The Priests Slain at Nob
22 So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him. 2 Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who [a]was in debt, and everyone who was [b]discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
3 And David went from there to Mizpah of Moab; and he said to the king of Moab, “Please let my father and my mother come and stay with you until I know what God will do for me.” 4 Then he left them with the king of Moab; and they stayed with him all the time that David was in the stronghold. 5 The prophet Gad said to David, “Do not stay in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah.” So David departed and went into the forest of Hereth.
6 Then Saul heard that David and the men who were with him had been discovered. Now Saul was sitting in Gibeah, under the tamarisk tree on the height with his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing around him. 7 Saul said to his servants who stood around him, “Hear now, O Benjamites! Will the son of Jesse also give to all of you fields and vineyards? Will he make you all commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds? 8 For all of you have conspired against me so that there is no one who [c]discloses to me when my son makes a covenant with the son of Jesse, and there is none of you who is sorry for me or [d]discloses to me that my son has stirred up my servant against me to lie in ambush, as it is this day.” 9 Then Doeg the Edomite, who was [e]standing by the servants of Saul, said, “I saw the son of Jesse coming to Nob, to Ahimelech the son of Ahitub. 10 He inquired of the Lord for him, gave him provisions, and gave him the sword of Goliath the Philistine.”
After his encounter with Achish, it seem David remembered that he needed to trust God, and went back “home”. Not of course, to his actual home, but he goes back to Israel and camps out in a cave in the wilderness. David sends word back to his family, and they come to live with him.
Not only does the family come to support David, but he became a captain of the outcasts of society. We find also that God sent him a prophet who would warn David of Saul’s movements.
Of course, Saul is still riled up in the middle of all this, but David is now where he belongs, and we will continue to see God’s hand guiding him. Though David is supposed to be the next king, it might seem odd for him to captain a bunch of outcasts.
God’s plans don’t always make sense to us, but they are for our good, and we need to follow Him in all things.