The Calculus of Faith and Fear
Introduction: Leading Scared Men
We live in an age of calculated Christianity. We have our risk assessment committees, our five-year plans, and our demographic studies. We want the kingdom of God to advance, but we want it to do so in a way that is prudent, sensible, and above all, safe. We want victory without battles, and crowns without scars. We have become experts in the logic of self-preservation, which is just a pious way of describing the arithmetic of fear. But the kingdom of God does not advance by committee vote or by playing the odds. It advances when faithful men, confronted with a clear command from God, choose to obey Him rather than the trembling of their own hearts.
In this brief account, we see this conflict in sharp relief. David is on the run. He is a fugitive, hunted by the apostate king, Saul. He has every worldly reason to keep his head down, to avoid trouble, and to think only of the survival of his small band of men. Saul, the anointed king, is the one who should be defending Israelite towns from Philistine marauders. But Saul is derelict. He is consumed with his own paranoid ambitions. And so, the duty of the king falls to the king in exile. God brings the test to David, not to Saul, because God is interested in proving the heart of His chosen man.
This passage is a master class in godly leadership. It teaches us what to do when God's command seems reckless, what to do when your followers are gripped by fear, and how God's simple promise is always sufficient to overcome the most complex human objections. This is not just a story about David; it is a paradigm for every Christian leader, every father, every pastor, and every believer who is called to walk by faith and not by sight.
The Text
Then they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are pillaging the threshing floors.”
So David asked of Yahweh, saying, “Shall I go and strike these Philistines?” And Yahweh said to David, “Go and strike the Philistines and save 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 battle lines of the Philistines?”
Then David asked of Yahweh once more. And Yahweh answered him and said, “Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.”
So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
(1 Samuel 23:1-5 LSB)
The Providential Problem (v. 1)
We begin with the crisis that God brings to David's doorstep.
"Then they told David, saying, 'Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah and are pillaging the threshing floors.'" (1 Samuel 23:1)
The first thing to notice is who they told. They did not go to Gibeah to petition King Saul. The people on the ground knew, in that practical way that common folk often do, who the real king was. They knew who cared about the welfare of Israel. Saul was busy hunting the Lord's anointed; David was the one concerned with protecting the Lord's people. God directs this crisis to David as both a test and an opportunity. God is constantly engineering circumstances to reveal what is in our hearts and to give us an opportunity to exercise the faith He has given us.
And what is the nature of the attack? The Philistines are "pillaging the threshing floors." This is not just a random act of violence. The threshing floor was the center of a town's economic life. It was where the grain, the very substance of life, was processed. The enemy was attacking their bread. This is what the enemies of God always do. They attack the means of sustenance, whether it is the grain in Keilah or the Word of God in the modern church. The devil wants to steal your bread and leave you starving and destitute.
The Piety of a True King (v. 2)
David's reaction is immediate and reveals the constitution of his leadership.
"So David asked of Yahweh, saying, 'Shall I go and strike these Philistines?' And Yahweh said to David, 'Go and strike the Philistines and save Keilah.'" (1 Samuel 23:2)
David's first move is not horizontal, but vertical. He does not call a council of war. He does not count his spears. He does not poll his men. He inquires of the Lord. This is the foundational habit of a man who understands his place. David, though anointed, is a vassal king. Yahweh is the great King, and David is His servant. Therefore, he seeks his orders from the commander-in-chief. All legitimate human authority is delegated authority, and the first duty of a delegate is to consult the one who sent him.
God's response is beautifully direct. There is no ambiguity. "Go and strike the Philistines and save Keilah." It is a three-part command: a direction (Go), an action (strike), and a purpose (save). When God speaks this clearly, the only proper response is obedience. The matter should be settled. But the human heart, with its fears and its worldly wisdom, is rarely so simple.
The Murmurings of Pragmatism (v. 3)
Now the voice of human reason enters the scene, and it is filled with fear.
"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 battle lines of the Philistines?'" (1 Samuel 23:3)
Here is the "but" that so often follows a clear command from God. The men's logic is, from a purely secular and military perspective, entirely sound. They are a small band of fugitives. They are already in danger, hiding out in their own country. To march on Keilah would be to leave their hideout and engage a formal Philistine army, arrayed for battle. It seems like strategic suicide.
Their calculation was simple: our current fear, plus a much larger Philistine army, equals a much greater fear. They were measuring their resources against the enemy's resources. The one variable they left out of their equation was the word of God. This is the essence of unbelief. Unbelief is not a lack of intelligence; it is a failure to factor God's promise into your calculations. They saw the Philistine battle lines, but they were blind to the God who had just said, "Go."
The Patience of a Shepherd-King (v. 4)
David's response to this mutinous fear is a model of pastoral leadership.
"Then David asked of Yahweh once more. And Yahweh answered him and said, 'Arise, go down to Keilah, for I will give the Philistines into your hand.'" (1 Samuel 23:4)
David does not rebuke his men. He does not call them cowards. He does not pull rank. He takes their fear seriously. He understands that he must lead these men, not just command them. So what does he do? He takes their fear and carries it back to the Lord. He inquires "once more." This is not David doubting God. This is David shepherding his flock. He is seeking a word from God that will bolster the faith of his frightened men.
And God, in His grace, condescends. He does not say, "I already told you." He answers again, and this time He strengthens the promise. He adds the crucial phrase: "for I will give the Philistines into your hand." The first command was a duty. The second is a glorious, personal promise of victory. God meets the fear of David's men with a more potent assurance. This is how a good leader works. He absorbs the fear of his people and brings it to God, and he returns from God's presence with a reinforced promise to give to his people.
The Fruit of Obedience (v. 5)
With the men reassured by a fresh word from God, they obey, and the result is precisely what God promised.
"So David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines; and he led away their livestock and struck them with a great slaughter. Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah." (1 Samuel 23:5)
The action follows the promise. They went, they fought, and God gave the victory. The "great slaughter" was not the result of David's superior tactics, but of God's faithfulness to His word. The outcome is a simple, declarative statement: "Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah."
While Saul, the sitting king, was neglecting his flock, David, the fugitive, was saving them. He was being the king long before he sat on the throne. He was demonstrating that true authority comes not from a crown or a palace, but from faithful obedience to the word of God. He saved the people, and he took the spoils, providing for his own men from the plunder of the enemy. This is how God's economy works; He funds His work with the confiscated assets of His foes.
Our Greater David
This entire episode is a glorious picture of a greater reality. We are the inhabitants of Keilah. We are besieged by our spiritual enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. They are pillaging our threshing floors, seeking to starve us and destroy us. We are helpless to save ourselves.
And like David's men, we are often afraid. We look at the battle lines of the culture, at the overwhelming power of secularism and paganism, and we say, "How much more then if we go out to fight them?" Our pragmatic calculations tell us to keep our heads down and hope the trouble passes us by.
But we have a greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. He did not consult His fears. He consulted the will of His Father. He saw us in our besieged city, and He came down to save us. He inquired of the Father in Gethsemane, and though His soul was sorrowful unto death, He obeyed. He went to the cross and fought the Philistines of sin and death on our behalf.
And He struck them with a great slaughter. Through His death and resurrection, He won the decisive victory. "Thus David saved the inhabitants of Keilah." Thus Jesus saved His people. He is our king, our protector, our savior. The call for us, then, is to trust His victory and to follow His pattern. When He gives us a clear command in His Word, we are to set aside our fearful calculations, trust His promise that He will give the enemy into our hand, and go forward in faith. For the one who leads us has already won the war.