Chapter 1
David saves Keilah, attacked by the Philistines; and when Saul advances against him with an army, he flees with his six hundred men to the mountain of the wilderness of Ziph. (1 Samuel 23). And they told David, saying, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah,” etc., up to what is written: “Saul sought him every day,” etc. This reading, under the figure of the men of Keilah, who, although saved by David from the enemy, soon prepare to betray him to the same enemy, illustrates the fickleness of those who hear the word and immediately receive it with joy (Luke 8); but they do not have root in themselves and are temporary; when trouble and persecution arise because of the word, they quickly fall away. And so they reported to David, those who knew that the Philistines were attacking Keilah, and with all the inhabitants driven within the walls, they plundered the granaries outside that might have been found within their reach. The chosen report this to Christ truthfully with strong hand, not instructing him as if he were ignorant of human things by speaking, but petitioning him as if he were merciful to the perils of the wretched by telling him, when they have seen either a single soul or a multitude of souls burdened with vices or still enslaved to pagan rites, occupied by unclean spirits; and whatever natural virtue they possess, as if a salutary germ, is found outside, which means it is acted out solely for worldly benefits, plundered by the wickedness of others. For they report these things to the intellectual David who, considering the common misery of humanity, complain and pray against the kingdom of unclean spirits, saying: "We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a derision and scorn to those who are around us. How long, O Lord? Will you be angry forever? Will your jealousy burn like fire? Pour out your wrath on the nations that do not know you, and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name. For they have devoured Jacob" (Psalms 79), and the rest, up to the end of the psalm.
[1 Samuel 23:2] -- Shall I go and strike these Philistines? etc. Because David almost always in the Scriptures, when taken mystically, signifies the Lord Christ, but sometimes in his members, sometimes in himself; rightly at this place, where he consulted the Lord whether he should attack and conquer the enemies, it is understood to be referred to the person of his members, that is, his faithful ones, who sometimes, sorrowful over the known destruction of the faithless by those close to them, consulting the oracles of divine Scripture, inquire what should be done about these things. For also above, where it is announced to the same David that Keilah is being attacked by the Philistines, it can not unreasonably signify that any of the faithful often show the dangers of temptations in the world to equally more perfect faithful ones of Christ, perceiving that they themselves are not sufficient to overcome them. Indeed, those more perfect and strong-handed teachers of the Churches, immediately scrutinizing the testimonies of the Scriptures, find that they must have compassion and succor the oppressed, and by breaking the effort of the malign spirits, discover that the crowd suffering from long temptation is to be saved; but to the often fearful weaker ones due to imminent persecution, the reading of divine words, once consulted, promptly reveals that they should not fear those who kill the body (Matt. X), but rise from their sloth by doing the right, going to the oppressed by preaching useful things, and conquering the oppressors by exorcizing. For there are those who, under the threat of persecutions, scarcely dare to openly profess the faith with which they have been imbued; how much less do they presume to undertake the war against the legions of malign spirits by calling others to the faith or by solidifying them in the faith? And what does it signify, typically, when the men of David say to him: Behold, here in Judea we are afraid, how much more if we go to Keilah against the legions of the Philistines? unless it is the fearful response of the weak listeners to the spiritual teachers preparing themselves for the work of the word: Behold, within the domestic walls of the Church we fear to freely defend the confession of the paternal faith, which Judea signifies; how much more, if we go to those who have either never known the way of truth, or have deserted it having known it, instructing them with the word of salvation, shall we not unquestionably expose ourselves to greater dangers by beginning to challenge the powers of the air in battle? But the Lord does not omit to raise their weakness and fear by the frequent words of His Gospel, and to strengthen them with the confidence in prayer. And this is what follows: For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John XVI).
[1 Samuel 23:5] -- David and his men went to Keilah, etc. The Lord went in His preachers to heal the brokenhearted, and fought against the spirits of falsehood and perfidy, revealing the light of truth and faith, and drove them away from the souls of the redeemed by just separation, in whom they had previously tightly reined in with the bridle of error, as if riding over them, and subjecting them to their own power and domain, used to more effectively and powerfully ravage and subjugate others, and cause them to be anathematized with a great curse. Thus indeed He saved them, who recently avoiding their tentations, earnestly sought His protection. These things were often done from the beginning of the nascent Church, and there is almost no one who doubts that they are done daily through places.
