1 Samuel 22: 1-5…..Finding a hiding place.

David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. And when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, gathered to him. And he became commander over them. And there were with him about four hundred men.
And David went from there to Mizpeh of Moab. And he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother stay with you, till I know what God will do for me.” And he left them with the king of Moab, and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. Then the prophet Gad said to David, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.

Comment: The names here don’t probably mean much to the majority of us. Gath, from which David needed to depart was to the West of the Jewish lands. Moab was on the East side of the Dead sea. (His great grandmother, Ruth had come from Moab). The Cave of Adullam is there today and looks like a good place to hide. Obviously David’s family were likely to be attacked by Saul, so they fled to him, and you can imagine the night flights along dark paths and hearts beating with adrenalin when messengers went to collect them and the relatives fled to join David. There were also others (distressed, debtors, the embittered), whom we can describe as a motley mob of individuals, who joined him. David’s aged parents were old and needed special care so he took them Moab and they resided there under the King of Moab’s protection. Through the words of the prophet Gad David was directed to shift to the Forest of Hereth which was in Judah’s territory and not far away from the cave.

Prayer: Be with us, Father God, in the tough times of life, we pray.