The School of Hard Providence Text: 1 Samuel 26:1-5
Introduction: The University of the Wilderness
We are told in our day to follow our hearts, to seize our destiny, to make our own truth. The world tells us that if we are destined for greatness, we must grasp it. If a throne is promised, and the current occupant is a madman, then the sensible, pragmatic, and even righteous thing to do is to help providence along with the point of a spear. This is the wisdom of the world, and it is folly. It is the logic of hell, and it leads to destruction. God, in His infinite wisdom, has a different curriculum for the men He intends to use. He does not send them to seminars on self-actualization. He sends them to the university of the wilderness.
David, the anointed king, is in that university. He has been anointed by Samuel. He has been affirmed by Jonathan. He has been celebrated by the people. And he has been unjustly hunted by the sitting king, Saul. Every external sign, every open door, every bit of common sense would scream for him to take matters into his own hands. This is the second time the Lord will deliver Saul into his hand. The first time was in the cave at Engedi. This time will be even more dramatic. And the lesson God is teaching David, and by extension, teaching us, is one of the hardest and most necessary lessons in the Christian life: how to wait on God's timing and how to honor God's institutions, even when they are occupied by unworthy men.
This is not a lesson our generation is eager to learn. We are revolutionaries by temperament. We despise authority and are quick to tear down what we did not build. But God is building a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and He builds it with men who have learned to be still. He is forging a king who will not grasp, who will not seize, but who will receive the kingdom as a gift. David is not just hiding from Saul in the wilderness; he is being educated by God. He is learning that the fear of the Lord, not political expediency, is the beginning of wisdom. He is learning that God's anointed must be respected, not because of the man, but because of the God who anointed him. This is a hard providence, but it is a necessary one. Before David can rule the kingdom, the kingdom must rule him. And the central law of that kingdom is that we walk by faith, not by sight.
The Text
Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?” So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, beside the road. Now David was staying in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. So David sent out spies and knew that Saul was certainly coming. David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, as well as Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him.
(1 Samuel 26:1-5 LSB)
The Treachery of Kin (v. 1)
The scene opens with a familiar and sorry spectacle.
"Then the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding on the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon?”" (1 Samuel 26:1)
The Ziphites are from the tribe of Judah. They are David's kinsmen. This is not the first time they have betrayed him to Saul. Back in chapter 23, they did the same thing. This is a profound and painful lesson. Often, the sharpest wounds come from the household of faith. It is not the Philistines who are turning David in; it is his own people. They are choosing to curry favor with the failing, demented regime of Saul rather than siding with the Lord's anointed. They are pragmatists. They see Saul on the throne with his army, and they see David in the wilderness with his band of misfits. They place their bets with the visible power, not the promised power.
This is a constant temptation for the people of God. We are tempted to make alliances with the world, to appease the Sauls of our day, to betray the Davids who are contending for the faith in the wilderness. The Ziphites are a picture of compromised, cowardly religion. They have just enough information to be dangerous, and not enough faith to be loyal. They know where David is, but they do not know who he is in God's economy. They see a fugitive; they do not see a king in exile. And so, for the sake of political expediency, they become informants for a madman. We must take care that we never become Ziphites.
The Unrelenting Tyrant (v. 2-3)
Saul's reaction is immediate and obsessive. He needs no convincing.
"So Saul arose and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to search for David in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul camped in the hill of Hachilah, which is before Jeshimon, beside the road." (1 Samuel 26:2-3 LSB)
Notice the description: "three thousand chosen men of Israel." This is the elite of Israel's army. This is a force you would muster to fight the Philistines or the Ammonites. And what is Saul doing with them? He is using the nation's military might to hunt one man. This is the paranoia and irrationality of a man abandoned by God. When a leader loses the anointing of the Spirit, he becomes consumed with self-preservation. His enemies are not the enemies of God's people; his enemies are his personal rivals.
Saul's entire kingship has been distilled down to this one insane obsession: kill David. The Philistines could be raiding the western border, but Saul is in the southern wilderness with his best troops, hunting the man who is Israel's greatest asset. This is what sin does to a man. It makes him a fool. It inverts his priorities. He treats his friends as enemies and his enemies as friends. Saul should have been giving David a command, not a death sentence. But because he has made himself the center of his universe instead of God, he can only see David as a threat to his ego and his throne.
