The Cave of Adullam

With the help of the Lord, we will write something about the cave of Adullam and its inhabitants. In the first place, we find David there, whom we may see as a type of Christ. Secondly, there are those who sought refuge with David in the cave. We are told that it was those who were in distress, and those who were in debt and discontented. In the third place, we see the blessed outcome: David became captain over them; and there were with him about four hundred men. It is a beautiful type of Christ and His church.

Notice first the historical circumstances surrounding this event. In the previous chapter we are informed that David had to flee from King Saul. David and Jonathan, Saul’s son, had made a covenant together. By the grace of God they had become precious friends in the strife of life. The true church of God must go through many tribulations, and this was also the experience of David and Jonathan in their lives. It was at this time that they found it necessary to part from one another because of the bitter enmity of King Saul. David had to flee for his life.

In chapter 21 we are told how David came to Ahimelech, the priest. First he asked for bread, and then he asked for weapons. David said unto Ahimelech, “And is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

How David and the church of all ages have to learn that those heavenly weapons cannot be handled by human strength!

We would say, “Oh, David, have you forgotten that the greatest weapon which the Lord has given His church is the weapon of prayer?” How David and the church of all ages have to learn that those heavenly weapons cannot be handled by human strength! We can never open that door of that blessed weapon, prayer. It is always a one-sided work, and, on the other hand, it is our own fault that this door is shut. David asked for the sword of Goliath, but there is greater strength in the God of David.

David is seen here as a backsliding child of God, placing his trust in the sword of Goliath, the sword which he had seen fall to the ground. We also see that a man with grace remains man. “And David arose, and fled that day for fear of Saul, and went to Achish the king of Gath.”

What a terrible place to be — with the sword of Goliath in the land of the Philistines, the enemies of the Lord. “And the servants of Achish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land? did they not sing one to another of him in dances, saying, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?” We are told of this in 1 Samuel 18:7, where the women came out of the cities to meet the army with this song.

For David it had been a nice song for the flesh. It may be that, by the special grace of God, his heart had been humbled under the goodness of the Lord. If this isn’t given by special grace, one soon goes upward in pride. This song was recalled, not now by the children of Israel, but by the Philistines, the enemies of the Lord. It did not please David, because here, under the hand of King Achish, the song revealed that David was their enemy. For the Philistines it would be best if David were put to death at once.

“And David laid up these words in his heart, and was sore afraid of Achish the king of Gath.” We can understand that these words had an effect different from the first time. For we read that David went from one sin to another. Backsliding goes from sin to sin. Instead of David falling before the Lord, he did otherwise. “And he changed his behaviour before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled on the doors of the gate, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard. Then said Achish unto his servants, Lo, ye see the man is mad: wherefore then have ye brought him to me? Have I need of mad men, that ye have brought this fellow to play the mad man in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?”

If ever David’s life was in danger, it was then. What a fool a person is! David had taken refuge in his own foolishness, changing his ways, and acting as a mad man in the land of the Philistines. The commentators say that Achish had children and relatives in his house who had been visited by the Lord with this sickness, and therefore day after day he was made aware of this in his own home. When David, acting as a mad man, was brought before Achish, the mind of Achish was stirred beyond comprehension. It was as if men were mocking him by David’s actions.

The Lord is a shield round about His people, also when they least deserve it.

Young and old, man does not realize it, but the mercies of the Lord are so great. Achish could have had David put to death at that moment, but it was only the incomprehensible mercies of the Lord that he did not do so. The Lord is a shield round about His people, also when they least deserve it.

“David therefore departed thence, and escaped to the cave Adullam.” This cave was in the country near the Dead Sea, about six miles southeast of Bethlehem. It was a place which the Lord gave for a backsliding people, a place which the Lord provided as a safe retreat in the depths. People of the Lord, the best place in the whole world is in the depths. The Lord had prepared a safe abode for David. What that must have been for David! He might escape from King Achish, be safe from the hand of Saul, and have a place which the Lord provided for him.

The cave Adullam was a place appointed from all eternity, a place to which the devil never wanted David to come. The devil wanted David to act as a mad man, taking up the sword against Saul, but, no, the Lord had provided another place for David at this moment in his life. David might have a place in the cave Adullam.

“And when his brethren and all his father’s house heard it, they went down thither to him.” We find here that David is a type of Christ, a type of the great Savior. That great Savior, Jesus Christ, is given of the Father, as we find in 1 Corinthians 1:30, “But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”

Who were these people who were seeking refuge with David? The Bible tells us clearly that they were “every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented,” and they gathered themselves unto him. Who are the people who are in distress in an experimental way? It is a people whose eyes the Lord has opened to their wretched state into which we have fallen so deeply through our willful disobedience. It is a people who are brought by the work of a Triune God to a standstill in their lives, as was Saul on the way to Damascus. Throughout all age, the Lord has caused, by the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit, the eyes of men to be opened to see something of the holiness and righteousness of God and of their own sinfulness and corruption. They are a people who come into deep distress.

Those who were in distress had left everything: they left Jerusalem and they left the world, and they went in search of the greater David. They were given to come in their distress to that cave Adullam. They were a people who could not help themselves, but must write bitter things against themselves and cry out, “It is our own fault.” It is a people who cannot find it in this world, cannot find it in outward religion, cannot find it in the covenant of works. They are missing the way of reconciliation, a people who have no Savior for their souls, thus, a people in distress.

There were also those who were in debt. These people have been taught by the Holy Spirit that they are all sin. With Isaiah they cry, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” Did you ever come there, my readers? The debt is so great, and they have not a penny to pay, yet they cannot stay away from that one Name given under heaven whereby sinners must be saved.

We find a people coming to that cave Adullam, not for the cave, but for the greater David. People in debt and distress are coming to that low place to bow before Him. They cry, “God be merciful to me a sinner! Is there a way that such a wretch, such a hellworthy sinner, can be saved? Oh, that the greater David would take me under His banner!” They cannot see that it is possible, but to whom else shall they go? “Thou hast the words of eternal life.”

They can no longer find it in Moab. A people in debt, coming by the drawing love of God, are brought there to be reconciled with God and to receive the forgiveness of their sins. He Himself has given the payment for their debts, to the glory of the attributes of a holy God.

People who are discontented — who are they? They are a people who have to strive with the way of sanctification. They have a need for the sanctification of Christ by faith in their lives, just as they need justification. They are a people who go over the world feeling discontented, so unlike the Lord, so unholy, so corrupt in themselves. Therefore they come to that greater David to find contentment for their souls. In justification and sanctification there is contentment.

Notice now the blessed outcome. We read, “They gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them.” What a blessing! He took them over that were in distress. He became Lord over them, comforted them, paid their debt, and gave them Christian contentment. Without holiness we cannot see the Lord. The true holiness is in the greater David.

“There were with him about four hundred men.” This signifies a large number over whom Christ is the captain. That church shall sing together from Psalter 411, “Thou art, O God, our boast, the glory of our power,” etc. This was sung in a low place, in the deep cave Adullam. There is a future for the church of God; the Lord is on the throne for His church, that church which deserves nothing. The Lord shall not do it for their sake, but for His great Name’s sake.

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