not do the good it ought to do as an example till distress come upon him and cause it to be seen in all its power. In many a true believer piety is like a drum, which nobody hears of unless it be beaten. The cave of Adullam was a refuge for debtors, and so is the Church of Christ. The third class of people who came to David at the cave of Adullam were those who were discontented. So, too, there is a "Divine discontent" which brings people to Christ. Are you dissatisfied? Then go to Christ and fill up the hollowness of your soul with Him. This is the truth which is contained in the common saying, that when people become disappointed with the world, it is the last resource to turn saint. The last thing we note about the miserable men who came for refuge to David is that they were taught by him to live good lives. They were a rough, lawless set of men, yet they could be kept in check by the influence of their beloved captain, David. So useful and helpful to their neighbours did these soldiers become, that the servants of Nabal could not help acknowledging as much. "But the men were very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we were conversant with them." Now surely if men's lives were made good by coming to David, the effect which coming to Christ should have upon our characters is infinitely more beneficial.

(E. J. Hardy, M. A.)