Whom Do You Choose? (2 Samuel 22:1–23)

Consider a choice between two rulers: one who protects people and another who destroys them. This fundamental contrast drives the narrative of 1 Samuel 22, where we encounter two kings and observe how people respond to each.

The chapter unfolds in three distinct scenes: David hiding in a cave (vv. 1–5), Saul raging on a hill (vv. 6–19), and David offering sanctuary in the forest (vv. 20–23). Through these scenes, we see the stark contrast between Saul (the king chosen by Israel) and David (the king chosen by God). More importantly, we observe how everyone surrounding these kings must make choices with lasting consequences.

The overarching theme of 1 Samuel demonstrates how God delivers his people by exalting a king and bringing down enemies to accomplish salvation.

The opening scene focuses on a king in a cave.

David found himself in hiding because, since Samuel had anointed him as king in chapter 16, Saul had made at least six attempts to capture or kill him. Despite God’s rejection of Saul as king in chapter 15, Saul refused to abdicate and instead tightened his grip on power. David’s desperation became so severe that, in chapter 21, he fled without food or weapons, forcing him to visit the priest Ahimelech for consecrated bread and Goliath’s sword. The fact that David found greater safety among Israel’s enemies (the Philistines in Gath) than among his own people reveals both Israel’s spiritual condition and the dangerous extent of Saul’s hatred.

We observe several aspects of David’s exile.

First, note the loyalty of his family (v. 1), who joined him in exile, remaining loyal despite the price on his head that forced them to flee as well. Even as David’s world collapsed around him, the text specifically notes that he went out of his way to ensure his family’s safety (v. 3). Remembering that his great-grandmother Ruth was from Moab, David leveraged this connection by taking his aged parents to the king of Moab for protection, counting on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

Second, observe David’s growing following. Verse 2 reads, “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.” These four hundred men (potentially representing fifteen hundred people including families) found themselves in dire circumstances because of the very king they had chosen. This fulfilled God’s warning through Samuel (1 Samuel 8:11–18) about how a king would only take to the oppressive detriment of the people.

These people chose to follow David despite the cost because they trusted him to care for them, just as he had cared for his parents.

Third, notice the divine guidance available to David. Ge possessed something Saul lacked: A prophet of God named Gad served as God’s spokesperson to David. When Gad instructed him, “Do not remain in the stronghold; depart, and go into the land of Judah,” he listened and went to the forest of Hereth. This detail reveals that God remained with David because his word remained with him.

Unlike Saul, who had been neglecting God’s word throughout most of the book, David proved himself to be a king who listened to and obeyed God’s word. Though he appeared to be leading a group of rebels and fugitives, the author wants readers to understand that God had not abandoned him. Because God guided and led his king, the king could guide and lead the people.

The second scene portrays raging king on a hill.

When Saul learned that David and his men had been discovered, he seethed with anger, spear in hand, his bitterness growing as he prepared for a rampage. The contrast between David’s relationship with his followers and Saul’s relationship with his people becomes starkly apparent in vv. 7–8, where Saul must bribe his men with promises of earthly treasure to secure their loyalty.

Saul’s anger stemmed not only from his hatred of David but also from his sense that no one told him anything. The irony is profound: He knew where David was, yet complained that no one had informed him. Furthermore, if Saul had been fulfilling his role as king in obedience to God’s law, he would have had a prophet to inform him of everything.

Saul’s perception of a conspiracy of silence against him was actually correct. His inner circle was either too frightened to speak or had lost trust in their king. However, the silence that should have concerned him most was God’s silence. Unlike David, Saul had no prophet, did not enquire of God, and received no word from God. In that era, a king without a prophet was not truly a king—Saul had become a counterfeit king who would lead his followers away from God.

The only person willing to speak was Doeg the Edomite—significantly, not an Israelite but someone from Edom, an enemy of Israel. This reveals that, besides bribing and manipulating his own people for loyalty, Saul was also taking counsel from enemies. Doeg, who had informed Saul about David’s whereabouts, helped Saul descend further into darkness while getting God’s prophet into trouble.

This set Saul into a wicked downward spiral. When he summoned Ahimelech and accused him of conspiracy, the priest offered an excellent defence: David was a hero who had been loyal to Saul, and this was no secret. He added that if Saul had a problem with David, no one had informed him. He couldn’t be a conspirator because he had no idea what was happening.

Saul’s response in v. 16 is chilling: “You shall surely die, Ahimelech, you and all your father’s house.” Consider the magnitude of this moment: The one who was supposed to be king over Israel, the one meant to protect God’s people from enemies, was now siding with enemies and killing his own people. He had just ordered the execution of the priests who mediated between God and the people.

In chapter 15, God had instructed Saul to completely destroy the enemy, leaving no one alive. Saul had done the opposite, doing what seemed right in his own eyes. Now, under the enemy’s influence, he completely wiped out not the enemy, but his own people—God’s people. Saul had declared war not only on David but on God’s people and God himself to satisfy his vengeance.

