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January 16, 2025 - 1 Samuel 22:1,2 - The Rock of Refuge

Writer's picture: Pastor Ken WimerPastor Ken Wimer

1 Samuel 22:1,2

"David...escaped to the cave Adullam... And every one that was in distress, and every one that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them..."


This account of David's escape from Saul's pursuit is rich with types and pictures of Christ and His Church. Wherever Christ is depicted in Scripture, His Church is never far behind.


David finds refuge in a cave and cries out to God for comfort. After escaping both Saul and the Philistines, David had nowhere else to hide except for a cave called Adullam. "So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam" (1 Sam. 22:1). David had lost everything he knew, including his wife, friends, royal status, military command, and freedom. He could not find refuge in any Jewish town or among the Philistines. He was the most wanted man wherever he went. Even worse, he had done nothing to deserve this status. Yet, God remained his Refuge. The cave of Adullam, which means "refuge," was located in the territory of Judah.


In the same way, the LORD Jesus came and tabernacled among sinners in the world. He, too, was pursued and maligned. Though He was both God and Creator of those He came to dwell among, they pursued Him to death—yet to no avail. God the Father, like David, had appointed Him to be King and Heir of His people, and the gates of hell could not prevail against Him. Though He would, like David, suffer much affliction and persecution before ascending to the throne (Acts 3:18), He would not be overcome.


The sinners that Christ came to save are like those who gathered around David in his suffering—distressed and discontented. Christ said, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). These individuals are typical of sinners drawn to the Rock of Refuge, symbolized by the cave of Adullam. "Adullam" means "hiding place," and as the old hymn says, "He hideth my soul in the cleft of the Rock...in the depth of His love...and covers me there with His hand." "But the LORD is my defence, and my God is the Rock of my Refuge" (Psalm 94:22).

Those drawn to the Rock of Refuge are always those in trouble. "The LORD also will be a Refuge for the oppressed, a Refuge in times of trouble" (Psalm 9:9). God causes some to fall into great debt, some to be hunted by the world, others to endure great distress through trials, and still others to experience discontentment. But it is for such as these that the LORD Jesus came into the world to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:9-10). To be lost is to have wandered, as sheep do so that they can never find their way back without the Shepherd seeking and bringing them home. The only hope for these malcontents was David, as a type of Christ.

God will use whatever means He deems necessary to bring sinners to the end of their way—those He has purposed to save. Even as those who sought David were at the end of their way, the LORD used their circumstances to drive them to him. Similarly, the path God traces for His sheep is designed to draw them to Christ as their only Hope. David could identify with their sufferings because, like our LORD Jesus, he "endured the contradiction of sinners against himself" (Hebrews 12:3). "For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things... to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (Hebrews 2:10). As God made David the captain over this worthless bunch, so Christ became the Captain of His sinners through His obedient suffering unto death on the cross. "He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment: a God of Truth and without iniquity, Just and Right is He" (Deuteronomy 32:4).


The LORD Jesus is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the Great Shepherd (Hebrews 13:20), and the Chief Shepherd (1 Peter 5:4). It is in Him that we “have fled for Refuge to lay hold upon the Hope set before us" (Hebrews 6:18).The LORD also will be a Sfronghold for the oppressed, a Stronghold in times of trouble" (Psalm 9:9).


“And a Man shall be as an Hiding Place from the wind, and a Covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the Shadow of a Great Rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2)R




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