[1 Samuel 23:6] -- Moreover, at the time when Abiathar fled, etc. The ephod, as we mentioned above, is a priestly garment, with four most distinguished colors interwoven with gold, and two precious stones on each shoulder, and the sacred names of the twelve patriarchs, which most fittingly corresponds to signify the senses of sublime men. For those fleeing to more and more proclaim the glory of Christ, who escaped the hands of many torturers and persecutors for Him, bear within themselves senses and hearts elevated with the four excellent virtues shining with charity, tempered with precious discretion in adversities and prosperities, and taught and armed by the word and example of the preceding Fathers. And it is well said that the priest, fleeing to David with the ephod, is remembered not to have ascended but descended, according to that which is written: "The greater you are, humble yourself in all things" (Ecclesiasticus 3). But truly, because with the growing devotion of faith, the hatred of the perfidious increases, evidently by the judgment of heaven, so that both the trial examining the whole in faith makes them clearer, and the same also accuses the dissemblers of their levity, it is rightly added:
[1 Samuel 23:7] -- And Saul commanded all the people, etc. For as the state of the Church increased, there were not lacking at various times adversaries, who, with the Lord permitting, would test its patience and wisdom by attacking it with the gravest trials, seeking to capture both the Lord Himself in it and His men, that is, all the strong defenders of His Gospel, with impious siege, and to remove them from the midst, yet never reaching the treacherous desires of their wickedness.
[1 Samuel 23:9] -- When David learned that Saul was secretly planning evil against him, etc. After bringing the ephod with Abiathar, David consulted the Lord, asking whether Saul would come to destroy Keilah, and whether the citizens would hand him over. Hence it can be inferred by what order he consulted the Lord before, that is, by putting on the priestly vestment and thus seeking the Lord's response through the mouth of the priest, and that this was the custom of those consulting God at that time, especially those who could not approach the Ark of the Lord. For it is written about this: "There I will speak to you, from above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim" (Exodus 25). But when David discovered both the impending enemy and the unfaithful refuge of the host city, he went out with his about six hundred men and wandered uncertainly here and there. For the holy ones, namely the members of the supreme King, seek through men of great virtue and knowledge of the holy scriptures how the state of the Church will be in the last times; and through the Scriptures, they learn that to its overthrow will come the empire of the Jewish people; and the men of Keilah, that is, of a restless mind and willing to live for themselves, not for the Creator, will quickly betray the faith they have initiated. Christ will depart from such, nor will He make His abode among them. The teachers, too, perfect in hope and work, depart. For six signify works, a hundred hope of eternal things, marking the perfection of men. For they abandon the lukewarm so that by speaking to those who do not preserve it, they do not harm further, in the example of the history which, describing the deeds of David, adds:
[1 Samuel 23:13] -- David therefore arose, etc. Woe, however, to that soul, woe to the city, which the word of God, leaving behind, wanders here and there, uncertain where, in whose heart to settle and find rest. "Foxes," he says, "have dens, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Matthew VIII); and this is what he says elsewhere: "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke XVIII). It is certainly to be noted that these things, generally, refer to all times of the Church, to which false brethren are never lacking, but especially to the last times, during which they will abound more, and can be typically referred, whose levity and perfidy even the name of Ceila fits. For it is said of a sling, cast forth, or stirring up, or lifting itself. And indeed why the soul of a false Christian, unstable and certainly wandering, is called cast to a sling, the wise woman explains, who in the type of the Church speaks with a strong and desirable hand saying, "But the soul of your enemies shall be whirled about in the impetus and circle of a sling" (1 Samuel XXV). But why a believer with infidelity, stirring it up, doubtlessly rightly calls it persecution, is proved by that traitor, who, from the number of Christ's disciples, added to the number of persecutors, thus far in the Church does not cease to have heirs of his depravity. Moreover, why it is called lifting itself, those manifest who usurp the knowledge of the faith for themselves specially, and do not fear to separate from the Catholic unity.
[1 Samuel 23:13] -- It was announced to Saul that David had fled from Ceila, etc. The enemies of the faith pretend to burden those with persecutions whom they see willingly abandoning the faith. But the adversary himself of old tires out with the more severe lashes of temptations those whom he sees strong in faith and action, or whom he sees either inert in faith, or utterly faithless or apostates, he possesses as his own quite contentedly and subject in all things, often with no, or certainly very few, temptations of wrath, pride, fornication, and envy, and other such passions.
[1 Samuel 23:14] -- David, however, stayed in the desert, etc. Christ, having dismissed those who receive faith only in word, rather takes up residence in the hearts of those who, in the aridity of the present age, thirst for God, the living fountain, awaiting the moment they may come and appear before the face of the Lord. He gladly remains in those whose high hearts are removed from worldly temptations and blissfully secluded in solitude, finding joy in the deficient germ and flower of virtues. For Ziph means flower or germ.
[1 Samuel 23:14] -- Yet Saul sought him every day, etc. From the beginning of time until the end, the wicked strive to remove Christ from the hearts of the pious, but He himself defends the pious so that they might never be overcome by the wicked, as He promised to remain with them all days even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28). And elsewhere it says: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and the rivers will not overwhelm you (Isaiah 43).