The words of chapter 21 verse 10 – and David rose and fled that day from Saul – summarize the action of the next few chapters of the narrative. The “cat and mouse” story of King Saul’s wild pursuit of God’s choice for king occupies the narrative until the final chapter which relates the death of Saul.
Chapter 21 reports David’s safe passage from Nob to Gath (yes, the very same Gath that is the home of the Philistine champion Goliath!). David feels safer within the border of his enemy than he does in the courts of the Israelite king Saul. This illustrates how far Saul had fallen and become like the kings of the surrounding nations. Saul is a paranoid king who uses Gentiles to kill Israelites.
In chapter 22, Saul’s evil is put on full display as he orders the massacre of 85 of his own unarmed Levitical priests by the hand of Doeg the Edomite. Saul and Doeg are fully responsible for their horrid wickedness, but do not miss the fact that they also fulfill the word of God against the priesthood of Eli (see 1 Samuel 2:31-33). While not authoring the evil, God used His enemies to bring to pass His word. Indeed, God works all things together according to the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11) and 1 Samuel 22 illustrates that included among “all things” are even his wicked enemies.