The insanity of this command became evident when Saul’s own officials refused to “put out their hand to strike the priests of the Lord” (v. 17). Only Doeg the Edomite would carry out this evil work, killing not only the 85 priests but also “men and women, children and infants, oxen, donkeys and sheep” from their town (v. 19).

By the end of Scene 2, Saul had become like Pharaoh, who killed God’s people in Egypt, and like Herod, who slaughtered baby boys in Bethlehem in a vain attempt to hold onto power.

The final scene presents us with a choice:

One person escaped Doeg and Saul’s bloodbath: Abiathar, Ahimelech’s son. Verse 20 shows that Abiathar knew exactly where to go—he fled from Saul to find safety with David.

At this point, Saul’s violence had reached further than David’s protection could extend. David was on the run without resources to care for everyone, which makes v. 23 surprising.

David said to Abiathar, “Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.” This was a remarkable statement. David was a marked man, on the run and in hiding. Saul had just demonstrated his willingness to kill anyone who even showed sympathy toward David. Yet David said, “Don’t be afraid. With me, you are safe.”

Abiathar faced a choice between two kings, each representing different costs and benefits.

David offered care for his people, accepting all who wanted to follow him regardless of status or circumstance. He protected them, claimed responsibility for them, and drew people to himself with his invitation. God was with David, who was guided by God’s word and lived in obedience to it. However, David was a fugitive—unpopular and rejected despite his righteousness. Siding with him meant having a target on one’s back.

Saul was a tyrant who manipulated and bullied his followers with threats. His men lived in fear because he treated enemies like Doeg as friends while treating friends as enemies. Unlike David, Saul used his power only for himself, not to serve those he ruled. He called his followers to do terrible things in his name, not just compromising themselves by attacking others, but joining him in turning their backs on God. Though he offered vineyards and promised to make people commanders of thousands, he had cut himself off from God, neither asking for nor receiving God’s word, and certainly not living by it.

These scenes reveal that there are still two kings and kingdoms today: Jesus and his kingdom, and Satan and his kingdom. Like Abiathar, we must compare the cost and make a choice.

David serves as a reflection of the true and ultimate King, Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:5–6 speaks of “Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth,” who “loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.”

Jesus is the King to whom we can run. People pursued and killed him so that we could be free. He draws people to himself with the same words as David: “Stay with me; do not be afraid, for he who seeks my life seeks your life. With me you shall be in safekeeping.”

The invitation to join King David despite the cost parallels the invitation we receive from King Jesus in Mark 8:34-35: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.”

There is always a cost to following God’s King. Jesus never pretended otherwise. Just as people couldn’t be for David without being with David, we cannot be for Jesus without being with Jesus.

Being a believer will not make us popular, powerful, or rich because Jesus wasn’t any of those things. But we will be safe. This choice might make people suspicious of us, and we will feel their judgement. Walking in truth brings pressure. Try speaking like a Christian on social media or going against family or friends’ traditional practices, and you will feel the world’s disapproval.

The cost is felt most acutely when we must deny whoever seeks to rule our life instead of Jesus—whether self, spouse, friend, or any idol.

Because we were previously part of Satan’s kingdom, we will always be tempted to return. The temptation is to find security in this life (vineyards, possessions, status) rather than trusting someone who died. That sounds like the losing side.

For those who have already decided to join King Jesus, choosing sides is not a one-time decision but a daily commitment in small things.

Every time we deny our old sinful self, we reaffirm our allegiance to King Jesus.

Choosing not to live a double life with one foot in the world and one foot with King Jesus reaffirms our allegiance to the true King.

When the world of darkness promises riches and gain to buy our allegiance, saying “no” expresses our allegiance to King Jesus.

Fleeing to the right King when difficulties and trouble strike affirms our allegiance to the true King.

Gathering with the King’s people (like the four hundred who gathered with David) affirms the King through affirming his people in his kingdom.

The scenes of 1 Samuel 22 confront us with a question: To whom do we choose to flee? Will it be the king of the world, riches, our own power, worldly leaders—or will we find refuge in God’s King, King Jesus?

Some may choose not to flee at all, remaining with the enemy because they are too ensnared by the adversary to turn to the Lord, or because they want to wait and see which kingdom will win.

Regardless of who we are, we must choose between the two kingdoms. Both come at a cost: One yields eternal freedom, while the other results in eternal punishment. Both involve death—either dying to self in Jesus’ kingdom or being killed by Satan in his kingdom.

The only factor that matters when counting the cost is which king will win in the end: the one who gives life or the one who brings death. Jesus says, “Do not worry. It is safe to deny yourself because, despite the cost, I have already died and am alive.” Deny yourself so that Jesus can rule.

AMEN