He camps "beside the road." Saul is not being subtle. He is making a show of force. But his confidence has made him careless. He is operating in the flesh, relying on the sheer number of his men, and has forgotten that the battle belongs to the Lord. This is the arrogance of the man who has forgotten God. He measures strength in terms of battalions, not blessings.
The Watchful King (v. 4)
David, in contrast to Saul's blustering carelessness, is shrewd and watchful.
"Now David was staying in the wilderness, and he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness. So David sent out spies and knew that Saul was certainly coming." (1 Samuel 26:4 LSB)
David is not passive. He is not sitting in a cave, hoping for the best. He is a man of action, but his action is governed by wisdom, not panic. He "saw that Saul came," and then he confirms the intelligence. "He sent out spies." David is practicing due diligence. Faith in God does not mean we turn off our brains. David trusts in God's protection, but he also posts a sentry. This is the marriage of piety and prudence.
David's time in the wilderness is teaching him statecraft. He is learning how to gather intelligence, how to manage his men, how to read the terrain. God is not wasting this time. He is preparing David for the throne by teaching him how to think like a king even when he is being hunted like an animal. He learns to rely on God for the outcome, but to use every means at his disposal to act wisely. He knows that Saul is coming "certainly." There is no doubt. The confrontation is inevitable. The test has arrived.
The Divine Opportunity (v. 5)
What David does next is crucial. He does not flee. He advances.
"David then arose and came to the place where Saul had camped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, as well as Abner the son of Ner, the commander of his army; and Saul was lying in the circle of the camp, and the people were camped around him." (1 Samuel 26:5 LSB)
This is an act of incredible courage. He doesn't just receive the spies' report; he goes on a personal reconnaissance mission. He goes to the very place where his enemy is camped. He wants to see the situation with his own eyes. This is leadership. A true leader does not lead from the rear. He assesses the risk himself.
And what does he see? He sees a perfect military tableau. Saul, the king, is asleep in the center. Abner, his top general and cousin, is right there. The entire army is asleep around them. The circle of the camp, likely a makeshift barricade of wagons and gear, provides a false sense of security. They are utterly vulnerable. God has not just delivered Saul to David; He has gift-wrapped him. He has placed him on a platter, surrounded by his sleeping bodyguards. The commander-in-chief and his top general are defenseless.
This is a test, orchestrated by God Himself. This is providence, hard and clear. The Ziphites intended their betrayal for evil, but God is using it for good. He is using their treachery to set the stage for a lesson in covenantal faithfulness. He is about to ask David a question, not in words, but in circumstance: "Will you trust my promise, or will you trust your spear? Will you take the kingdom, or will you wait to receive it?" The entire future of Israel, and the character of her greatest king, hangs on the answer David will give in the verses that follow.
Conclusion: The Test of Kingship
These first five verses set the stage for one of the most profound displays of godly character in the Old Testament. We see the unfaithfulness of men in the Ziphites, the irrationality of a rejected king in Saul, and the wise courage of God's chosen king in David. God, in His sovereignty, orchestrates all these moving parts, the betrayal, the pursuit, the careless camp, to bring David to a moment of decision.
This is how God works in our lives as well. He allows us to be betrayed. He allows the Sauls of this world to pursue us. He leads us into the wilderness. And then, in His perfect timing, He presents us with a test that looks like a shortcut. He delivers our enemies into our hands and seems to whisper, "Here is your chance. End it now. Take what is yours."
But the way of the cross is not the way of seizing and grasping. It is the way of waiting and receiving. David is a type of Christ, and Christ did not come to seize a kingdom. When He was on the cross, His enemies were delivered into His hands. He could have called down ten thousand angels. But He did not. He entrusted Himself to the Father who judges justly. He waited for the Father to exalt Him.
This is the lesson for us. In our marriages, in our churches, in our vocations, we will be presented with Saul's spear. We will have the opportunity to take a shortcut, to win an argument through sinful anger, to seize a position through manipulation, to avenge a wrong ourselves. And in that moment, we must remember David in the wilderness. We must remember that God is the one who establishes thrones, and God is the one who deposes them. Our task is not to help God out, but to trust Him, to honor His institutions, and to wait for His timing. This is the path to true kingship. This is the wisdom learned in the school of hard providence.